Al-Furqan: (53) And He is the One Who has merged...

Know that this is the fourth type of evidence for the Oneness of God (Tawhid).

His statement: {He merged the two seas} means He let them go and sent them forth. It is said, marajat ad-dabbah when you let the animal roam freely. The root of al-Marj is sending forth and mixing. From this is His saying, the Exalted: {So they are in a confused affair} (Qaf: 5).

He named the two great, vast bodies of water as two seas. Ibn Abbas said: "He merged the two seas" means He sent them forth in their courses, just as horses are sent out into the pasture (al-marj), and they meet.

His statement: {This one sweet (to drink)}—and the intent of furāt (sweet) is intensely sweet to the point of being palatable—{and this one salt} (ujāj), which is its opposite.

And that He, by His power, separates between them and prevents them from mixing. And He made, out of the greatness of His power, a barrier (barzakh) separating them by His decree.

Here are some questions:

Answer: This is the phrase uttered by one seeking refuge, which we have already explained. Here, it is used metaphorically, as if each of the two seas seeks refuge from the other and says to it, "A forbidden barrier!" This is similar to His saying: {They do not both transgress} (Ar-Rahman: 20), meaning neither one infringes upon the other by mixing. Thus, the negation of transgression there is like seeking refuge. Here, however, He has depicted each one as if it were an aggressor against the other, so it seeks refuge from it. This is one of the finest metaphors.

It cannot be argued that this is refuted in two ways:

1. That what is meant are the great rivers, like the Nile and the Jihun.
2. Perhaps in the seas, there is a place where one side is sweet and the other is salty.

We say: As for the first point, it is weak because these rivers do not contain salt, and the seas do not contain sweet water, so the point of wonder is never achieved. As for the second point, it is weak because the point of evidence must be something known; one should not draw evidence based merely on possibility.

We say: What is meant by the sweet sea is these rivers, and by the salty sea (al-ujāj) are the great oceans. And He placed between them a barrier (barzakh), meaning a barrier of earth. The point of evidence here is clear: If the sweetness and saltiness are due to the nature of the earth or the water, then uniformity must exist. If it is not so, then there must be a Wise, Powerful Being who specifically endows each body with a particular, defined characteristic.