7:146 I shall turn away from My signs those who are proud in the earth without the Real. Even were they to see all the signs, they would not have faith in them. Were they to see the way of rectitude, they would not take it as a way.
Pride is of two sorts: one with the Real, the other without the Real. That which is with the Real is the pride of the poor toward the rich. They are high in aspiration and rich in the heart through the Real. They have turned their aspiration away from the Throne and everything beneath it, cut their hearts off from the creatures, and busied themselves with love for the Real. Their aspiration is greater than this world and better than the afterworld. Their yearning is for the vision of the Patron.
Wāsiṭī said, “Pride with the Real is pride toward the rich and the sinful and toward the unbelievers and the folk of innovation. It is been transmitted in the traditions, ‘Meet the ungodly with dark faces. The pride that is without the Real is the pride of the rich and the world rulers toward the poor. This is what is meant by His words, “who are proud in the earth without the Real.”
Ibn ʿAṭāʾ said in this verse: “I shall keep back their hearts, their secret cores, and their spirits from roaming in the dominion of holiness.” In other words, “I will bind their hearts and secret cores from going. I will make their own being into their veil. I will turn them away from My road so that their secret cores will not be able to roam in the world of holiness and the Dominion. They will be held back from seeing the wonders of the Dominion and become close with their own souls and the creatures of this world. They will not taste the flavor of finding and they will remain unaware of the charismatic gifts of the folk of an election. They will never see a day of good fortune for themselves, nor will the rose of union bloom for them.”
By way of allusion, He is saying, “Not everyone who sees the road travels the road, and not everyone who has recognition finds the success of the practice.” The Exalted Lord reports about the estranged when He says, “And they denied them while their souls were sure of them because of wrongdoing and highness” [27:14] So, whenever someone recognizes the Real through the Real, that is of no use until he finds success and puts it into practice. And whenever someone recognizes the unreal through the unreal, that has no profit until he is given protection from following the unreal. This is why Muṣṭafā said, “O God, show us the Real as Real and provide us with following it, and show us the unreal as unreal and provide us with avoiding it!”
