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إِنَّ ٱلْمُنَافِقِينَ يُخَادِعُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَهُوَ خَادِعُهُمْ وَإِذَا قَامُوۤاْ إِلَى ٱلصَّلاَةِ قَامُواْ كُسَالَىٰ يُرَآءُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ وَلاَ يَذْكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً
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-An-Nisâ’ ( النساء )

Tafsir al-Tustari

The hypocrites try to deceive God, but it is He who causes them to be deceived…This means that He hastens the recompense for their [outwardly] showing faith, and [inwardly] keeping secret their disbelief, by withdrawing His protection and grace from them, and by augmenting their wealth and offspring, and granting them access to the immediate [pleasures of] this world. But, their final destination is the Fire. This is what is meant by His words, [Thehypocrites] try to deceive God, but it is He who causes them to be deceived. He meant by this the speed of delivering their recompense (jazāʾ) for what they perform and abstain from. This is as His saying, Nay, but you marvel while they engage in ridicule [37:12], by which He meant that He hastened their punishment for their persisting in denial [of the truth]. Thus were His words addressed in accordance with the name of their action. And indeed in [other] places He describes their being in a state of wonder (ʿajab); [for example,] in His words, [Say, ‘It has been revealed to me that a company of jinn listened and said], “We have heard a wondrous Qurʾān”’ [72:1]; and in Sūra Qāf, Nay, but they [the disbelievers] think it strange [50:2]; and in Sūra Ṣād: What an astonishing thing! [38:5]. So also [wonder] is mentioned in Sūra Ṣāffāt: Nay but you marvel while they engage in ridicule [37:12], that is, you see their recompense as immense (ʿaẓīm), And here He calls the immense recompense a marvel, for the one who marvels at something that has reached its utmost degree, and this is what is meant in His words, you marvel.It has been related that Shaqīq read [the Qurʾānic words] to Sharīḥ as ‘I marvel (ʿajibtu)’ to which Sharīḥ replied, ‘[It should be] you marvel (ʿajibta)’, for truly God does not marvel at anything. The only one who marvels is one who does not know.’ Then Shaqīq said, ‘I informed Ibrāhīm of this, and he said, “For sure, Sharīḥ is pleased with his own knowledge. However, Ibn Masʿūd is more knowledgeable than him and he used to read it, I marvel with a ḍamma (ʿajibtu
…When they stand up to pray they do so lazily…This is one of the signs of the hypocrites, and by this they betray the trust (amāna), which outwardlythey appear to have taken upon themselves. Know that to God, Exalted is He, belong the trusts of your hearing, sight, tongue, private parts, your outward self and your inner self, which He presented to you. If you do not safeguard them, you betray God and God does not love the treacherous [8:58].Ibn Ḥayyān related that he journeyed to Mecca and went to Saʿīd b. Jubayr and said to him, ‘I have come to you from Khurasan to ask you about the explanation of the words of the Prophet , “The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks, he lies; when he promises, he breaks his promise; and when he is entrusted with something, he is treacherous.” I do not see any of these within myself.’ Then Saʿīd smiled and said, ‘The same thing occurred to my conscience that occurred to yours, so I went to ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib and ʿAbd Allāh Ibn ʿAbbās y at the time of the afternoon nap, and I found them at the [Holy] House, so I asked them about the explanation for this ḥadīth. They smiled and replied:We were also perplexed by what has perplexed you, so we went to the Prophet at the time of the afternoon nap, and he gave us permission [to enter], so we mentioned this to him , upon which he smiled and said, ‘Do you not uphold the testimony that there is no god but God?’ We replied, ‘Yes, we do.’ He said, ‘Have you gone back on that?’ We said, ‘No, we have not.’ He said, ‘Indeed you have said it and confirmed it.’ Then he said, ‘Do you not uphold what you affirmed with regard to your belief in God, His angels, Books, messengers, Paradise, Hell and the Resurrection?’ We said, ‘Yes, as if we saw them with our own eyes.’ He said, ‘This is a [great] achievement.’ Then he said ‘Do you not pray and prostrate in prayer when you are alone?’ We replied, ‘Yes’. He said, ‘That is true fidelity without a trace of treachery.’Sahl said:Truly, certainty (yaqīn) may be compared to mainstays (awtād) for the hearts of the mystics (ʿārifūn), and the souls of the yearning (mushtāqūn), just as the mountains of the world along with Mount Qāf, are the mainstays of the two earths (ʿarḍīn), and the backbone of the worlds. However, He made your heart even stronger, for He said, Exalted is He: ‘Had We sent this Qurʾān down upon a mountain, you would surely have seen it humbled, rent asunder by the fear of God [59:21]. Indeed, I sent it down to their hearts that they may preserve it and upon you as a command. You will not be harmed by keeping it [the Qurʾān] within you, because of My protection, benevolence and My watching over you.’Then he [Sahl] said:The intellects (ʿuqūl) of believers end up journeying to the Throne, where they are preserved and filled with the finest subtleties (ẓarāʾif) of His wisdom and diverse [manifestations] of His beneficence (birr). The intellects of the hypocrites on the other hand, journey until they reach [the threshold], and covet what is in the unseen, but are cast back rejected with heads bowed down (munkasa). And he whom God sends astray, you will never find for him a way [4:88, 143].His words, Exalted is He:

Tafsīr al-Tustarī, trans. Annabel Keeler and Ali Keeler
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