An individual may undertake an action with a sincere intention...

An individual may undertake an action with a sincere intention, desiring no pretension in it: rather, he even avoids pretending and hating it. But, at the same time, if he realizes that someone accidentally gets to know about it, he becomes happy, as if he feels restful when he gets to know that the individual saw how that act exhausted him. Such happiness and elation form the mark of pretension which is hidden within him, inside him, from which elation drips.

Had he directed his attention towards anyone other than Allah, and had he paid no attention to people, there is no sense in this elation when he knows that others came to know about his I righteous] deed. Happiness [in such a case] is like a fire that is hidden inside a stone. It becomes evident when the stone hits iron and the hidden fire comes out to the open and becomes obvious when the stone hits a stone.

People who are acquainted with and knowledgeable about the stone hitting the iron expose the hidden pretension. At that time, if this person does not react to this pleasure, that is, when happiness appears in his heart, and if he does not rebuke himself for it, reprimand it and meet it with hatred, this pleasure will be like nutrition for the disease's substance.

It grows undetected, and the effect of that growth gradually creates in him the need to find a reason for people having, to be familiar with his work. It is like talking about a subject and saying something casually. For example, if he is one of those who offer tahajjud, he talks about how the weather is cold or hot at the end of the night, or about something like that, so that others will understand that he was awake at that time [for tahajjud].

It may even be more hidden than that, too, such as one does not say anything to suggest to others familiarity with them, with his actions, neither explicitly nor implicitly. But people can get to know it from the way he dresses himself, his appearance or general conditions, such as drowsiness, the low tone of his voice, how his lips are withered..., etc. Or he may not watch himself during his prostration in order to avoid hitting the ground so prostrating will bear an impact on his forehead.

Deep inside his conscience he will be elated about it, that is, that he has a visible mark of adoration. Or he may be at a mourning commemoration for Imam al-Hussain (a.s) or a gathering for supplication. At the end of the gathering, he does not remove the tears from his eyes hilly.