Concerning the States of the Hearts:

We shall begin with the believer's heart so that the state of the other hearts be known in contrast. It should be known that in the transcendental sciences and the true teachings it has been clearly(unmistakably)   established that the reality of `being' is the reality of 'light.' These two terms signify one simple reality without being attributable to any separate multiple aspects. It is also known that that which pertains to perfection and completion derives from being itself. This is one of the noble principles, and to anyone who has the honour to apprehend it the door to the higher teaching is opened. Our feeble(flimsy) spirits are unable to apprehend the reality of that Being without a help from the Hidden and a success predestined from eternity. It is also known that faith in God belongs to the category of knowledge and is one of the absolute perfections. Hence, being a perfection, it belongs to being itself and the reality of light and manifestation. And that which is other than faith and all that relates to it, is outside the category of the perfections of the human spirit, belonging to the darkness of non-being and quiddity.

Concerning the Luminosity of the Believer's Heart:

Hence it is known that the 'believer's heart is luminous. It is narrated in the noble al-Kafi from al-Imam al-Sadiq, may peace be upon him, that he said: "You see some people who are so perfect in eloquence that they don't err in [the use of a single letter like] lam or waw, while their hearts are darker than a gloomy night, and there are some people who cannot express what is in their hearts, yet their heart is radiant like a lamp."  Further, the believer's heart is on the Straight Path and his spiritual movement is on the middle path of humanity. That is because, firstly, he has not deserted his primal divine nature, fashioned in forty days by God, the Exalted, with the hands of His Beauty and Glory. Thus he walks on the path of the nature of tawhid, oriented towards absolute perfection and consummate beauty. Inevitably, this spiritual movement from the plane of innate nature to the ultimate point of absolute perfection is without any crookedness, being as it is the path of spiritual rectitude and the middle inner way. However, all other hearts deviate from nature and the straight path. It is narrated of the Noblest Messenger, may God bless him and his Household, that he drew a straight line on the ground drawing other lines on its either side. Then he said, "This one, the straight and middlemost line, is my path." 

Explanation of the Believer's being on the Straight Path:

Secondly, the believer is the follower of the Perfect Man, and since the Perfect Man is the manifestation of all the Names and the Attributes and subject to the Lordship of the Truth, the Exalted, by virtue of the All inclusive Name (ism-e jami), his being is not monopolized by anyone of the Names. Like his Lord, he is an all-inclusive being and in him the manifestation of any of the Names is not overshadowed by that of any other Name. He possesses the station of middleness (maqam-e wasafiyyat) and the major mediation (barzakhiyyat-e kubra). Hence his movement is along the straight and middlemost path of the All-inclusive Name.

All other beings are dominated by one of the encompassing or non encompassing Names of which they are manifestations. Their origin and return is from and to that Name. The Name opposite to it is latent in it and plays no active role in it except from the aspect of the unity of all the Names-something whose explanation is not appropriate here. Hence God, the Exalted, at the station of the All-inclusive Name and the Lord of Man (rabb al-insan), is on the Straight Path, as He says:

Verily my Lord is on the Straight Path. (11:56)

That means the station of middleness and all-inclusiveness (jami'iyyat) without the predominance of an Attribute over another and without the manifestation of one Name rather than that of another. A being subject to the Lordship of that Sacred Being at this station is also on the Straight Path, without any station or aspect overshadowing another station or aspect. Hence [the believer] in the course of his real upward ascension [i.e. prayer] and the ultimate point of proximity [to the Divine], after making an admission of servitude, after referring every worship and service by every worshipper to that Sacred Essence and ascribing all help in all stations of expansiveness and straits (qabd wa bast) exclusively to that Sacred Being, by declaring:

Thee only we worship and Thee only we ask for help, (1:5)

says:

Guide us to the Straight Path. (1:6)

This is the same path as that of the Lord of the Perfect Man, the former from the [active] aspect of manifesting (zahirriyyat) and Lordship (rububiyyat) and the latter from the [passive] aspect of being manifested [mazhariyyat] and creaturehood [marbubiyyat]. None of the other existents and beings in movement towards Allah are on the Straight Path, but are deviant, inclining either towards (Divine) Grace and Beauty or towards Might and Glory. The faithful (mu'minin), since they are followers of the Perfect Man and walk in his footsteps, they journey by the light of his guidance and the lamp of his knowledge (ma'rifah) in submission to the sacred being of the Perfect Man. They don't take any step by themselves and do not allow their intellect to meddle with the character of the spiritual journey towards Allah. For this reason, their path is also straight, and in the company of the Perfect Man their fufilment (wusal) is subordinate to the fulfilment of the Perfect Man, provided that they protect their clear hearts from the workings of the devils, the ego, and egoism, and submit themselves totally in the journey to the Perfect Man and the station of ultimate prophecy.

