An-Nazi'at · Makki · ayah 32 of 46

An-Nazi'at 79:32

وَٱلْجِبَالَ أَرْسَىٰهَا

“And the mountains He set firmly”

Saheeh International

Essence

He set the mountains down like a ship's anchor, so that the ground we live on holds and does not drift.

A reflection

The pendulum at the top of the tower

Near the top of some very tall buildings, engineers hang an enormous steel weight, like a pendulum the size of a bus. Its job is to stop the tower swaying in strong wind. Visitors pay to see it. It is a triumph of human cleverness, and a confession: our tallest structures cannot hold still on their own.

This ayah is three words. Wa-l-jibāla arsāhā: and the mountains, He anchored them. The sources say He fixed them firmly in their places and made them firm. One scholar explains that they are pegs for the earth, so that it holds steady and so that people can live steadily on it.

No one hung the mountains. No crane set them down. No engineer calculated their weight. They stand, as the lexicons put it, fixed and firm, heavy and great. Meanwhile we build our small towers in their foothills and add pendulums to keep them still.

That comparison is where the ego loses its footing. We are proud of what we build, and rightly impressed by human skill. But our greatest works are small, anxious imitations of what He does with ease. The mountains did not need our help to stand. We need theirs.

A doubt might trouble a reader. Why does the Quran keep listing Allah's works in creation: sky, night, earth, water, mountains? Is this a Lord insisting on recognition? The narration-based commentator closes his remarks on the mountains by naming Allah as the Wise, the Knowing, the Kind and Merciful to His creation. The mountains are listed as mercy, not as trophies. They hold the ground steady for us. He gains nothing from them.

And the next ayah states the purpose in two words: 'provision for you'. Everything in this passage, from the sky to the mountains, was set in place with us in mind.

Next time you see a mountain, even a distant hill on the horizon, remember that it is holding your ground still. Then thank the One who anchored it.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.