غلامرضا براتی

Verse 88 of Surah al-Naml has likened mountains to moving clouds. Although in the previous centuries, most exegetes considered the movement of mountains as one of the pre-resurrection events, new scientific findings in geology and meteorology have brought new aspects of this similarity to scholars. this study aims to present a new understanding about verse 88 of Surah al-Namal and identify the similarities between the movement of mountains and clouds, according to the reference scientific texts in geology and meteorology. The results showed that the similarity of mountains to clouds, in addition to the direction and speed of movement previously specified, is in the mechanism of motion, layers and constituents. Earlier, many exegetes considered the movement of the mountains to be related to the resurrection and did not see it as compatible with the current conditions of the mountains but today, scientific findings show that the movement of mountains in several aspects is like clouds: 1. Mountain movements are influenced by the movement of earth's twenty plates, in different directions including orbital, meridian, combination of the two and ascending. Clouds also show all four side of movement in the atmosphere. 2. The movement of mountains is slow and at a speed of several millimeters or a few centimeters per year, and the movement of clouds is also slow in the sky. 3. The mountains move on the edge of the plates in an upward motion on the edge of the opposite plate, and this phenomenon can be seen in the front clouds of the warm air mass, i.e. the cold air mass creeps upwards at the front. 4. The mountains continue to evolve even as they move with tectonics forces from below and erosion forces from above. Clouds also evolve from above while moving, by converging currents from below and diverging from above.

Hail is an atmospheric rainfall with a complex mechanism. The Greeks were among the pioneers of knowledge in ancient times and they termed “hail” as “frozen rain” (Anaximander) and “instant freezing of water and moisture” (Aristotle, n.d.). These two meanings are inconsistent with current scientific facts. The Noble Qurʼan is the most authentic text to encourage Muslim believers to think about creation and strengthen their faith in the eternal power of the Creator. For instance, the mechanism of hail falling has been expressed in the verse (Q.24:43) with specific and gradual indications. In this research, first, by library method, different explanations of this verse were obtained from valid interpretive sources and then, the scientific findings of meteorologists and climatologists on hail were extracted from reference scientific texts on atmospheric sciences. In the third stage and based on comparative method, the scientific rules were placed next to interpretations to test the novelty and degree of the allusions of this verse. We found that the stages of hail falling included:“invisible water vapor rises from the sea,” “water vapor ascends into the atmosphere,” “reaching the condensation stage,” “cloud formation,” “convergence of ascending currents,” “formation of cumulonimbus cloud,” “growth of hailstones during successive ascents and descents by adsorption and freezing of ice needles,” and finally “their fall down over ground” respectively. Meanwhile, the steps in the Noble Qurʼan are mentioned in verse (Q.24:43) in the following order:“clouds movement slowly,” “clouds convergence,” “clouds accumulation,” “the formation of mountain-like clouds,” and “hail falling from the clouds.” The results also showed that likening cumulonimbus cloud in the verse (Q.24:43) to “mountain” have four respects that were beyond the comprehension of the people at the time of the revelation of the Qurʼan. Nowadays, these features are known to stationary and satellite meteorological instruments. These four characteristics are “cloud layer temperature,” “their constituent phase,” “troughs and ridges inside the cloud” and “cloud height up to the tropopause.” Based on these four characteristics, the Noble Qurʼan considered the cloud of cumulonimbus as similar as “mountains.” Meteorologists divide any cumulonimbus cloud into three floors, including cold at the bottom, super-cold at the top and intermediate in the middle. We find these three floors in the same way in the high mountains. These floors are the current rivers (liquid phase), snow and ice reserves (solid phase) and in the middle region a combination of two liquid and solid phases, namely water and ice. Images from the cumulonimbus from above the atmosphere show dark and deep valleys and light and raised ridges. The fourth feature is to be said, none of the surface phenomena are as high as the mountains. Finally, meteorological findings show that it is the only cumulonimbus that rises from the ground to a height of 12,000 meters and more.