[2:17] Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire, and when it illumined all about him God took away their light and left them in darkness, unable to see,
The similitude God (s) strikes here for hypocrites is that of someone who kindles a fire in the beginning of the night, then the fire is extinguished and he is left in the darkness. Similarly, something of the benefits of this world appear to the hypocrites outwardly but then they are afflicted in the Hereafter by the pain of the punishment. Or [it may be that] something of their affirmation (iqrār) flashes, but then they remain in the darkness of their denial (inkār).
The allusion in this verse is to one who has a beautiful beginning travelling the path of spiritual desire (?arīq al-irāda). He toils for a time and endures one difficulty after another. He then returns to this world before having reached the truth and reverts to the darknesses of human nature within him. His stem sprouted but did not bear fruit. His branch blossomed but did not ripen. He hastened the eclipse of listlessness over the moons of His presence. The hand of subjugation has rejected him after the tongue of kindness beckoned him. His heart has moved away from closeness and his lower self has become full of rancor towards the seekers. He is as it is said:
When passion settled in
and we said we were happy,
we thought we were secure
from growing apart.
Division sent its messengers
in secret
and destroyed what we had brought together
in our union.
The allusion in this verse also pertains to one who possesses the lowest level of meanings but puts forth claims far above what he has. When the ongoing increase he possesses in his states is cut off, he remains in the darkness of his claims.
There is also the one who relies on the rubble and glitter of this world. When [his] states have become like a well-trodden road, helped along by hope and rising expectation, death appears from the ambushes of the divine ruse. He leaves everything (yatruk al-kull) but carries the burden forth (yaḥmil al-kall).