Tafseer of The Beneficent · Ar-Rahmaan · 55:19
He released the two seas, meeting [side by side];
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.
His word: مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ ("He has set free the two seas, which meet"). The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: The Lord of the two easts and the Lord of the two wests has set free the two seas, which meet. By His word مَرَجَ He means: He has released and set loose, derived from their expression: maraja fulān dābbatahu — when someone releases his mount and lets it roam free.
In accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ ("He has set free the two seas"), he says: He has released.
The scholars differed concerning the two seas that Allah, exalted is His praise, mentioned in this verse: which two seas are these? Some of them said: They are two seas: one is in the heaven, and the other on the earth.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Ibn Abzā: مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ * بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌ لا يَبْغِيَانِ ("He has set free the two seas, which meet; between them is a barrier which they do not transgress"), he said: A sea in the heaven and a sea on the earth.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, concerning His word: مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ ("He has set free the two seas, which meet"), he said: A sea in the heaven and a sea on the earth.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ ("He has set free the two seas, which meet"), he said: A sea in the heaven and on the earth, which meet each other every year.
Others said: By this are meant the Sea of Persia and the Sea of the Romans (Byzantines).
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ziyād the client of Muṣʿab, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ ("He has set free the two seas, which meet"), he said: The Sea of the Romans, and the Sea of Persia and Yemen.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ ("He has set free the two seas, which meet"): the two seas are the Sea of Persia and the Sea of the Romans.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ ("He has set free the two seas, which meet"), he said: The Sea of Persia and the Sea of the Romans.
The most correct of the statements concerning this, in my judgment, is the statement of the one who said: By this are meant the sea of the heaven and the sea of the earth. For Allah has said: يَخْرُجُ مِنْهُمَا اللُّؤْلُؤُ وَالْمَرْجَانُ ("Out of both come forth the pearls and the coral"), and pearls and coral come forth only from the shells of the sea of the earth through the drops of the water of the heaven. It is thus known that this is the sea of the earth and the sea of the heaven.
