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wa-jaʿalnā fī l-ʾarḍi rawāsiya ʾan tamīda bihim wa-jaʿalnā fīhā fijājan subulan laʿallahum yahtadūna
We set firm mountains in the earth lest it should shake with them, and We made broad ways in them so that they may be guided [to their destinations].
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-’Anbiya’ – Verse 31
31. “And We set in the earth firm mountains lest it should shake with them (people), and We set therein broad high ways that they may be guided.”
This holy verse has pointed to another part of the signs of Monotheism as well as the great bounties of Allah. It says:
As a shield, mountains have embraced the earth, and this causes that they prevent the intensive shakes of the earth on a large scale which appear as a result of the pressure of the inner gases of it. Moreover, this very arrangement of the mountains usually decreases the movements of the crust of the earth against the low tides and high tides of the moon to the least. On the other hand, if there were not any mountains, the surface of the earth would not have any peace because of the hurricanes, as it is seen in the dry hot deserts as well as salt deserts. Mountains are good places for preserving snow to store water in them for the summer.
They are often good and appropriate environments for the growth of plants and animals. The kinds of stone, which are used in buildings, are taken from mountains, and there are cited some other advantages counted among the benefits of the mountains. Then the Qur’an points to another bounty, which is also one of the signs of the greatness of Allah, when it says:
Verily if these valleys and gaps were not, the great series of mountains existing on the crust of the earth, would so separate the different regions of the land that the joint of them was utterly broken, and this shows that all these phenomena have been arranged according to a proper program.
Explanations
1. The Arabic word /rawasi/ is the plural form of /rasiyah/ which means: ‘fixed’ and its objective in this holy verse is the ‘steadfast mountains’. The term /fijaj/ is also called to the wide roads between two mountains, while the narrow roads between mountains, in Arabic, are often named: /šu‘ab/.5
2. How can it be believed that Allah, the Wise, has set the mountains in order to prevent from numerous earthquakes, but He has not assigned the patient and powerful leaders to prevent mankind from slipping in events.
Footnotes