O mountains, repeat praises with him

The word awwibi here is related to the meanings of turning back, turning toward, and returning to something again and again. In the context of singing, this expression calls to mind the refrain, the part that is repeated again and again.

As David (peace be upon him) walked through valleys surrounded by mountains, whenever he reached the refrain of his hymns of praise, all the mountains would vibrate with his voice and accompany him.

‎وَٱلطَّيۡرَ‎ (and the birds). They too would join this choir and, with their chirping, become part of that symphony of praise.

Imagine a scene like this: David (peace be upon him) is walking through nature, and all of creation is taking part in his worship. The mountains echo his voice, the birds harmonize with him. This might sound like a cartoon scene in which everything is extremely soft and innocent.

But Allah immediately reminds us who Prophet David really was:

The word ‎لَيِّن‎, from the same root as the verb ‎أَلَنَّا‎ here, expresses being soft like a fresh date. Some scholars say that Allah gave Prophet David the ability to melt iron. Others speak of something far more striking: when David took a piece of metal in his hand, he could knead it just like putty and give it any shape he wished.

So, before you think that he merely wandered about singing songs in the midst of nature, understand this well: he was the very man strong enough to take your sword and bend it like a noodle with his bare hands. Such was his strength and his might.

In the past, only the Hittites and the Philistines knew how to work iron ore, and they kept its secret. In the time of David (peace be upon him), the Children of Israel also began to work it and gained great strength.

In Prophet David’s making the mountains speak, one can sense an encouragement toward the technology of the gramophone, the record and the tape recorder; in the softening of iron and the making of molten copper flow like a torrent, toward working mines and developing industry; in Prophet Solomon’s covering a two-month journey’s distance in a single day by riding upon the air, toward aircraft technology;

in Prophet Moses’s bringing forth water from stone and earth with his staff, toward artesian wells; in the fire not burning Prophet Abraham, toward making clothing from fire-resistant materials; in Prophet Jesus’s healing the paralyzed and even bringing the dead back to life, toward the most advanced frontiers of medical treatment;

and in Prophet Solomon’s vizier, who was advanced in knowledge, bringing the throne of Bilqis from a distance of approximately two thousand km, toward television and even more advanced levels.