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Question about 31:10 for Muslim Arabic speakers

TG123456

Active Member
Salaam Alaikum. Reading the Quran, I came across this verse:

31:10

He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind.

I see varying translations, some say that God cast the mountains into the earth, and others that he placed them on the earth.


Sahih International
He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind.
Muhsin Khan
He has created the heavens without any pillars, that you see and has set on the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake with you. And He has scattered therein moving (living) creatures of all kinds. And We send down water (rain) from the sky, and We cause (plants) of every goodly kind to grow therein.
Pickthall
He hath created the heavens without supports that ye can see, and hath cast into the earth firm hills, so that it quake not with you; and He hath dispersed therein all kinds of beasts. And We send down water from the sky and We cause (plants) of every goodly kind to grow therein.
Yusuf Ali
He created the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and He scattered through it beasts of all kinds. We send down rain from the sky, and produce on the earth every kind of noble creature, in pairs.
Shakir
He created the heavens without pillars as you see them, and put mountains upon the earth lest it might convulse with you, and He spread in it animals of every kind; and We sent down water from the cloud, then caused to grow therein (vegetation) of every noble kind.
Surat Luqman [31:10] - The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم


When I tried doing a Google Translate of this verse, I came up with the following:

He created the heavens without any pillars that you see and threw in the earth lest it should shake with you and transmit them from each animal and sent down water from the sky Voneptna where each pair of cream
Google Translate

The translation is saying "cast" means "threw", but there I don't see the word "mountains" anywhere. Babelfish and Bing Translate were hopeless LOL.


Can anyone tell me what the bolded part would be, word for word? Were the mountains cast into the earth, or placed on the earth?

Or did all the translators listed, including Google Translate, get it wrong?

Thanks so much!
 

DawudTalut

Peace be upon you.
Salaam Alaikum. Reading the Quran, I came across this verse:

31:10

He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind.

I see varying translations, some say that God cast the mountains into the earth, and others that he placed them on the earth.


Sahih International
He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind.
Muhsin Khan
He has created the heavens without any pillars, that you see and has set on the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake with you. And He has scattered therein moving (living) creatures of all kinds. And We send down water (rain) from the sky, and We cause (plants) of every goodly kind to grow therein.
Pickthall
He hath created the heavens without supports that ye can see, and hath cast into the earth firm hills, so that it quake not with you; and He hath dispersed therein all kinds of beasts. And We send down water from the sky and We cause (plants) of every goodly kind to grow therein.
Yusuf Ali
He created the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and He scattered through it beasts of all kinds. We send down rain from the sky, and produce on the earth every kind of noble creature, in pairs.
Shakir
He created the heavens without pillars as you see them, and put mountains upon the earth lest it might convulse with you, and He spread in it animals of every kind; and We sent down water from the cloud, then caused to grow therein (vegetation) of every noble kind.
Surat Luqman [31:10] - The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم


When I tried doing a Google Translate of this verse, I came up with the following:

He created the heavens without any pillars that you see and threw in the earth lest it should shake with you and transmit them from each animal and sent down water from the sky Voneptna where each pair of cream
Google Translate

The translation is saying "cast" means "threw", but there I don't see the word "mountains" anywhere. Babelfish and Bing Translate were hopeless LOL.


Can anyone tell me what the bolded part would be, word for word? Were the mountains cast into the earth, or placed on the earth?

Or did all the translators listed, including Google Translate, get it wrong?

Thanks so much!

Peace be on all.
It is some thing in English as:

1=
(To) Hit the books, (To) Lose your touch, (To) Sit tight, Rule of thumb etc....

These words does not mean to be taken literally.



2=
Else where Quran says:
[57:26] ".............We sent down iron..............."

[7:27] "O children of Adam! We have indeed sent down to you raiment to cover your shame, and to be an elegant dress; but the raiment of righteousness — that is the best. That is one of the Signs of Allah, that they may remember."

Obviously such things are not in physical sense.



3=
Mountain on earth matter is also mentioned in:
13:4
15:20
16:16
77:28


4=
Please see detailed discussion of word لقى [used in verse of your interest] @ https://www.alislam.org/quran/dictionary/dictionary_quran.pdf
wwwDOTalislamDOTorg/quran/dictionary/dictionary_quran.pdf
page 739

and for word:
رواسى page 326 in above link


5=
About verse 31:11 (
or 31:10 as you said)
"Again, in many other verses the Quran refers to the mountains as ravasiya which means 'firmly rooted in the earth'
......"

