Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 74

(Ayah 74) ➊ {قَسَتْ:} {’’ قَسَا يَقْسُوْ ‘‘} (n) is the third-person singular feminine form from the defective waw verb. When one thing has the ability to be affected by another thing, and then due to some accident that ability no longer remains, in the Arabic language the word {’’اَلْقَاسِيْ‘‘} is used for it. This is the same condition of the human heart, that it has the ability to be affected by arguments and signs, but when due to various reasons that ability no longer remains, it is likened to a stone in its inability to be affected. In this verse, Allah Almighty rebuked the Children of Israel, saying: What a strange, wretched people you are, that you saw with your own eyes even the dead coming to life, yet still you persisted in your disbelief and rebellion, and instead of your hearts softening, they became even harder, like stones, rather, even harder than that. Therefore, Allah Almighty forbade the Muslims from adopting the behavior of the People of the Book, as He said: «{ وَ لَا يَكُوْنُوْا كَالَّذِيْنَ اُوْتُوا الْكِتٰبَ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْاَمَدُ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوْبُهُمْ }» [ الحدید : ۱۶ ] “And let them not be like those who were given the Book before, then a long period passed over them, so their hearts became hard.” (Ibn Kathir)

➋ { اَوْ اَشَدُّ قَسْوَةً:} here is not for doubt, because how could Allah Almighty have doubt, rather it is in the meaning of { ”بَلْ“ }, i.e., they are like stones, rather, even harder than that. From { ”قَسْوَةٌ“ } comes the comparative {’’ اَقْسَي‘‘}, but to express even greater hardness, { ” اَشَدُّ قَسْوَةً“ } is used; this has been considered in the translation. After likening the hardness of the hearts of the disobedient People of the Book to the hardness of stones, Allah Almighty removed the complaint of the stones, as if they said: O Lord! We may be hard, but not so hard that these wrongdoers should be likened to us, so Allah Almighty described three types of them to explain their softness.

