The prophecy about the blowing away of the mountains

The meaning of this verse is, the time when mountains will be moved from their places; that is, mountains will be blown apart to make pathways. The statement will be taken to imply that mountains will be blasted with dynamite to prepare roads. Its evidence found on every mountain: roads and pathways have been constructed in great abundance by cutting and blasting mountains with dynamite. Such roads can be seen on all mountains such as Dalhousie, Shimla, Murree, Kashmir, Mussoorie, and others. Thus, “And when the mountains are made to move” means that paths will be prepared on mountains upon which people will travel.

Furthermore, in warfare as well, mountains are frequently blown up. When enemy forces are positioned above, explosives are placed below and the mountain is blasted. In earlier times, there was not enough gunpowder to blast mountains. Incidentally, this verse also contains an indication toward the abundance of explosives, because roads could not be constructed without dynamite. Without dynamite, blasting rocks would have been extremely difficult. Similarly, certain machines have also been invented that completely clear pathways.

The prophecy about the expulsion of scholars and leaders from countries

Since one meaning of jabal (mountain) is also the leader of a people or their scholar, the phrase “And when the mountains are made to move” also means that the scholars and noble leaders of a nation will be expelled from their countries. An example of this had not been seen before. It is only in the present age that, on one hand, religious people throughout Russia who placed religion above politics were expelled. On the other hand, the Turks dealt so harshly with religion that they issued orders that prayers must be offered only in Turkish, the Qur’an must be read only in Turkish, and if anyone does not comply, they are expelled from the country or imprisoned.

(Translated from Tafsir Kabir, vol. 11, pp. 300–303)