The Quran and Cosmology
wwwDOTalislamDOTorg/library/books/revelation/part_4_section_5.html


 
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Smart_Guy

...
Premium Member
وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته
And piece be upon you too, God's mercy and blessing.
(Now that's a good way to reply the Islamic greetings in English :))

Yes, the verse uses the word رواسي instead of جبال which actually means (i.e., جبال) mountains. The former word; i.e., راوسي is actually an adjective that indicates "stabilizing weights". I honestly do not know how it was translated to mountains. Maybe because it was the closest meaning to it or maybe in rhetoric formal Arabic it does mean mountains. It does kinda give the impression of "mountains" to native Arabs.

I'm afraid that's all I can help with in this subject.

Btw, try to avoid Arabic to English full phrase and sentence translations in electronic translators like Google Translate. I noticed that كَريم was translated to "cream" while it actually means dignified or noble in the context of the verse. It can also mean generous, but not in this context.
 
Last edited:

TashaN

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Walikum alsalam.

Although some interpreters thought it refer to mountain but i believe it doesn't. When you read it in Arabic there is no indication that the verse might refer to mountains but i understand how can one draw that conclusion. The verse actually refer to the fact that earth has stabilizers which might refer to the strong megnatic field that earth has.
 

TG123456

Active Member
Salaam Alaikum, it's me again. :)

I was wondering what do people make of the verse below:
earth.

20:105-107
And they ask you about the mountains, so say, "My Lord will blow them away with a blast.
And He will leave the earth a level plain;
You will not see therein a depression or an elevation."


Given that many mountains are formed when earth's tectonic plates move together and crack through the earth, would it not follow that when the mountains are blown away there would be big holes left in it the earth?

Also, what about other elevations and depressions, like rocks and hills and valleys and caves? They aren't mountains, but they very much make the earth very unleveled.

Would not the earth have to be made into a level plain, instead of being left as one, after the mountains are blown away?
 

Smart_Guy

...
Premium Member
وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته

I'm afraid I don't have an explanation for that. There are things God foretells in the Quran that has no explanation. He says that the mountains will be blown away making earth leveled, but the nature of how that's happening is not mentioned. Other verses also say that the seas will burn and some interpretations say this will cause it to evaporate leaving only barren lands. That will most likely leave earth with different levels all over. Maybe having the mountains blown away will cover the holes that took the place of seas and balance the level. Maybe there are other things related to it. Maybe the plates of earth are actually moved by the pressure on the deep seas and then that the seas are gone, the plates don't move anymore?

There is no predictions for it, as I see it. Sorry for being useless here.
 

TG123456

Active Member
وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته

I'm afraid I don't have an explanation for that. There are things God foretells in the Quran that has no explanation. He says that the mountains will be blown away making earth leveled, but the nature of how that's happening is not mentioned. Other verses also say that the seas will burn and some interpretations say this will cause it to evaporate leaving only barren lands. That will most likely leave earth with different levels all over. Maybe having the mountains blown away will cover the holes that took the place of seas and balance the level. Maybe there are other things related to it. Maybe the plates of earth are actually moved by the pressure on the deep seas and then that the seas are gone, the plates don't move anymore?

There is no predictions for it, as I see it. Sorry for being useless here.
Wa alaikum salaam to you, Smart_Guy.

If I am not mistaken, 56:6 claims that the mountains will become dust. It would take a lot of dust to fill in the oceans if they were to all evaporate. There would also be the problem of non-mountainous structures, like rocks and hills, which make the earth non-level.

I guess only God knows for sure what will happen when the Day of Resurrection comes.
 

TG123456

Active Member
Also, bear in mind that 16:15 states that mountains prevent the earth from shaking. If this is true, then on the Day of Resurrection no one will be able to stand properly since people will be constantly falling down.
 

Smart_Guy

...
Premium Member
It is not necessary that the current ground level will be the same then. The ground level be then could become lower covering up for the unbalanced level after filling the oceans/seas spaces. Maybe also the whole earth don't need to be of the exact same level everywhere. even now with the earth with completely different levels, we can look at it and live on it as if it is perfectly leveled. We still do not know the nature of the leveling the Quran talks about.

Also, bear in mind that 16:15 states that mountains prevent the earth from shaking. If this is true, then on the Day of Resurrection no one will be able to stand properly since people will be constantly falling down.

This part takes us back to the translation discussion we had above in post #3 on a hand, and on the other, we still do not know the nature of the leveling not the nature of earth itself how it is gonna change with time. Even now, earth is different that in was long time ago. The Resurrection Day is not coming tomorrow you know :)
 
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TG123456

Active Member
It is not necessary that the current ground level will be the same then. The ground level be then could become lower covering up for the unbalanced level after filling the oceans/seas spaces. Maybe also the whole earth don't need to be of the exact same level everywhere. even now with the earth with completely levels, can look at it and live on it as if it is perfectly leveled. We still do not know the nature of the leveling the Quran talks about.



