Surah Ar-Rahman Part 7

In the Name of God, The Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace

Part 7

مرج البحرين يلتقين

بينهما برزخ لا يبغين

فباى آلاء ربكما تكذبن

يخرج منهما اللؤلؤ و المرجان

فباى آلاء ربكما تكذبن

و له الجوار المنشءت فى البحر كالأعلام 

فباى آلاء ربكما تكذبن

He has released the two seas (to flow freely so that) they meet together

Between the two of them is a barrier which they cannot transgress
Which of the favours of your Sustainer will you deny
He brought from them both pearls and corals

Which of the favours of your Sustainer will you deny

And His are the ships elevated in the sea like mountains

Which of the favours of your Sustainer will you deny

It is interesting to note that there is a theme of pairing in this Surah.  It started out by asking the oft repeated question to the two beings who have the ability to be ungrateful.  Then there are the two points of rising and two points of setting.  Now, it is about the two seas.  Later, as we will see, there are two jannah (heaven) and in them, there are things which again come in twos/pairs.  I am not sure if the mufasirs (the interpreters of the Qur'an) ever discuss this aspect, but the tafsirs that I have access to never really discuss the significance of it.  Perhaps, God will grant me the understanding of it one day.

Meanwhile, in terms of the sequence of these verses - they come directly after "The Lord of the two easts and the two wests."  However, here there is a focus on God's actions.  That He made the two seas, whatever they are, meet and that He brought precious items from them.  So a number of questions I had for this sections are:

1. what the connection between the seas and the preceding verse is

2. what the two seas are

3. why the emphasis on action and then switching back to "passivity" of ownership in the case of the ships.

4.  what the significance of the ships are

On the linguistic front, I noticed the words مرج and المرجان have the same root word as does the material from which Jinns are made in earlier verse (part 6).  Again, that is interesting because the root word denotes to mix two things together.  Is it significant that God use the words with the same underlying meaning for these three things?  

Nouman Ali Khan mentioned that the connection with the preceding verse is that not only is God the Lord of all we can see on the horizon but also beneath it.  If you ever dived, you would know that the underwater world is a really a world of its own, with a vividness that far surpass the land above.  Perhaps that is the explanation, but I am still not quite satisfied.  Especially when it is connected to the definition of the two seas being mentioned.  Some scholars say the two "seas" are that of salt water and unsalty/drinkable water.  Others speculated it was earthly and heavenly seas (e.g. At-Tabari).  In Al-Tustari (a Sufi tafsir), they are seas of the heart and of the self (nafs).

Whatever the interpretation of the two seas are, it is important to note on contrast.  Nouman Ali Khan contrasted the pearls and corals (small/tiny) with the ships (big and lumbering).  Yet, the tiny belongs in the seas and the big floats, by God's will.  Another set of contrast is that the two seas meet, yet are apart.  Because there is a barrier that God created between them.  Perhaps it is a lesson for us to understand that there are barriers which we have to respect and not transgress too.

In many ways, this section still holds many questions for me.  Perhaps, God will allow me more understanding of it.