Concerning Some Stratagems of Satan:

One of the evil workings of Satan is to make man turn the face of his heart away from the Straight Path and towards some coquettish person (shukh) or guru (shaykh). One of the great masterpieces of Satan, who whispers into the hearts of men, is that he, with gay and nonchalant discourse and deceptive manipulations, makes some spiritual gurus (shuyukh) enamoured to some coquette, justifying this major sin, or an act of spiritual polytheism, on the pretext that if the heart were to have a singular attachment one can succeed faster in curtailing worldly attachments. At [other] times he turns some mindless coquette towards some demonic guru, one who seduces people or is rather a satanic highwayman. The pretext offered for this act of explicit polytheism (shirk-e jali) is that the guru is a Perfect Man and that only through the Perfect Man one can attain to the realm of absolute transcendence, which is not manifested except in the mirror of the guru. At the end of their lives, the two of them-that one with the memory of his favourite's cheek and this one with the inverted face of his guru-join the world of demons and satans, and neither the former gets rid of his bestial attachment nor the latter reaches the goal through this blind alley.

It should be known that since the believer's journey is on a Straight Path and his heart is upright(erect), his orientation is towards Allah and his way is the middle path. As a result, in that world too his path is clear and straight, his posture upright, and his appearance and character, his inward and outward, have a human form and shape. One can understand the character of the heart of the polytheists in contrast to this. As his heart deviates from the Divine nature, and strays from the central point of perfection and the hub of light and beauty, departing from submission to the absolute Guide and Guardian (Wali) and preoccupied with its own ego and egoism, the world and its ornaments(jewel), consequently in the other worlds also it is not resurrected with the straight human character and form but in the form of an animal with a head turned about. That is so because, in that world, form and shape are subject to the character of the heart and the outward reflects the inward and the shell is the image of the kernel. The matter of that realm is not averse to accepting the inward malakuti forms as in this world, and this thesis has been established in its proper place. Hence the hearts which are averse to the Truth and Reality and deviate from straight nature, oriented and directed as they are towards the world, their image too, like themselves, deviates from straightness, being inverted, facing the world and physical nature (tabi`at), which is the lowest of the low. Perhaps, in that world some would walk on their faces with their feet upwards, some on their bellies, and some on their hands and feet, like animals, the way they in fact walked in this world:

Is he who goes inverted on his face more rightly guided or he who walks upright on a straight path? (67:22)

It is possible that this metaphor in the metaphoric world becomes a reality in the realm of reality and manifestation of spirituality. In some noble traditions relating to the exegesis of this noble verse, the `Straight Path' is interpreted as referring to Hadrat Amir al-Mu'minin and the Infallible Imams, may peace be upon them:

In al-Kafi (al-Kulayni reports) with his isnad from Abu al-Hasan al-Madi (al-Imam Musa al-Kazim) that (Muhammad b. al-Fudayl) says: [When asked concerning the meaning of the verse], "Is he who goes inverted on his face more rightly guided or he who walks upright on a straight path?" The Imam replied, 'Verily, God has struck a similitude [in this verse]: one who deviates from the wilayah of 'Ali [may peace be upon him] is like one who walks on his face and is not guided, and He has made one who follows him as one who walks upright on a straight path, and 'the Straight Path' is Amir al-Mu'minin, may peace be upon him.' " 

In another tradition the `Straight Path' is explained as meaning 'Ali, may peace be upon him, and the rest of the Imams, may peace be upon them. 

Also, it is narrated in the noble al-Kafi from Fudayl that he said: "I entered the Holy Mosque (of Makkah) with al-Imam al-Baqir, may peace be upon him, and he was leaning upon me. Then he threw his blessed glance upon the people as we stood at the Door of Bani Shaybah. Then he said, `O Fudayl, they used to circumambulate in this manner [even] during the days of the Jahiliyyah! They neither recognized any truth nor followed any creed. O Fudayl, look at them, they walk inverted on their faces! May God damn them, they are a disfigured creation walking on their faces." Then he recited the noble verse, Is he who goes inverted on his face more rightly guided or he who walks upright on a straight path. Then he added, "By God, that means `Ali, may peace be upon him, and his awsiya', may peace be upon them." 

In the foregoing we have explained how the journey and the movement of the Perfect Man are on the Straight Path. However, the exposition of the matter that the Perfect Man is the Straight Path itself is beyond our purpose in this discourse.