This part takes us back to the translation discussion we had above in post #3 on a hand, and on the other, we still do not know the nature of the leveling not the nature of earth itself how it is gonna change with time. Even now, earth is different that in was long time ago. The Resurrection Day is not coming tomorrow you know :)
You make a very good point, Smart_Guy. The earth on the Day of Resurrection will be very different than it is now. Speculating on that day makes no sense.
 

FearGod

Freedom Of Mind
Salaam Alaikum. Reading the Quran, I came across this verse:

31:10

He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind.

I see varying translations, some say that God cast the mountains into the earth, and others that he placed them on the earth.


Sahih International
He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind.
Muhsin Khan
He has created the heavens without any pillars, that you see and has set on the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake with you. And He has scattered therein moving (living) creatures of all kinds. And We send down water (rain) from the sky, and We cause (plants) of every goodly kind to grow therein.
Pickthall
He hath created the heavens without supports that ye can see, and hath cast into the earth firm hills, so that it quake not with you; and He hath dispersed therein all kinds of beasts. And We send down water from the sky and We cause (plants) of every goodly kind to grow therein.
Yusuf Ali
He created the heavens without any pillars that ye can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and He scattered through it beasts of all kinds. We send down rain from the sky, and produce on the earth every kind of noble creature, in pairs.
Shakir
He created the heavens without pillars as you see them, and put mountains upon the earth lest it might convulse with you, and He spread in it animals of every kind; and We sent down water from the cloud, then caused to grow therein (vegetation) of every noble kind.
Surat Luqman [31:10] - The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم


When I tried doing a Google Translate of this verse, I came up with the following:

He created the heavens without any pillars that you see and threw in the earth lest it should shake with you and transmit them from each animal and sent down water from the sky Voneptna where each pair of cream
Google Translate

The translation is saying "cast" means "threw", but there I don't see the word "mountains" anywhere. Babelfish and Bing Translate were hopeless LOL.


Can anyone tell me what the bolded part would be, word for word? Were the mountains cast into the earth, or placed on the earth?

Or did all the translators listed, including Google Translate, get it wrong?

Thanks so much!

I don't know how they translated it as mountains even in Arabic they thought the word means mountains and actually it doesn't, the word "Rawasi رواسى" means something to make things to be fixed in their positions, so i guess it is what we think of it today as the gravity that hold things in place, it's derived from the word "رسا" which means anchor.
??????? ?? Google
 

DawudTalut

Peace be upon you.
Salaam Alaikum. Reading the Quran, I came across this verse:

31:10

He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind.
Peace be on you.
There may be many permissible meaning of certain words. In addition, you might want to read :
The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Quran Dictionary
 

DawudTalut

Peace be upon you.
Salaam Alaikum, it's me again. :)

I was wondering what do people make of the verse below:
earth.

20:105-107
And they ask you about the mountains, so say, "My Lord will blow them away with a blast.
And He will leave the earth a level plain;
You will not see therein a depression or an elevation."


Given that many mountains are formed when earth's tectonic plates move together and crack through the earth, would it not follow that when the mountains are blown away there would be big holes left in it the earth?

Also, what about other elevations and depressions, like rocks and hills and valleys and caves? They aren't mountains, but they very much make the earth very unleveled.

Would not the earth have to be made into a level plain, instead of being left as one, after the mountains are blown away?

Peace be on you.
Figurative meaning can be taken too of the word 'jibal' (mountains) That would be Chiefs, Learned people, Niggard and Great hardship etc

In figurative language it was being told that great changes in the favour of Islam would take place.
 

TG123456

Active Member
Thank you so much, this is really informative! I didn't think that the verse could be talking about gravity, Fear_God! This is a very interesting perspective!
 

Ashraf

Member
They mean that the mountains have been fixed in their places by those anchors. Now those anchors could be interpreted differently from one person to another. But the main point here is that Allah prevented those mountains from moving and causing harm to us
 

FearGod

Freedom Of Mind
They mean that the mountains have been fixed in their places by those anchors. Now those anchors could be interpreted differently from one person to another. But the main point here is that Allah prevented those mountains from moving and causing harm to us

Mountains isn't "رواسى" but "جبال".

That being said, notice that the verse is pointing to the unseen gravitational forces that holding everything in place and the one force that keep us fixed in place

خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ بِغَيْرِ عَمَدٍ تَرَوْنَهَا وَأَلْقَىٰ فِي الْأَرْضِ رَوَاسِيَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِكُمْ وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَابَّةٍ وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَنبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ زَوْجٍ كَرِيمٍ
 
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