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wa-law ʾannamā fī l-ʾarḍi min shajaratin ʾaqlāmun wa-l-baḥru yamudduhū min baʿdihī sabʿatu ʾabḥurin mā nafidat kalimātu llāhi ʾinna llāha ʿazīzun ḥakīmun
If all the trees on the earth were pens, and the sea replenished with seven more seas [were ink], the words of Allah would not be spent. Indeed Allah is all-mighty, all-wise.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Luqman – Verse 27
27. “And if all the trees on the earth were pens and the sea added to seven seas (were ink in the writing), (yet) would not the Words of Allah be exhausted; Verily Allah is the Mighty, the Wise.”
The purpose of the Arabic phrase /sab‘atu ’abhur/ (seven seas) may be for multiplicity and the number is not properly meant. That is, if the water of all seas becomes ink, they can not write down the entire words (knowledge) of Allah, the Mighty, the Wise, by it. There is an illustration from the endless knowledge of Allah (s.w.t.) in this holy verse which has been depicted by mentioning a very expressive and comprehensive similitude. It says:
The Arabic word /yamudduhu/ is derived from /midad/ in the sense of ‘ink’ or a coloured substance by which something is written, and it is originally derived from /madd/ in the sense of ‘drawing’, because the writings are produced by drawing of a pen on the sheet of paper. Some commentators have also cited another meaning for this term. It is the oil which is poured in a torch and is the cause of its light. Both of these meanings mentioned here, in fact, return to one root.
The Arabic term /kalimat/ is the plural form of /kalimah/ which originally means the words by means of which a person speaks. Then it has been used with a wider scope of meaning which envelops anything that can convey a matter; and since each of the different creatures of this world is an indication to Allah’s pure Essence, as well as His knowledge and Power, every being can be called /kalimat-ullah/ (the word of Allah). This term has been used particularly in respect to the nobler and more magnificent beings, as about Jesus (as) where the Holy Qur’an says:
Then, in this relation, the Qur’anic phrase /kalimat-ullah/ has been used in the sense of Allah’s knowledge. Now we must think properly that for writing the whole knowledge of a person usually a pen and some amount of ink is sufficient; and it is even possible that with this very single pen some other people write down their entire knowledge on the sheet of paper, but the Qur’an in this holy verse says:
and we know that there can be produced thousands or millions of pens from the trunk and branches of a single tall tree. Also, we know about three fourth of the surface of the earth that it is covered by water with a very considerable depth. Now, how wonderful will it be if all the oceans on the earth become ink for writing and how much knowledge and sciences can be written down by them? Specially by adding seven other seas to them that each of them is equal to all the oceans of the earth, and particularly that the figure ‘seven’ here does not mean number but it is for multiplicity and denotes to numerous seas, it makes it clear that how vast is the knowledge of Allah, the Almighty, the Wise.
Moreover, all of them will be ended but the words of Allah will not be exhausted. Is there any illustration more interesting and more beautiful than this to show such infiniteness? This figure is so expressive and comprehensive that might take with itself the waves of man’s thought into the unlimited horizons and causes him to be in full wonder. Regarding this clear and expressive statement, a man feels that his knowledge comparing the knowledge of Allah is as a zero in front of infiniteness, and it is worthy for him to only say that his knowledge has reached a point that he has realized his ignorance.
One of tender points that are found in this verse is that the word /šajarah/ (tree) is said in singular form and the term /’aqlam/ (pens) is said in plural form in order to indicate a large number of pens provided from a single tree with its trunks and branches. And also the application of the word /al-bahr/ (sea) in the singular form and the Arabic signs ‘Alif’ and ‘Lam’ at its beginning are for the sake that it encompasses all the oceans on the earth, in particular that all the oceans of the world are connected to each other and, indeed they can be considered as a whole vast ocean.
And it is interesting that concerning the pens it does not speak about some additional pens, while when it speaks about the oceans it say about other seven seas, because there will be used a few pens for writing and that which is used very much is ink. The figure ‘seven’ in the Arabic language is sometimes used for multiplicity and perhaps it is for this view point that former nations counted seven the spheres of the solar system (and in fact whatever is seen today by natural eyes in solar system is not more than seven spheres).
And regarding that a week is not formed by more than seven days, and the whole globe was traditionally divided into seven sections and was called by seven provinces, makes it clear that why the figure ‘seven’ has been used as a complete figure and for multiplicity.
Footnotes