“We gave David great favor from Us: ‘O mountains and birds! echo with him in his praise!’ And We made iron malleable for him:” (Surah Saba’, 10)
The “echo with him in his praise” expression used in the above verse for mountains might be a sign for the working system of radios. (Allah alone knows the truth.) We can shortly summarize the working system of radios as follows:
Radio consists of two pieces; receiver and transmitter. The transmitter encrypts the message to be sent and transmits it to the other side as a “sinus wave.” The receiver receives the radio waves and decrypts the message in the sinus wave. In this way, a duplicate of the message sent from the transmitter is received by the other side. In the verse, the Word “evvibi” which is translated as “echo” and which means “sound turning back and being repeated” might indicate sound waves on the radio being transmitted. (Allah alone knows the truth.)
Antennae receive the information sent from the transmitter, as sounds in the form of radio waves which the receiver is connected to. The purpose of the antenna is to receive the waves sent from the radio transmitter out in space. The antennae that functions as a receiver collects and receives as many radio waves as possible. Therefore, for satellites that are millions of kilometers away, NASA uses giant dish antennae 70 meters in diameter. Other than these, there are radio telescopes that can create images using radio waves. Because radio wavelengths are too large for a radio telescope to receive images with a clarity that is easy to compare, it needs to be very big. In order to have better and clearer radio images, astronomers often use a number of small telescopes or receiver dishes working together as a series. These telescopes thus act as a single large receiver. These look like a range of mountains.
Furthermore, “repeaters” are used to provide means of communication over long distances in radio communication. These tools, which are named after the word “repeater” that means “one that repeats” in English, amplify weak signals by repeating them and transmit them over long distances. Such tools are especially placed on top of high buildings, or preferably mountains to have a maximum effect.
In the verse, the attention drawn to mountains and the use of the word “evvibi” that means “to repeat, turn, to turn sound back” is very meaningful. The expression “O mountains and birds! echo with him in his praise!” in the 10th verse of Surah Saba’ might point out to this technology. (Allah alone knows the truth.)