Is he who knows Allah and that he is among those who receive kindness, so Allah is kind to him until his heart opens to Islam and he desires it and accepts it, like one who has no kindness, for he is tight-hearted and hard-hearted? And the light of Allah is His kindness. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, recited this verse, and it was said, 'O Messenger of Allah, how is the opening of the heart?' He said, 'When the light enters the heart, it opens and expands.' [Reported by Al-Thalabi, Al-Hakim, and Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Shu'ab from the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud. In it is Abu Furwah Al-Rahawi, about whom there is some criticism.] And it was narrated by Al-Tirmidhi Al-Hakim in Al-Nawadir in the eighty-sixth original. And in its chain is Ibrahim bin [Bi'ad in the original], who is weak.] It was said: 'O Messenger of Allah, what is the sign of that?' He said, 'Turning to the abode of eternity, distancing oneself from the abode of delusion, and preparing for death before it descends.' This is similar to His saying: 'Is he who is devout in worship' in omitting the news from the mention of Allah because of His mention, meaning: when Allah or His verses are mentioned among them, they recoil and their hearts become harder, as His saying: 'And it increased them in wickedness to their wickedness.' And it was read: 'from the mention of Allah.'

If you say: What is the difference between 'from' and 'about' in this? I say: If you say: 'His heart became hard from the mention of Allah,' the meaning is as you mentioned, that the hardness is because of the mention and due to it. And if you say: 'about the mention of Allah,' the meaning is that he is thick-skinned against accepting the mention and has turned away from it. An example of this is: 'He gave him to drink from the water due to his thirst,' meaning because of his thirst, and 'He gave him to drink about the water' means: he quenched him until he distanced him from thirst.