Surat al-Rahman: The Two Seas Tradition: Tafsir al-Jalalayn and more Doubts

Submitted by dhimmi no more (United States), Jul 16, 2022 at 06:52

Here is the Tafsir of Q25:30 according to the revered al-Jalalyn (The Two Jalals)

وهو الذي مرج البحرين أرسلهما متجاورين هذا عذب فرات شديد العذوبة وهذا ملح أجاج شديد الملوحة وجعل بينهما برزخا حاجزا لا يختلط أحدهما بالآخر وحجرا محجورا سترا ممنوعا به اختلاطهما.

This can be rendered as: And He who Marj (I left this word untranslated because the meaning is not clear) he sent them side by side this very sweet and this very salty and sour and He created an isthmus (Barzkh) as a barrier between them and stone (to obstruct) obstruction (see Ghali's translation) and a barrier forbidden with it the mixing (this really means that the meaning of Marj cannot be: Merging)

It is very clear that al-Jalalayn's understanding of this verse is: we have two seas separated by an isthmus and they shall not mix. Plain and simple!

What does this means? Only Allahu A'lam

The question now is: Why would it be that by the 3rd century of Islam when al-Tabari wrote his tafsir, the meaning of the verse was lost? It is either that the older Two Seas traditions in Q55:19-20 pre-date Islam and by 610 AD the meaning was lost, or the tradition was revealed between 610 AD and 632 AD however, the Quran was not to be canonized until al-Tabari wrote his vast and masoretic tafsir in the late 2nd and early 3rd century but by then the meaning of the verse was lost

And how can we explain the Two Seas Tradition with its 3rd century Classical Arabic that is clearly is a partial Tafsir of Q55:19-20?

Only Allahu A'lam

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