Surah Ar-Rahman 55:19
سُورَةُ الرَّحۡمَٰن · Medinan · Verse 19 of 78
مَرَجَ ٱلْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ
Translation
He released the two bodies of [fresh and salt] water. They meet,
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'He released the two seas, meeting together.' Ibn Ashur and al-Biqa'i note the marvel: two great bodies of water, traditionally the sweet and the salt, set flowing so that they meet, touching along a shared front. Ask yourself: the verse holds up a wonder hidden in plain sight, waters that come together and yet, as the next verse says, keep their natures distinct. It is an image of nearness without dissolution, contact without collapse. So much of what sustains the world runs on boundaries that hold precisely where two things meet. Where in my own life do I need that lesson, the ability to meet something (a person, a pressure, a temptation) closely without being swallowed by it, staying distinct at the point of contact?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i, al-Saadi.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Ar-Rahman 55:19 is discussed in 2 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
- The Sea (Bahr) (key verse)
- Understanding (Fiqh)
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Ar-Rahman 55:19 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.