Islam Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for Muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
2:74 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 Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.
Since I am reading translated Quran, and don't know the Arabic language and cultural stuff, I am sadly unable to grab the beauty of Allah's words.
This ayah is addressing the Israelites who were arguing with Prophet Musa about a cow they were ordered to sacrifice. Their reluctance and questions about the sacrifice showed their arrogance and disobedience towards Musa and towards Allah swt.
Their hearts were harder than stone.
Then your hearts hardened after that, so that they were like rocks, rather worse in hardness: []The next sentences show why their hearts were worse than rocks in hardness: “and surely there are some rocks from which streams burst forth”. The sentence offers a contrast between rocks and water. Rocks are used as examples of hardness, while water is proverbially used to denote softness. Even then, there are some rocks - with all their hardness - from which streams of water - with all its softness - burst forth; “and surely there are some of them which split asunder so water issues out of them ”: The hard rocks send forth the soft waters; but the Israelites' hearts were so hard as never to allow any truth to issue out of them.
Of course this ayah is telling us to keep our hearts soft and struggle against arrogance in ourselves, so that we can follow the truth when it is presented to us. It shows that the obedience towards a Prophet is key as it is obedience towards Allah swt.
