Surah Al-Qamar 54:12
ﱫ ﱬ ﱭ ﱮ ﱯ ﱰ ﱱ ﱲ ﱳ
And caused the earth to burst with springs, and the waters met for a matter already predestined.
Tafsir of Al-Qamar 54:12
Tafsir
Ruh al-Ma'ani
Verse range: 54:12
{وَفَجَّرْنَا الْأَرْضَ عُيُونًا} We made the entire earth as if it were gushing springs. The original structure was "We made the springs of the earth gush forth" (*fajjarna 'uyuna al-ard*). It was changed to the accusative of specification (*tamyiz*) to express hyperbole by making the entire earth appear as though it were gushing, combined with ambiguity followed by clarification. Thus, the specification is transformed from a direct object. Some have argued it is transformed from the subject, based on the principle that this is more common, originating from "The springs of the earth gushed forth" (*infajarat 'uyunu al-ard*). However, transforming it from the subject of a different verb that shares the same root is an affectation for which there is no need. Others have prohibited the specification coming from a direct object, and thus parsed *'uyunan* (springs) as an anticipated state (*hal muqaddara*). It is also permissible for it to be a second direct object of *fajjarna*, based on the verb containing the meaning of "transforming," as if to say: "We transformed the earth into springs through the gushing." This event, according to some narrations, lasted for a day.
{فَالْتَقَى الْمَاءُ} That is, the water of the sky and the water of the earth. The use of the singular form serves to verify that the meeting of the two waters was not merely a matter of proximity, but rather a matter of mixing and unification. Ali (may God honor his face), al-Hasan, Muhammad ibn Ka'b, and al-Jahdari read it as *al-ma'an* (the dual form of water), intending to indicate the mixing of the two types. Otherwise, "the water" (*al-ma'*) encompasses both the water of the sky and the water of the earth. Similar to this is the saying: "We have two herds of camels, in which there is what you know; so take from them what you will, and turn aside." It has been said that the dual form indicates that the water of the earth surged with force and rose until it met the water of the sky, and in this is a hyperbole not understood from the singular.
Al-Hasan also read it as mawan, turning the hamza into a waw, similar to their saying 'albawan. As al-Zamakhshari stated, he did not mean it is exactly analogous, but rather that just as there is a substitution there because the letter is not original—being an augment for the purpose of derivation (ilhaq)—likewise here it is substituted. Even though the substitute is from a ha', it is treated as a substitute for a waw in the relative adjective (nisba): ma'awi. In its plural, it comes as amwa' just as it comes as amwah. It is not unlikely that whoever used the dual with waw based it on the relative adjective, as stated in al-Kashf. It is also narrated from him as al-ma'ayan, turning the hamza into a ya'.