[2:189] They will ask you about the new moons. Say, 'They are appointed times for the people and the Pilgrimage'.
The 'moons' (ahilla), the plural of 'a moon' (hilāl), are appointed times for the people for their activities and calculations. For the people of the story, they are appointed times for their various states (aḥwāl). For the ascetics, [they are] appointed times for their litanies (awrād). For the people who have been singled out, they are appointed times for their conditions (ḥālāt). The one who spoke for them said:
I count the nights,
one after another.
In the days of old
I never really counted them.
Another said:
Eight days have passed
without meeting.
I do not have the patience
to wait more than eight.
Another said:
Months go by
and we have not noticed
their midway points
nor their ends.
[2:189 cont'd] It is not piety to come to the houses from their backs, but piety is to fear; so come to the houses by their doors, and fear God that you may prosper.
It means piety is not guarding external affairs (al-umūr al-ẓāhira) but rather piety is purifying the inner secrets (taṣfiyat al-sarāÌir) and cleaning the recesses of hearts (tanqiyat al-?amāÌir).