Al-Hashr (The Exile)

21. Had We sent down this Qur’an on a mountain, you would surely have seen it humbling itself and rend asunder by the fear of Allah. Such are the parables which We put forward to mankind that they may reflect.

The preceding blessed Verses made use of different ways to penetrate into the hearts of mankind and most explicitly expressed the most significant issues. The blessed Verse in question, reflecting all Qur’anic Verses, reveals that the Holy Qur’an is so penetrating that had it been sent down on mountains, they would have trembled; however, it is a source of surprise that man is so stone-hearted that he hears it but he is not affected by it.

The blessed Verse is saying that

“Had We sent down this Qur’an on a mountain, you would surely have seen it humbling itself and rend asunder by the fear of Allah. Such are the parables which We put forward to mankind that they may reflect.”

Many a Qur’an exegete have taken the blessed Verse as a simile maintaining that despite all their firmness, had mountains had intellect and perception, they would have trembled and rent asunder upon hearing Qur’anic Verses, but some hard-hearted people hear them without being affected in the least.

In this vein, the exegetes maintain that

“Such are the parables which We put forward to mankind”

substantiates the interpretation.

Some other exegetes, however, taking into account the outward meaning of the blessed Verse, say that all the creatures in this world, e.g. mountains, possess some sort of perception and had these blessed Verses been sent unto them, they would have verily rent asunder.

In this vein, they maintain that the interpretation is substantiated by the blessed Verse¹

“Then, your hearts were hardened and turned into stones out of which rivers gush forth and verily there are of them which split asunder so that water flows from them and verily there are of them which fall down for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.”

It is worthy of note that the blessed Verse is saying that mountains would have been humbled before the Holy Qur’an, then it proceeds to say that they would have been rent asunder, alluding that the Holy Qur’an would have penetrated into them in time whose tokens would have been reflected in them such that they would have lost their firmness like restless enamored people and then would have been rent asunder.