When they meet those who believe they say “We believe”; but when they go apart to their devils they say “We are with you; we were only mocking.” God [Himself] mocks them leaving them in their insolence bewildered. The hypocrites wanted to maintain their relations with disbelievers while associating with Muslims so when they appeared before Muslims they said “We are with you” and when they were alone with those like them among the disbelievers they voiced their loyalty to them. They wanted to have relationships with both sides but they were excluded from both. God most high said “Wavering all the time-not to these neither to those” [4:143]. Similarly anyone who wants to combine the path of spiritual desire irāda with [one's habitual behavior] with ordinary people ahl al-ʿāda [should know that] this cannot be done since the two opposites cannot be combined. “The servant who has contracted with his master to be freed is still a servant until the last dirham [is paid].” When night draws nigh day slips away. Anyone who has a hodgepodge khalīṬ in every corner nāḥiyya and a heart bound rabīṬ in every nook zāwiyya is headed for disaster. First one group and then another take turns dwelling in his heart so that it is forever ruined.53 There is no pleasure for him in life nor does he truly possess any provision from his heart. The one who spoke for them said: I see you as someone left over from the people of Moses for they do not wait patiently for food. When the hypocrites said “we were only mocking” God most high said “God [Himself] mocks them” that is He requites them for their mocking. Similarly when people put the reins in the hands of carnal desires they are lured into the wadis of separation. Their feet are not firmly planted in a place so they wander in the labyrinth of absence. Just as he leaves the hypocrites in their insolence bewildered he prolongs the period [in which they dwell with] their confused hopes. So when the times of their deaths draw nigh their hopes are at their highest while their actions are at their lowest. That is the requital for what they did and the noxious result of what they produced. The beautification of their ugly acts in their eyes is the worst of their punishments and their being content with their listlessness is their greatest misfortune.
