31 Preface وَجَعَلنا فِي الأَرضِ رَواسِيَ أَن تَميدَ بِهِم وَجَعَلنا فيها فِجاجًا سُبُلًا لَعَلَّهُم يَهتَدونَYusuf AliAnd We have set on the earth mountains standing firm,1 lest it should shake with them, and We have made therein broad highways (between mountains) for them to pass through: that they may receive Guidance.2Cf. 16:15 and n. 2038. Lest it should shake with them: here “them” refers back to “they” at the end of the preceding verse, meaning “Unbelievers”. It might be mankind in general, but the pointed address to those who do not realise and understand God’s mercies is appropriate, to drive home to them the fact that it is God’s well-ordered providence that protects them normally from cataclysms like earthquakes, but that they could for their iniquities be destroyed in an instant, as the ‘Ād and the Thamūd were destroyed before them. As pointed out in n. 2691 above, if the surface of the earth were levelled up, it would all be under water, and therefore the firm mountains are a further source of security for life which has evolved in terrestrial forms. Though the mountains may seem impassable barriers, yet God’s providence has provided broad passes between them to afford highways for human communications (see also 27:61).In both the literal and the figurative sense. Literally, these natural mountain highways direct men in the way they should go. Figuratively, these wonderful instances of God’s providence should turn men’s thoughts to the true guidance of God in life and spiritual progress.