The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 411
PT. 19 AL-FURQAN CH. 25 وَهُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ مِنَ الْمَاء بَشَرًا فَجَعَلَهُ And He it is Who has. 55 نَسَبًا وَصِهْرًا وَكَانَ رَبُّكَ قَدِيرًا created man from water, and has made for him kindred by descent tongue in abusing backbiting them. "24:46; 32:9. people and means, He (God) has mixed the two seas; He has let them flow freely (Lane & Aqrab). sweet fruit and slaking the thirst of the spiritual wayfarers and the latter barren and bitter, incapable of producing any good results. فرت sweet) is derived from) فرات (faruta). They say i. e. the water was or became sweet or very sweet. applied to water means sweet, very sweet or of the sweetest kind that which subdues thirst by its excessive sweetness (Lane & Aqrab). (bitter) is derived from. They sayi. e. the fire burned or burned brightly or fiercely. means, the water was or became saltish or bitter. means, anything burning to the mouth whether saltish bitter or hot. means, water that burns by its saltishness; or salt water or very bitter water like the water of the sea, or water of which no use is made for drinking or for watering seed-product or other purposes; or very hot water (Lane, Aqrab & Mufradāt). See also 21:97. partition) is) برزخ a thing that intervenes between any two things; a bar; an obstruction; or a thing that separates two things i. e. a partition (Lane). See also 23:101. Commentary: The "two waters" may also signify the water of the sea and that of the river. The former is saltish and bitter to taste while the latter is drinkable and sweet. When the sweet water of the river flows into the sea and becomes mixed with its saltish water, it also becomes bitter. As long as these two waters keep themselves separate, they have different tastes. Similarly, when the teaching of a true religion becomes mixed up with the teachings of false religions, it loses its sweetness and usefulness. But God has so ordained that in spite of its close proximity to false religions Islam will never lose its sweet taste as God has taken upon Himself to protect and guard it (15:10). There is an unbridgeable barrier between the two which keeps them apart. Or the word meaning both river and sea, the verse may signify that under the system instituted by God rivers are fed by rain and snow and their water is always fresh, and though they fall into the sea, sea water is always saltish and bitter. This is in effect an illustration of Divine guidance, which when it is constantly reinforced by fresh revelation remains fresh, sweet and life-giving, but when it becomes Taking "two waters" in the verse to represent the true religion and the false one, the verse signifies that both Islam, the true religion, and other corrupted faiths will continue to exist side by side, the former yielding | stale, it loses all value. 2325