“Lord of the two easts and Lord of the two wests. (17) So which of your Lord’s favors will you both deny? (18) He has released the two seas, meeting together; (19) between them is a barrier which they do not overstep. (20) So which of your Lord’s favors will you both deny?” (21)

“He created man from dried clay like pottery.”

“And He created al-Jann”—the progenitor of the jinn. Al-Dahhak said: “It is Iblis”—“from a smokeless flame of fire,” that is, the pure flame of fire containing no smoke. Mujahid said: It is that part of the flame, red, yellow, and green, which mingles together and rises above the fire when it is kindled. This is akin to their saying, “The people’s affair became confused,” when it becomes intermixed.

“So which of your Lord’s favors will you both deny? He is Lord of the two easts”: the point of sunrise in summer and the point of sunrise in winter. “And Lord of the two wests”: the point of sunset in summer and the point of sunset in winter. “So which of your Lord’s favors will you both deny?”

“He has released the two seas”—the fresh and the salty—sending them forth and leaving them free to meet.

“Between them is a barrier”: a partition brought about by the power of Allah, Most High. “They do not overstep”: they do not intermingle or change, nor does either of them transgress against the other. Qatada said: They do not overwhelm people by drowning them. Al-Hasan said: “He has released the two seas” refers to the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Sea, and you are the barrier between them. It is also reported from Qatada that they are the Sea of Persia and the Mediterranean Sea, with a barrier between them—meaning the islands. Mujahid and al-Dahhak said: The sea of heaven and the sea of earth meet each year. “So which of your Lord’s favors will you both deny?”