Complimentary Note: The Hypocrite's Heart and the Difference Between it and the Believer's Heart:

The states of the heart of the believer and the polytheist-and even that of the unbeliever-became known from the exposition in the foregoing section. A comparison also discloses the state of the hypocrite's heart. That is because the believer's heart has nor departed from its original innocent and clear nature and it naturally accepts any truths relating to faith and the true teaching. The harmony and compatibility between the nourishment-which consists of the truths and the teachings-and the nourished one-which is the heart in its state of original nature-is preserved. Hence in another tradition of the noble al-Kafi, the believer's heart has been said to be `open' (maftuh), and although this `opening' may refer to one of the `threefold openings' (futhat-e thalathah),  this meaning is also appropriate.

However, as the hypocrite's heart has obscurities and darkness formed in it contrary to the human nature, such as ignorant prejudices (ta'assubhaye jahiliyyat), blameworthy moral traits, vanity, ambition, and other qualities contrary to the [primal] nature, it is closed and sealed. It is not at all receptive to the word of truth and its tablet is like a page of paper that is totally blackened, on which nothing can be inscribed. Its pretense of religiosity, arising from its satanic character, is a means to secure worldly benefit and advancement in mundane matters.

It should be known that the hearts of the polytheist and the hypocrite are both inverted and sealed, as is clear and evident. But the attribution of one of these qualities to each of them in particular is for the reason that, as the hearts of the polytheists are turned in worship towards other than That which is Absolute Perfection, they have two properties and characteristics: one is sincere humility [in front of the object of worship] and another is the deficiency and obfuscation created by this humility, which is diverted towards imperfect beings and creatures. Hence their hearts are inverted and this is their predominant characteristic(typical). As to the hypocrite, he is either a polytheist in reality-and in this respect he shares equally with the polytheists the quality of inversion of the heart-besides possessing an additional quality [i.e. hypocrisy], or he is an unbeliever in reality and possesses no religiosity. Although his heart too is inverted, it has another quality which is predominant. That additional quality is his outward pretense of following the truth. He enters the congregation of the followers of the Truth and hears all the truthful preaching that is heard by the believers. Yet, while the believer absorbs them due to his inner purity and open heart, the hypocrite fails to receive them due to the darkness and obscurities of his heart, which is closed and sealed.

The reason for singling out for mention from among the attributes of the believer the two characteristics, of gratitude on being favoured with gifts and patience in trials, is the salient character of these two among the believer's qualities. These are two of the major virtues from which other virtues branch out, and we have alluded to this in the exposition of some of the earlier traditions.  Further, the tradition refers to two of the Divine Attributes, of Glory and Beauty, or Might and Grace, each of which is manifested in the condition of tribulation and the condition of being well provided. And although tribulation belongs to the Attributes of Grace, but since it manifests through Might, it is reckoned as belonging to it, as mentioned in the discussions on Divine Names and Attributes. The believer always observes the duties of servitude between the two manifestations.

Conclusion: Neglect of the Truth Results in the Inversion of the Heart:

From the foregoing discussion it is known that the souls, though they should have belief in God and Resurrection, become inverted if they are totally absorbed by attention towards the world and preoccupied with mundane advancements while being neglectful of God. The criterion in respect of the inversion of the heart is the neglect of God and attention to the world and its cultivation. Such belief is either not faith, as mentioned in the exposition of some of the earlier traditions,  or is an insignificant and inadequate faith that is not inconsistent(erractic) with the inversion of the heart. In fact, one who makes a pretense of belief in transcendence and Resurrection but has no trepidation arising from such a belief and whom this belief does not lead to act with his bodily members, such a one is to be considered as belonging to the hypocrites, not as one of the believers. Possibly this sort of apparent believers, like the people of Ta'if, who in the noble tradition are mentioned as being typical of those who are believers at one time and hypocrites at another time, may altogether lose this hollow faith which has no sovereignty in the realm of their physical, bodily existence (mulk). They might leave this world in a state of complete hypocrisy to be resurrected amongst the hypocrites. This is one of the crucial matters to which our weak spirits must attach great importance, taking care that the effects of faith become established in our manifest and hidden, inner and outer, being. In the same way as we claim to possess faith in the heart, we should make our outward being also subject to its authority, so that the roots of faith become established in our hearts, not to be destroyed by any kind of obstacle or hindrance, transformation and change, so that this Divine trust of a celestial and pure heart, fashioned with its Divine nature, is returned to the Sacred Being unaffected and unsoiled by the workings of Satan and hands of treachery. And to Allah belongs all praise, at every beginning and end. '