(125) “Whoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his heart to Islam; and whoever He wills to lead astray, He makes his heart constricted and distressed, as though he were laboriously climbing into the sky. Thus Allah lays defilement upon those who do not believe.”

Allah Most High explains to His servants the sign of a person’s blessedness and guidance, and the sign of his wretchedness and misguidance: When a person’s heart is opened to Islam—that is, broadened and made spacious—it becomes illuminated by the light of faith and enlivened by the radiance of certainty. His soul thereby finds tranquility, he loves what is good, and he willingly does it, taking pleasure in it rather than finding it burdensome. This is a sign that Allah has guided him, graciously granted him success, and enabled him to follow the straightest path.

The sign of one whom Allah wills to lead astray is that He makes his heart constricted and distressed—that is, utterly unreceptive to faith, knowledge, and certainty. His heart has become immersed in doubts and desires, so no good can reach it, nor does it open to the performance of good deeds. Because of its severe constriction, it is as though he were laboriously climbing into the sky—that is, as though he were being charged with ascending into the sky, something for which he has no means.

This is caused by their lack of faith, which warranted Allah’s laying defilement upon them, for they barred themselves from the door of mercy and beneficence. This is an unerring criterion and an unchanging rule: whoever gives, fears Allah, and affirms the finest reward, Allah will ease him toward ease; but whoever is stingy, deems himself self-sufficient, and denies the finest reward, ⦗273⦘ He will ease him toward hardship.