[2:78-9] 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 were different in the shortcomings of their disbelief. One group is the most contemptible, while the majority relied on blind following (taqlīd) out of ignorance. It was not that doubt seized them but rather they were misled by conjecture and guessing. They have no share in their Scriptures except reciting 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 mention be exalted: [2:79 cont'd] 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. The allusion in this verse is to those who lack sincerity (ikhlāṣ) in companionship (suḥba) on the path of the Real. They associate with the friends (awlityāÌ) externally but they possess no true spiritual desire (irāda), so they are companions with the heedless with only a partial view of this path. Whenever the clamor of worldly fortunes call, they rush to respond willingly but when the demands of the Real (s) 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.