that had fallen during the night. When he had finished, he turned to the people and said, “Do you know what your Lord has said?” They replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “This morning, some of My servants have become believers in Me and others disbelievers. As for the one who says, ‘We have been given rain by Allah’s bounty and mercy,’ he is a believer in Me and a disbeliever in the stars. But as for the one who says, ‘We have been given rain through such-and-such a stellar station,’ he is a disbeliever in Me and a believer in the stars.” (1)
“And if We had willed, We could have sent a warner to every town. So do not obey the disbelievers, but strive against them with it—the Quran—in a mighty struggle. And He is the One who has let the two seas flow: this one fresh and sweet, and this one salty and bitter. And He has placed between them a barrier and an impassable partition. And He is the One who created a human being from water, then made for him ties of blood and ties of marriage. And your Lord is ever All-Powerful.” (51–54)
His saying, exalted is He, “And if We had willed, We could have sent a warner to every town,” means: a messenger to warn its people. But We sent you to all towns and charged you with the full weight of warning, so that, through your patience in bearing it, you may deserve the honor and lofty rank that We have prepared for you.
“So do not obey the disbelievers” in what they call you to of agreeing with them and compromising with them. “But strive against them with it,” that is, with the Quran, “in a mighty struggle”: a severe struggle.
“And He is the One who has let the two seas flow”: He has mingled them and caused each of them to flow into the other. It was also said: He sent them forth in their respective courses and left them free, just as horses are released into a pasture. The basic meaning of marj is mingling and setting loose. One says, “I released the animal,” when one lets it loose in the pasture and leaves it to go wherever it wishes.
“This one is fresh and sweet,” intensely fresh; furat denotes the sweetest of waters. “And this one is salty and bitter,” intensely salty. It was also said that ujaj means bitter. “And He has placed between them a barrier,” that is, a partition by His power, so that the fresh does not mix with the salty, nor the salty with the fresh; “and an impassable partition,” that is, a protective and forbidden barrier, so that neither of them transgresses against the other and the salt water does not spoil the fresh water.
“And He is the One who created a human being from water,” that is, from a drop of semen, “then made for him ties of blood and ties of marriage,” meaning: He made him one possessing blood relations and marital relations. It was said that blood relations are those whom one may not marry, while marital relations are those whom one may marry. Thus, blood relationship entails prohibition, whereas marital relationship does not. But it was also said—and this is the correct view—that blood relationship refers to kinship, while marital relationship is the bond resembling kinship; it is the cause that renders marriage prohibited. We have previously mentioned that Allah, Most High, has prohibited seven categories through blood relationship and seven through marital relationship, in His saying (2), “Forbidden to you are your mothers” (al-Nisa’, 4:23). “And your Lord is ever All-Powerful.”