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baynahumā barzakhun lā yabghiyāni
There is a barrier between them, which they do not overstep.
— Ali Quli Qarai
55Ar-RaḥmānالرحمنVerse 20 of 78
The Beneficent55. Ar-Raḥmānالرحمن
al-Raḥmān
The All-beneficent
MedinanVerse 20 of 78
55Ar-RaḥmānالرحمنVerse 20 of 78
The All-beneficent
There is a barrier between them, which they do not overstep.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Rahman - Verses 19-21
19. He let loose the two salty and sweet seas meeting together.
20. Between them is a barrier so that none of them can transgress.
21. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both [jinn and men] deny?
The Arabic verbal form maraja designates:
"let loose"
and the Arabic noun barzakh denotes "a barrier between two things." Resuming the account of Divine Blessings mention is made of seas, but not all seas. The particular quality of certain seas is an astonishing phenomenon serving as a token of Divine Absolute Omnipotence. It also serves as a means of producing certain things used by men. Thus, the blessed Verses are saying that He juxtaposed two different seas while they meet; however, there is a barrier between the twain such that one may not agitate and prevail over the other.
As it is reflected elsewhere in the Glorious Qur’an, the twain seas are the salty and the sweet seas:
"And it is He Who let loose the two seas: one palatable and sweet and the other salty and bitter and He set a barrier and a complete partition between them" 19 .
Qur’anic exegetes disagree as to the location of the two sweet and salty seas and the fact that one does not prevail the other and the nature of the barrier separating the twain. However, mention was already made of the point in the exegesis of Chapter 25 saying that great sweet rivers flowing into seas and oceans usually form a sea of sweet water beside the coast thus repelling the brine and it would be of interest to know that sweet and salty water, owing to the difference in the degrees of thickness, do not intermingle.
A bird's eye view of discrete salty and sweet waters clearly shows the partition between the twain. When the margins of the twain intermingle, fresh sweet water substitutes the mingled waters, such that the partition between the twain is visible at all times. It is interesting that at the time of flow, the level of oceans is raised, such that sweet water is repelled without being intermingled with the brine. The blessed Verse 21 is again addressed to God's servants inquiring:
"Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both [jinn and men] deny?"
Footnotes