📘 When the hypocrites come to thee they say, “We bear witness that thou art indeed the Messenger of God.” On the first day in the era of the Beginningless He sent the diver of power into the ocean of Adam's loins to bring out the night-brightening pearls and the black beads to the shore of existence. There were both faithful and hypocrites, and just as He brought forth the faithful, so also He brought forth the hypocrites. But with His bounty He kept the faithful at the front of the hall of exaltedness on the carpet of gentleness, without bias; and with His justice He kept the hypocrites in the back with the shoes beneath the carpet of severity and abasement, without iniquity. He placed the crown of felicity on the heads of the faithful, and their portion of the Book was this: “So rejoice in your sale you have made to Him” [9:111]. He placed the bonds of abasement and the shackles of deg- radation on the feet of the hypocrites, and their portion of the Book came to be this: “Die in your rage!” [3:119]. This is why the Lord of the Worlds says, “Those-their portion of the Book will reach them” [7:37]. About the faithful He says, “in a seat of truthfulness, at an Omnipotent King” [54:55], and about the hypocrites He says, “in the lowest reach of the Fire” [4:145]. Be as your luck lets you be, I'll be as my lot allows. Tomorrow in the courtyards of the resurrection the hypocrites will ride on the coattails of the faithful and will go with their brightness until they reach the Narrow Path. Then the faithful will go ahead and cross over the bridge with the light of their faith and self-purification. The unbelief and hypocrisy of the hypocrites will seize their skirts so that they remain in darkness and bewilder- ment. They will call out, “Wait for us so that we may borrow some of your light” [57:13]. They will ask for light and brightness from the faithful, but the faithful will respond, “Turn back behind and request a light” [57:13], that is, “'Turn back to the decree of the Beginningless and seek light from the apportioning.' Seek for the light from the decree of the Beginningless, not from us.

📘 (They it is who say: Spend not on behalf of those (who dwell) with Allah's messenger�) [63:7]. 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Abdan informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Hafiz> Abu'l-'Abbas Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Mahbubi> Sa'id ibn Mas'ud> 'Ubayd Allah ibn Musa> Isra'il> Abu Sa'id al-Azdi> Zayd ibn Arqam who said: �We went out in a military expedition with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and some desert Arabs came along with us. We used to hasten for water but the desert Arabs always preceded us to it. Once a desert Arab got to the water first, he would fill the pond, circle it with stones and place a leather mat on it until his friends would arrive. One man from the Helpers came along wanting to let his camel drink from one such pond, but a desert Arab refused to let him use the pond. The Helper removed one of the stones encircling the water which caused the water to spill. The desert Arab grabbed a piece of wood and struck him on the head, fracturing his skull in the process. The Helper went to 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the leader of the hypocrites, and informed him of the incident. This Helper was one of the followers of Ibn Ubayy. 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy got very angry and said: 'Do not spend on those who are with the Messenger of Allah, until they [i.e. the desert Arabs] disperse'. He also said to his followers: 'When you go back to Medina, let the most powerful drive the weakest out of Medina'. Zayd ibn Arqam said: 'I was riding behind my uncle and I heard what 'Abd Allah said. I told my uncle of what I heard and he informed the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then summoned 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy. But the latter denied that he ever said what he was accused of and swore that he never said it. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, believed him and disbelieved me. My uncle came to me and said: 'All you have done is that you caused the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to loath you and the Muslims to give you the lie'.