ثُمَّ قَسَتْ قُلُوبُكُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ فَهِىَ كَٱلْحِجَارَةِ أَوْ أَشَدُّ قَسْوَةً ۚ وَإِنَّ مِنَ ٱلْحِجَارَةِ لَمَا يَتَفَجَّرُ مِنْهُ ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ ۚ وَإِنَّ مِنْهَا لَمَا يَشَّقَّقُ فَيَخْرُجُ مِنْهُ ٱلْمَآءُ ۚ وَإِنَّ مِنْهَا لَمَا يَهْبِطُ مِنْ خَشْيَةِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَمَا ٱللَّهُ بِغَـٰفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ 74
Translations
Then your hearts became hardened after that, being like stones or even harder. For indeed, there are stones from which rivers burst forth, and there are some of them that split open and water comes out, and there are some of them that fall down for fear of Allāh. And Allāh is not unaware of what you do.
Transliteration
Thumma qasat qulubukum min ba'di dhalika fahiya ka-al-hijarah aw ashaddu qaswah. Wa-inna min al-hijarah lama yatafajjaru minhu al-anhar. Wa-inna minha lama yashshaqqaqu fayakhruju minhu al-ma'. Wa-inna minha lama yahbitu min khashyat Allah. Wa-ma Allah bi-ghafil amma ta'malun.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah rebukes the Children of Israel for their hardened hearts despite witnessing Allah's miracles, comparing their hearts to stone—or even harder. The ayah provides a powerful metaphor: while some stones allow rivers to flow from them and others crack to release water, showing they possess some flexibility and responsiveness to Allah's creation, the hardened hearts of those who rejected faith are even more impervious. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi, this demonstrates that hearts which reject truth become progressively harder and more resistant to guidance, yet Allah's awareness of all our deeds remains perfect.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the context of Surah Al-Baqarah's discussion of the Bani Israel's repeated transgressions and covenant-breaking. It follows the account of how they were given clear signs and the Torah, yet repeatedly disobeyed. The comparison to hardened stone reflects their spiritual state after rejecting guidance, illustrating how prolonged rejection of truth leads to hearts that cannot receive faith.
Related Hadiths
Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said: 'The example of the one who remembers his Lord and the one who does not remember his Lord is like the living and the dead' (Sahih Bukhari 5010). This relates thematically to how hearts become alive through remembrance or dead through hardness and neglect.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah warns against allowing our hearts to become hardened through repeated disobedience and rejection of truth; the antidote is constant remembrance of Allah, humility, and receptiveness to His guidance. Even when we stumble, we must recognize that only through openness to Allah's word can our hearts remain alive and responsive to faith, unlike those whose hearts become sealed through persistent denial.