An-Naba 78:20 - Linguistic Miracle

The mountains were floated away and hence, became a mirage

The word سير describes a smooth elongation in a direction.¹¹ The Qurʾān has

described in many places the fate of mountains on judgment day.¹² To summarize, the mountains will be pounded until they become dust that floats in the air. After breaking apart and rising into the air, they appear as if they are a mountain, but they are not at all. They are dense, accumulated dust, seen from a distance as though they were a mountain.

Earlier, Allah had described two strong structures; the mountains and the heavens. The mountains acted as stakes, as the firm support to the earth while the heavens were described as strong, tightly compacted structures with no weakness. Both these structures are now described as being turned into the very opposite. These two strong structures have now become soft, full of holes and openings, and light as dust. When the two strong objects, one of which was the holding blocks of the soft earth and what was on it, and the other intertwined with it to form a complete and working system; are blown apart and their strength converted to weakness and fragility, we need not even know what became of the earth. We can easily deduce it ourselves. Utter destruction. This again carries the theme of the answer being so obvious that it need not even be mentioned. The Qurʾān has repeatedly said that severe earthquakes will strike the earth on judgment day. (Examples include 22:1 and 99:1) The heavens that once formed a complete system by pairing with it have lost their capability to sustain this system because they lost their strength, leading to a full collapse of order.

This is the day of separation from the old system; from the old qualities; from the past strength; from the past system which worked on the relationships of zawj.

¹¹ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 2, p. 988
¹² Q. 27:88 and 101:5