“تقلید” in the Masnavi

In their stubborn defiance, disbelievers possess the nature of an ape, and an (evil) disposition has become a canker within their breasts.

Whatever a person does, the monkey imitates, for it watches and follows every move the human makes moment by moment.

He thinks, 'I have acted like him': how should that quarrelsome-looking one know the difference?

This one (the holy man) acts by divine command, while the other (the apish imitator) acts out of sheer defiance; pour dust upon the heads of such stubborn defiers.