Surah Ar-Rahman 55:20
سُورَةُ الرَّحۡمَٰن · Medinan · Verse 20 of 78
بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌۭ لَّا يَبْغِيَانِ
Translation
yet there is a barrier between them they do not cross.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Between them is a barrier they do not overpass.' al-Saadi and Ibn Ashur note the invisible 'barzakh', a boundary you cannot see, holding perfectly, so that the two seas meet yet neither floods the other. A limit maintained without a visible wall. Ask yourself: my world is held together by countless unseen boundaries that simply, reliably hold, and I only notice them if they fail. This verse turns an invisible ocean-boundary into a sign of the God who keeps limits I never perceive. It also quietly commends keeping limits: the seas are honoured for not overstepping. Which boundaries in my own life, of appetite, of others' rights, of my role, am I meant to keep as faithfully as these waters keep theirs, precisely where the pressure to overstep is greatest?
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Ar-Rahman 55:20 is discussed in 2 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Ar-Rahman 55:20 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.