The Quran

Preface

ثُمَّ قَسَت قُلوبُكُم مِن بَعدِ ذٰلِكَ فَهِيَ كَالحِجارَةِ أَو أَشَدُّ قَسوَةً ۚ وَإِنَّ مِنَ الحِجارَةِ لَما يَتَفَجَّرُ مِنهُ الأَنهارُ ۚ وَإِنَّ مِنها لَما يَشَّقَّقُ فَيَخرُجُ مِنهُ الماءُ ۚ وَإِنَّ مِنها لَما يَهبِطُ مِن خَشيَةِ اللَّهِ ۗ وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغافِلٍ عَمّا تَعمَلونَ

Yusuf Ali

Thenceforth were your hearts hardened: They became like a rock and even worse in hardness. For among rocks there are some from which rivers gush forth; others there are which when split asunder send forth water; and others which sink for fear of God. And God is not unmindful of what ye do¹.

The sinner’s heart gets harder and harder. It is even harder than rocks, of which a beautiful poetical allegory is placed before us. In nature we think there is nothing harder than rocks. But there are rocks that weep voluntarily, like repentant hearts that come to God of their own accord. Such are the rocks from which rivers and springs flow spontaneously, sometimes in small trickles, sometimes in big volumes. Then there are rocks which have to be split or dug into or blown up with dynamite, and underneath we find abundant waters, as in wells beneath rocky soil. Such are the hearts of a less degree of fineness, which yet melt into tears when some great blow or calamity calls the mind so higher things. And lastly, there are the rocks which slip or sink by geological pressure or in an earthquake, and send forth large spouts of water, as happened, for example, in the Bihar earthquake of 1934: suck sinking or quaking may be poetically ascribed to fear. So there are hearts which will come to God by no higher motive than fear, but yet fear will melt them into tears of repentance. But the hardened sinner is worse than all these. His case is worse than that of rocks, for nothing will melt him.