Surah Al-Furqaan (25) — Ayah 53

(Ayah 53) ➊ The meaning of { وَ هُوَ الَّذِيْ مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ …: ’’ فُرَاتٌ ‘‘ ’’فَرُتَ يَفْرُتُ‘‘} is to break apart; sweet water quenches thirst, so it is called {’’ فُرَاتٌ ‘‘ }. The evidences of monotheism that started from {’’ اَلَمْ تَرَ اِلٰى رَبِّكَ كَيْفَ مَدَّ الظِّلَّ ‘‘}—this is their fourth sequence. In this verse as well, there is mention of Allah’s oneness, the perfection of His power, and His favors upon mankind—all three things. A verse with a similar meaning is in Surah Ar-Rahman: «{ مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيٰنِ (19) بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌ لَّا يَبْغِيٰنِ }» [ الرحمٰن : ۱۹، ۲۰ ] “He has let loose the two seas, meeting together, between them is a barrier which they do not transgress.” In {’’ وَ هُوَ الَّذِيْ ‘‘}, both the subject and predicate being definite conveys the meaning of exclusivity: that it is Allah alone who merges the two seas in this way, no one else has any part in it. About seventy (70) percent of the earth’s surface is covered by sea, whose water is extremely salty; apparently, there is no sea of sweet water mixed with it, and it is certain that Allah’s word can never be wrong. Therefore, the commentators have mentioned several applications of this verse, and all are correct. One application is that in Arabic, the word “bahr” is used for a large body of water, so it is used for both sea and river. Thus, it refers to the two large bodies of water on earth: one sweet, in the form of rivers, lakes, and streams, and the other salty, in the form of the sea. Despite being close to each other, Allah has placed a barrier of land between them, due to which they remain in their respective places; neither does the salty water overpower the sweet, nor the sweet overpower the salty. This is clearly observed on islands, where a river of sweet water flows right alongside the extremely salty sea water.

Another application is that it refers to the two seas of water beneath the earth, each of whose currents run right alongside each other; if you install a well at one place, sweet water comes out, and sometimes if you install another well nearby, salty water comes out—even the water on one side of a wall is sweet and on the other side is salty; neither affects the other’s saltiness or sweetness. In my opinion, this is the clearest case; every person can observe it, and there is no room for any atheist to object to it. A third application is the place where the water of a large river falls into the sea and goes far inside it; its color and taste remain distinct from the sea water, and an invisible barrier remains between them. The commentator Abu Hayyan writes: {’’ وَ نِيْلُ مِصْرَ فِيْ فَيْضِهِ يَشُقُّ الْبَحْرَ الْمَالِحَ شَقًّا بِحَيْثُ يَبْقٰي نَهْرًا جَارِيًا أَحْمَرَ فِيْ وَسْطِ الْمَالِحِ لِيَسْتَقِي النَّاسُ مِنْهُ ‘‘} [ البحر المحیط ] “That is, the Nile River of Egypt, during its flood season, cuts through the salty sea and flows far into the middle of the salty sea as a red river, from which people obtain drinking water.” A fourth application is that between the salty and bitter seas, there are such reservoirs whose water is completely sweet. Abu Hayyan has also written: {’’ وَ تَرَي الْمِيَاهَ قِطْعًا فِيْ وَسْطِ الْبَحْرِ الْمَالِحِ فَيَقُوْلُوْنَ هٰذَا مَاءٌ ثَلْجٌ فَيَسْقُوْنَ مِنْهُ مِنْ وَسْطِ الْبَحْرِ ‘‘} [ البحر المحیط ] “That is, in the middle of the salty sea, (sweet) water appears in patches, about which people say that it is water from ice, and in the middle of the sea, they obtain drinking water from it.”

In Tafheem-ul-Quran it is stated: “Even within the sea, at various places, there are springs of sweet water, whose water retains its sweetness even amidst the extremely bitter water of the sea. The Turkish admiral Sidi Ali Reis (Katib Rumi), in his book ‘Mir’at al-Mamalik’ (written in the sixteenth century), points out such a place inside the Persian Gulf, where he wrote that there are springs of sweet water beneath the salty water, from which he himself used to obtain drinking water for his fleet. In modern times, when the American company began extracting oil in Saudi Arabia, initially they too used to obtain water from these very springs in the Persian Gulf; later, wells were dug near Dhahran and water was taken from them. Near Bahrain as well, there are springs of sweet water under the sea bed, from which people used to obtain drinking water until some time ago.”

➋ In what way is there a reminder of blessing in this verse? For this, there is no special need to mention the benefits of sweet water from the sweet and salty seas, because the life of every living being on land depends on it. However, the observation of Allah’s blessing in the salty sea is seen in many ways. In “Tafsir Ahsan-ul-Bayan” it is stated: “There is great wisdom of Allah in keeping the sea water salty. If sweet water remains stagnant for a long time, it becomes spoiled; its taste, color, or smell changes. Salty water does not spoil, nor does its taste, color, or smell change. If the water of these stagnant seas were also sweet, it would become foul-smelling, making it difficult for humans and animals to live on earth. Added to this would be the stench of dead animals in it. Allah’s wisdom is such that for thousands (millions) of years these seas have existed, thousands (millions, even tens of millions) of animals die in them and decompose in them, but Allah has kept such an amount of salinity (minerals) in them that it does not allow even a bit of foul smell to develop in the water; the winds that rise from them are also pure, and their water is also pure, even their dead (animals) are lawful, as is mentioned in the hadith: [ هُوَ الطَّهُوْرُ مَاءُهُ وَ الْحِلُّ مَيْتَتُهُ ] [أبوداوٗد، الطہارۃ، باب الوضوء بماء البحر : ۸۳ ] “Its (the sea’s) water is pure and its dead (animal) is lawful.” (Ahsan-ul-Bayan) This great reservoir of water is also the easiest means of transporting thousands or millions of tons of goods to different places, an unlimited treasure of food and necessities of life, and the source for the creation of clouds and rain to provide sweet water to all living beings and plants. In addition, it has a major role in the alternation of seasons. See also Surah Fatir (12), An-Nahl (14), Al-Hajj (65), Az-Zukhruf (11, 12), and Al-Jathiyah (12).