Tafseer of The Criterion · Al-Furqaan · 25:53
And it is He who has released [simultaneously] the two seas, one fresh and sweet and one salty and bitter, and He placed between them a barrier and prohibiting partition.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The Exalted and Praised says: Allah is the One Who caused the two seas to flow together and mingled the one with the other and made them flow into one another. The proper meaning of marj (مرج) is to mix (khalaṭa), after which this word also acquired the meaning of releasing or setting free, for when someone releases something until it mingles with something else, he has, as it were, "marjed" it. From this also derives the report from the Prophet ﷺ, and his words to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr: "How will it be with you, ʿAbd Allāh, when you find yourself amidst the dregs of humankind, whose covenants and trusts have become entangled (marujat), and they have thus become" — and he interlaced his fingers. By his words "have become entangled" he means: mixed together (ikhtallaṭat). From this too derives the word of Allah فِي أَمْرٍ مَرِيجٍ (in a confused matter), that is to say: mixed together. And the word marj (meadow) is derived from this, because in it all kinds of beasts of burden are gathered together. One also says: marajtu dābbataka, that is: I let your mount go wherever it wished. From this too derives the word of the rhymer:
"It grazed upon a spring-rich meadow, appointed for grazing."
And in agreement with what we have said about this, spoke the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl).
The report of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my paternal uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word وَهُوَ الَّذِي مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ (And He is the One Who caused the two seas to flow together): he means that He poured the one over the other.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his word مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ (caused the two seas to flow together): "He poured the one over the other."
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — identically.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning his word وَهُوَ الَّذِي مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ (And He is the One Who caused the two seas to flow together): "He poured the one over the other."
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Abū Tumaylah related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥamzah, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid — مَرَجَ (caused to flow together): "He poured the one over the other."
His word هَذَا عَذْبٌ فُرَاتٌ (this is sweet and refreshing water) — al-furāt means: exceedingly sweet; one says: "this is furāt-water," that is to say: utterly sweet in taste. And his word وَهَذَا مِلْحٌ أُجَاجٌ (and this is salty and bitter water): he means: salty and bitter (murr). By the sweet and refreshing water he means the waters of the rivers and the rain, and by the salty and bitter water the waters of the seas.
And by this He means that this belongs to His favour toward His creation and His mighty dominion: He mingles the sweet water of the sea with the salty bitter seawater, but by His decree and His omnipotence He prevents the salty from changing and corrupting the sweet, so that the inhabitants of the salty sea may suffer no harm thereby and may find drinking water when they have need of it. And He, exalted be His praise, said: وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًا (and He set between the two of them a barrier) — that is to say: a partition that prevents each of the two from corrupting the other — وَحِجْرًا مَحْجُورًا (and a prohibition, absolutely forbidden): that is to say: He made each of the two forbidden (ḥarāman) and most strictly forbidden (muḥarraman) to its partner, so that it would change and corrupt its nature.
And in agreement with what we have said about the interpretation of this, spoke the people of interpretation.
The report of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my paternal uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word هَذَا عَذْبٌ فُرَاتٌ وَهَذَا مِلْحٌ أُجَاجٌ (this is sweet and refreshing and this is salty and bitter): he means that He poured the one over the other, so that the sweet does not corrupt the salty and the salty does not corrupt the sweet. And his word وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًا (and He set between the two of them a barrier): he said: the barrier is the land between them. وَحِجْرًا مَحْجُورًا (and a prohibition, absolutely forbidden): he means: the one forbade the other by His command and His decree, and it is equivalent to His word وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ حَاجِزًا (and He set between the two seas a partition).
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًا (and He set between the two of them a barrier): he said: "a prison." His word: وَحِجْرًا مَحْجُورًا (and a prohibition, absolutely forbidden): he said: "the sea does not mingle with the sweet."
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًا (and He set between the two of them a barrier): he said: "a partition that no one sees; the sweet does not mingle with the sea." Ibn Jurayj said: "I know of no sweet sea except the rivers. As for the river Dijlah (Tigris): it flows out into the sea, but the expert told me that it flows out into the sea and then drifts like a white thread between the two [waters]. When it returns, it does not return by the same way through the sea. And the Nile flows out into the sea."
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Abū Tumaylah related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥamzah, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid — وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًا (and He set between the two of them a barrier): he said: "the barrier is that they meet but do not mingle." And his word حِجْرًا مَحْجُورًا (a prohibition, absolutely forbidden): "that is to say: the saltiness of the one does not mingle with the sweetness of the other; the one does not transgress the bound of the other."
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayyah related to us, on the authority of Rajāʾ, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning his word وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًا وَحِجْرًا مَحْجُورًا (and He set between the two of them a barrier and an absolute prohibition): he said: "this is the dry land."
Al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًا وَحِجْرًا مَحْجُورًا (and He set between the two of them a barrier and an absolute prohibition): he said: "He made this one salty and bitter." He said: "al-ajjāj: the bitter."
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say: مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ هَذَا عَذْبٌ فُرَاتٌ وَهَذَا مِلْحٌ أُجَاجٌ (He caused the two seas to flow together, this is sweet and refreshing and this is salty and bitter): "He poured the one over the other, so that the taste of the one does not change the taste of the other." وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًا (and He set between the two of them a barrier): "that is the appointed term between the present life and the hereafter." وَحِجْرًا مَحْجُورًا (and a prohibition, absolutely forbidden): "Allah set between the two seas a prohibition, that is to say: a partition that separates the one from the other by His command and His decree."
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning his word وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًا وَحِجْرًا مَحْجُورًا (and He set between the two of them a barrier and an absolute prohibition): "He set between the two of them a curtain, so that they do not meet one another." He said: "And when an Arab interlocutor says something disagreeable, he replies: ḥijran — a curtain against what you say."
Abū Jaʿfar says: And the reason why we chose the view that we chose concerning the meaning of His word وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخًا وَحِجْرًا مَحْجُورًا over the view of those who said that the barrier between the two seas is an earthen or dry partition, is that Allah the Exalted and Praised announces at the beginning of the verse that He brought the two seas together (maraja), and marj means to mix in Arabic, as I have explained before. If the barrier between the sweet refreshing water and the salty bitter water consisted of land or dry territory, there would be no mingling (marj) of the two seas, whereas Allah, exalted be His praise, has announced that He mingled them. And we know His power only through the fact that He withholds the bitter salty water from corrupting the sweet refreshing water, despite each of the two mingling with the other. If, however, each of the two lay in a separate region, separated from the region of the other, then there is no mingling, nor is there any wonder to which the ignorant among the people are directed and by which they are reminded. Even though everything our Lord creates is wondrous and contains the greatest lessons, admonitions, and convincing proofs.
