ions; and through the tongues of their beings they sanctify their Creator, declaring: “God is Most Great!”
O All-Powerful One of Glory, Who makes the mountains masts and holds of treasure for the ship of the earth!
Through the instruction of Your Noble Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) and the teaching of the Wise Qur’an, I have understood that just as the seas with their strange creatures recognize You and make You known, so do the mountains through the wise services they perform. For they ensure that the earth is released from the effects of earthquakes and internal upheavals; save it from being overrun by the seas; purify the air of poisonous gases; are tanks for the saving and storage of water; and treasuries for the minerals and metals necessary for living beings.
Yes, there is not one of the stones to be found in mountains, or the various substances used as remedies for illness, or the varieties of metals and minerals, which are essential for living beings and especially man, or the species of plants that adorn the mountains and plains with their flowers and fruits, but through the wisdom, order, and fine creation it displays, which is impossible to ascribe to chance, it testifies to the necessary existence of an infinitely Powerful, Wise, Compassionate, and Munificent Maker. This is especially true of substances found in the mountains like salt, potassium oxalate, quinine sulphate, and alum, which superficially resemble each other, but whose tastes are totally dissimilar; and particularly of all the varieties of plants, and the great diversity of their flowers and fruits. Moreover, through their being administered and managed as a totality, and their origins, situations, creation, and art all being similar, and the ease, speed, and cheapness in their making, they testify to the unity and oneness of their Maker.
Also, the creatures on the surface of the mountains and inside them being made everywhere on the earth at the same time in the same fashion, perfectly and without error, with none impeding others, and their being created without confusion despite being intermingled with all the other sorts of other creatures, all point to the splendour of Your dominicality and the immensity of Your power, for which nothing is difficult.
Also, the mountains —both their surfaces and their interiors— being filled in orderly fashion with trees, plants, and minerals to meet the innumerable needs of all the living creatures on the earth, and even to supply the remedies for their many different illnesses, and gratify their various appetites and tastes, and these being displayed for those who need them, indicates the infinite breadth of Your mercy and infinite extent of Your