164وَما مِنّا إِلّا لَهُ مَقامٌ مَعلومٌMuhammad Asad[All forces of nature praise God and say:1] "Among us, too, there is none but has a place assigned to it [by Him];The metaphorical "saying" that follows is in tune with many other Qur'anic passages which speak of even inanimate objects as "praising God", e.g., "The seven heavens extol His limitless glory, and the earth, and all that they contain" (17:44), or "We caused the mountains to join David in extolling Our glory" (21:79), or "O you mountains! Sing with him the praise of God!" (34:10); similarly, even the shadows of material things are spoken of as "prostrating themselves before God"'(16:48).