Tafseer of The Beneficent · Ar-Rahmaan · 55:24
And to Him belong the ships [with sails] elevated in the sea like mountains.
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 saying: وَلَهُ الْجَوَارِ الْمُنْشَآتُ فِي الْبَحْرِ كَالأعْلامِ ("And to Him belong the sailing ships upon the sea, like mountains"). The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: And to the Lord of the two easts and the two wests belong the sailing ships (al-jawārī), and these are the ships that sail upon the seas.
His saying: الْمُنْشَآتُ فِي الْبَحْرِ ("which are raised up upon the sea"). The reciters have differed over the recitation of this. Most of the reciters of Kūfa read it as المُنْشِئاتُ with a kasra on the shīn, in the meaning of: those that visibly sail and go back and forth. And most of the reciters of Baṣra and Medina, as well as some of the Kūfans, read it as المُنْشَئاتُ with a fatḥa on the shīn, in the meaning of: those that go back and forth with their sails raised up.
And the correct view concerning this, in my judgment, is that these are two well-known recitations, both correct in meaning and akin to one another; with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he has hit upon what is correct.
* Mention of who said, concerning the interpretation of this, what we have stated about it:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Waraqāʾ related to us — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: الْمُنْشَآتُ فِي الْبَحْرِ ("which are raised up upon the sea"), he said: Whichever of the ships has raised its sail, that is the munshaʾāt; and when its sail is not raised, then it is not a munshaʾa.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَلَهُ الْجَوَارِ الْمُنْشَآتُ فِي الْبَحْرِ كَالأعْلامِ ("And to Him belong the sailing ships upon the sea, like mountains"), that is to say: the ships.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying, Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: وَلَهُ الْجَوَارِ الْمُنْشَآتُ فِي الْبَحْرِ كَالأعْلامِ ("And to Him belong the sailing ships upon the sea, like mountains"): that is to say: the ships.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying, Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: وَلَهُ الْجَوَارِ الْمُنْشَآتُ فِي الْبَحْرِ كَالأعْلامِ ("And to Him belong the sailing ships upon the sea, like mountains"), he said: the ships.
His saying: كالأعْلام ("like mountains"). He says: like the mountains. He compared the ships to the mountains. The Arabs call every high mountain ʿalam. Bearing witness to this is the saying of Jarīr:
"When we crossed a mountain (ʿalam), a mountain (ʿalam) appeared" ................... [continuation of the verse]