قسو

Core meaning

To harden and lose all suppleness: the core that becomes like stone, always after a failing.

Uses

1. قَسَا → "to harden" : to become hard, with time or after a fault.

   • «ثُمَّ قَسَتْ قُلُوبُكُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ» — "Then your cores hardened after that" (2:74)
   • «فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْأَمَدُ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ» — "and the span grew long for them, so their cores hardened" (57:16)

2. قَاسِيَة, قَسْوَة → "hard", "hardened" : the hardened state, and its degree.

   • «وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَٰسِيَةًۭ» — "and made their cores hard" (5:13)
   • «فَهِىَ كَٱلْحِجَارَةِ أَوْ أَشَدُّ قَسْوَةًۭ» — "so that they are like stone, or harder still" (2:74)

Evidence from the text

Hardness is never a starting state: it follows. After the signs given to the sons of Israel (2:74), after the violation of the engagement (5:13), after a long span (57:16), or when the Diverter embellishes deeds (6:43). Stone serves as the measure, and the core can exceed it (2:74).

Its opposite follows at once: those whose cores are hardened against the remembrance (39:22) stand against those of whom it is said: "their skins and their cores soften toward the remembrance of God" (39:23).

Distinctions

• لين — to soften: the core that yields to the remembrance, the exact opposite (39:23)
• حجر — stone: the measure of hardness, which the hardened core exceeds

See also

قلب (the core)