➌ “Out of fear of Allah”—this relates to all three types of stones. It is understood that the gushing forth of rivers from stones, their splitting open and water coming out, and their falling down, all happen due to the fear of Allah. If someone says that stones are lifeless things, how can they fear, the answer is that Allah Almighty has placed a kind of consciousness and understanding in them as well, apart from the intelligent creatures, the reality of which He alone knows. If someone, influenced by philosophy, denies this, let him do so; the people of the Sunnah believe in this. There are many examples of this in the Qur’an and Hadith, as Allah Almighty said: «{ وَ اِنْ مِّنْ شَيْءٍ اِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهٖ وَ لٰكِنْ لَّا تَفْقَهُوْنَ تَسْبِيْحَهُمْ }» [ بنی إسرائیل : ۴۴ ] “And there is nothing except that it glorifies Him with His praise, but you do not understand their glorification.” And He said: «{ اَلَمْ تَرَ اَنَّ اللّٰهَ يُسَبِّحُ لَهٗ مَنْ فِي السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ وَ الطَّيْرُ صٰٓفّٰتٍ كُلٌّ قَدْ عَلِمَ صَلَاتَهٗ وَ تَسْبِيْحَهٗ وَ اللّٰهُ عَلِيْمٌۢ بِمَا يَفْعَلُوْنَ}» [ النور : ۴۱ ] “Do you not see that indeed Allah, all that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and the birds with wings outspread? Each one knows its prayer and its glorification, and Allah is Knowing of what they do.” And He said: « اَلَمْ تَرَ اَنَّ اللّٰهَ يَسْجُدُ لَهٗ مَنْ فِي السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ مَنْ فِي الْاَرْضِ وَ الشَّمْسُ وَ الْقَمَرُ وَ النُّجُوْمُ وَ الْجِبَالُ وَ الشَّجَرُ وَ الدَّوَآبُّ وَ كَثِيْرٌ مِّنَ النَّاسِ وَ كَثِيْرٌ حَقَّ عَلَيْهِ الْعَذَابُ وَ مَنْ يُّهِنِ اللّٰهُ فَمَا لَهٗ مِنْ مُّكْرِمٍ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ يَفْعَلُ مَا يَشَآءُ» [ الحج : ۱۸ ] “Do you not see that to Allah prostrates whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth, and the sun and the moon and the stars and the mountains and the trees and the animals and many of mankind? But many are those upon whom the punishment has been justified. And whomever Allah humiliates, for him there is no one to give honor. Indeed, Allah does what He wills.” And He said: «{ اِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْاَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ وَ الْجِبَالِ فَاَبَيْنَ اَنْ يَّحْمِلْنَهَا وَ اَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَ حَمَلَهَا الْاِنْسَانُ }» [ الأحزاب : ۷۲ ] “Indeed, We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they declined to bear it and feared it, but man undertook to bear it.” And He said: «{ لَوْ اَنْزَلْنَا هٰذَا الْقُرْاٰنَ عَلٰى جَبَلٍ لَّرَاَيْتَهٗ خَاشِعًا مُّتَصَدِّعًا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ اللّٰهِ }» [ الحشر : ۲۱ ] “If We had sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would surely have seen it humbled and splitting asunder out of the fear of Allah.” And He said: «{ اَوَ لَمْ يَرَوْا اِلٰى مَا خَلَقَ اللّٰهُ مِنْ شَيْءٍ يَّتَفَيَّؤُا ظِلٰلُهٗ عَنِ الْيَمِيْنِ وَ الشَّمَآىِٕلِ سُجَّدًا لِّلّٰهِ وَ هُمْ دٰخِرُوْنَ }» [ النحل : ۴۸ ] “And do they not see what Allah has created, whatever it may be, that their shadows incline to the right and to the left, prostrating to Allah while they are humble?” And He said: «{ وَ قَالُوْا لِجُلُوْدِهِمْ لِمَ شَهِدْتُّمْ عَلَيْنَا قَالُوْۤا اَنْطَقَنَا اللّٰهُ الَّذِيْۤ اَنْطَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ وَّ هُوَ خَلَقَكُمْ اَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَّ اِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُوْنَ }» [ حٰمٓ السجدۃ : ۲۱ ] “And they will say to their skins, ‘Why did you testify against us?’ They will say, ‘Allah made us speak, the One who makes everything speak, and He created you the first time, and to Him you are being returned.’” Likewise, in authentic ahadith, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Uhud is a mountain that loves us and we love it.” [ بخاری، : ۷۳۳۳ ] And he said: “I know a stone in Mecca that used to greet me before my prophethood.” [ أحمد : 89/5، ح : ۲۰۸۶۹۔ مسلم : ۲۲۷۷ ] Likewise, there is the incident of the palm trunk crying out loud. [ صحیح ابن حبان: ۶۵۰۷ ] After such clear proofs, denial is plain misguidance. The words of the Qur’an are a proof against us, and it is obligatory to follow their apparent meaning.

➍ In { ”بِغَافِلٍ“ }, the letter ba is for emphasis of negation, so it has been translated as “never.”

74. 1. That is, even after witnessing the previous miracles and this recent event that the murdered person was brought back to life, there was no inclination towards repentance and seeking forgiveness in your hearts. Rather, on the contrary, your hearts became as hard as stone, or even harder than that. After this, the hope for their reform diminishes and the fear of complete destruction increases. Therefore, the believers have been especially instructed not to become like those people to whom the Book was given before them, but after a long period, their hearts became hardened.

74. 2. Despite the hardness of stones, the benefits that are derived from them and the states they undergo are being described here. From this, it is understood that even within stones there exists a kind of perception and feeling, just as Allah Almighty says: Ayah (تُـسَبِّحُ لَهُ السَّمٰوٰتُ السَّـبْعُ وَالْاَرْضُ وَمَنْ فِيْهِنَّ وَاِنْ مِّنْ شَيْءٍ اِلَّايُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهٖ وَلٰكِنْ لَّا تَفْقَهُوْنَ تَسْبِيْحَهُمْ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ حَلِــيْمًا غَفُوْرًا) 17:44

(Even after seeing such clear signs) your hearts became hardened, as hard as stones or even harder. For among stones [88] are some from which rivers gush forth, and some that split open and water flows out, and some that fall down for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.

[88] That is, even after witnessing this miracle and many previous miracles, no fear of Allah arose in your hearts. Rather, your hearts became harder and harder, even harder than stones. Because there are some stones (mountains) from which rivers gush forth, and they become a source of benefit for common people, and there are some from which only a spring flows—these are less beneficial compared to the former, yet still beneficial. And even in falling stones, there is fear of Allah and an effect present. But what benefit can be expected from disobedient people like you for others, whose hearts are completely devoid of the fear of Allah.