And there are some of them that are illiterate not knowing the scripture but only desires and mere conjectures. So woe to those who write the scripture with their hands then say “This is from God” that they may sell it for a small price. He related that they differed in the shortcomings of their disbelief. One group is the most contemptible while the majority relied on blind fol- lowing taqlīd out of ignorance. It was not that doubt seized them but rather that they were misled by conjecture and speculation. They have no share in their scriptures other than to recite them without knowledge of their meanings. Among this group are those who are mostly concerned with what they desire for themselves. There is no possibility of their being helped and no definitive way of finding the truth among their conjectures. Then He related the bad outcome for them in His words may His men- tion be exalted: So woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for their earnings. It means they have lost in the present and in the end. This verse alludes to those who lack sincerity ikhlāṣ in companionship ṣuḥba165 on the path of the Real. They associate with the friends awliyāÌ [of God] externally but they possess no true spiritual desire irāda so they are companions of the heedless with only a partial view of this path Ṭarīqa. Whenever the clamor of worldly fortunes call they rush to respond will- ingly but when the demands of the Real سبحانه direct them to some endeavor their situation is a bad one since they are not sincere. How intense will be their remorse for what they have hoarded from God! They will not prosper.
