The benefits of the saying of Allah the Exalted: ((And We gave Dawud from Us a favor. O mountains, echo with him, and the birds. And We softened for him iron))

Among the benefits of this noble verse is the clarification of the favor of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) upon Dawud, as He said: .
Second among its benefits is the care of Allah the Exalted in clarifying this favor, where He affirmed it with the oath and the letter lam and qad.
And among its benefits is that this favor is a great favor, because Allah the Exalted attributed it to Himself in His saying: . What is attributed to the Great is great. The parallel to this is the supplication that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught Abu Bakr: .
And among the benefits of this noble verse is the addressing of inanimate objects by Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), as He said: .
And among its benefits is that inanimate objects perceive the address of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). The proof of this is that if they did not perceive it, addressing them would be futile, and Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is free from futility in His words and actions. And what indicates that they perceive it is that they echoed with him and returned.
And among its benefits is that among the virtues of Dawud is that Allah commanded the mountains to glorify with him, returning with him in glorification and recitation of the Zabur, and the birds. Is the command in His saying: a cosmic command or a legislative command? Yes, it is possible for both meanings. If you look at the fact that they are commanded to worship, you say that this is a legislative command. And if you look at the fact that if these mountains were to disobey, would they be punished? Allah knows best. Perhaps they would be punished and perhaps they would not, because they do not have an intellect to understand as the children of Adam understand. I say that it is a cosmic command. And to get out of these two possibilities, we say that Allah commanded the mountains to return with him, and we do not say it is a cosmic command or a legislative command.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is the manifestation of the sign of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in the perfection of His power, where He softened iron for Dawud, as He said: . And this softening has no known sensory cause, because if it were by known causes, there would be no difference between Dawud and others. Yes, this is the correct view. And although some scholars say: , meaning We prepared for him the causes by which iron is softened, but We prepared for him great and strong causes that do not occur for others.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that iron is by nature hard, is it not? And it is so, were it not that Allah softens it by what He has made of causes by which people benefit. But Allah the Exalted softens it by what He has made of causes that soften it so that people benefit from it. Is it harder than stones? Stones. And for this reason, stones do not soften with fire, and iron softens with fire. The scholars said that this indicates that stones are harder. And when Allah the Exalted compared the hard hearts, He said: [al-Baqarah:74].