[2:74] Then your hearts became hardened thereafter, or even yet harder; for there are stones from which rivers come gushing, and others split so that water issues from them; and others come down in fear of God; And God is not heedless of what you do.
He explained that even though they witnessed weighty signs and had seen clear proofs, when [divine] solicitude did not help them and God did not create guidance for them, the many signs only increased their hardness and brought misery upon misery for them from the hiding places of the [divine] preordination. He compared their hearts to stones because [stones] do not grow or thrive, and their hearts likewise do not understand and are not aware. Then He explained that [their hearts] are even harder than stones, for there are stones from which rivers come gushing and upon which the traces of the fear of God appear. But their hearts are empty of all good. How can it not be so when [their hearts] were made to suffer the turning of the Real from them (muniyat bi-iʿrā?i'l-ḥaqq minhā) and were singled out for the removal of all good from them (khuṣṣat bi-intizāʿi'l-khayrāt minhā).