The meaning of ghurūr (self-deception) is to hold a conviction about something contrary to its true reality.

Thus, the person who is deceived is the one who believes that the spiritual openings he attains come from the virtue or power of a certain remembrance (dhikr) or practice.

He then expends all his energy and lifetime pursuing such practices, imagining that his devotion is worship of his Lord, and considering himself among those who remember God abundantly—delighting in those remembrances at all times.

Yet the more his practice increases, the farther he drifts from the Presence of his Lord, for he thickens the veil between himself and God through his own ambition and intention.

Sometimes he even calls others to follow the same path—and thus becomes one astray and leading others astray, veiled by the hidden shirk (idolatry) within his worship.

Then the Divine Presence says to him:

“You did not worship Us for Our sake; you worshiped for your own sake.Remain, then, with yourself;

take pleasure in the fruits of your own actions. For truly, you are with Me farther than all who are far, because of the impurity of your goal.”

Let us therefore call our brothers and sisters in faith to return to their Lord, to repent from the defilement of self-interest, to make their orientation purely toward God, and to purify their actions and intentions for His sake alone.

Then shall they find themselves nearer to their Lord than their own jugular vein.

Understand this well.

~Shaykh Ahmad al-Hadi al-Hasani al-Tijani