Al-Baqarah 2:74
The verse opens a comparison: heart ↔ stone.
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
Then after that your hearts hardened. They were as rocks, or even harder. For there are some rocks from which rivers gush out, and others that splinter and water comes out from them, and others that sink in awe of God. God is not unaware of what you do
Al-Baqarah 2:74 · Translation: talal-itani
Image
Then it splits **the stone** into three types: (1) a stone from which rivers gush — the giving; (2) a stone that splits and lets water through — the opening; (3) a stone that rolls down out of awe of God — the descending. All three are "in motion." The conclusion: if even stone is this alive, the hardening of a heart is the heavier tragedy.
Observation
In Earth hydrology the water-conductivity of rocks spans a wide range: porous limestone and sandstone hold water and conduct it underground, aquifers re-emerge as springs; from fractured rocks too, springs gush forth. Erosion and freeze–thaw cycles open rock surfaces and clear paths for water — the verse lines up this geological reality through three rock-types in the language of observation. All three are everyday natural sights.
Exegesis
Al-Rāzī (Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb) reads the heart-stone parallel along the logic that **even non-human nature has a response — why not the heart?** Al-Qurṭubī notes that the listing of three rock-types is deliberate, each representing a different degree of yielding.
Sources
Tafsīr: al-Rāzī · Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb; al-Qurṭubī · al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān. Science: hydrogeology (aquifers, spring water, rock porosity).