وَكَأَّنكَ لَمْ تَكُنِ اللهَ تُرِيدُ بِجِهَادِكَ، وَكَأَنَّكَ لَمْ تَكُنْ عَلَى بَيِّنَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكَ، وَكَأَنَّكَ إِنَّمَا كُنْتَ تَكِيدُ هذِهِ الْأُمَّةَ عَنْ دُنْيَاهُمْ، وَتَنْوِي غِرَّتَهُمْ عَنْ فَيْئِهِمْ! فَلَمَّا أَمْكَنَتْكَ الشِّدَّةُ فِي خِيَانَةِ الْأُمَّةِ، أَسْرَعْتَ الْكَرَّةَ، وَعَاجَلْتَ الْوَثْبَةَ، وَاخْتَطَفْتَ مَا قَدَرْتَ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمُ الْمَصُونَةِ لِأَرَامِلِهِمْ وَأَيْتَامِهِمُ، اخْتِطَافَ الذِّئْبِ الْأَزَلِّ دَامِيَةَ الْمِعْزَى الْكَسِيرَةَ، فَحَمَلْتَهُ إِلَى الْحِجَازِ رَحيِبَ الصَّدْرِ بِحَمْلِهِ، غَيْرَ مُتَأَثِّم مِنْ أَخْذِهِ، كَأَنَّكَ ـ لَا أَبَا لِغَيْرِكَ ـ حَدَرْتَ إِلَى أَهْلِكَ تُرَاثَكَ مِنْ أَبِيكَ وَأُمِّكَ.
It seems as if you do not want (to please) Allāh by your jihād, and as if you do not stand upon a clear sign from your Lord, and as if you have been playing tricks with this ummah (Muslim community) to earn (the pleasure of) this world and watching for the moment of their neglectfulness to usurp their share of the wealth. As soon as it was possible for you to misappropriate the ummah’s trust, you hastened to turn around and attack (them), and made a swift leap to snatch away whatever you could from their property meant for their widows and their orphans as a wolf snatches a wounded and helpless goat. Then, you happily loaded it off to the Ḥijāz without feeling guilty for having appropriated it. Allāh’s woe be to your ill-wishers; it was as though you were sending to your family what you had inherited from your father and mother.
