And when He, glorified and exalted is He, indicated the completeness of His power and choice, and concluded with the negation of the partner that is necessary for the oneness, which is the belief in it that is the foundation of righteous deeds, He indicated it with the greatest signs among them and the clearest in their souls and the closest to their understanding due to their sincerity towards it. He, the Most High, said: ﴿And among His signs﴾ meaning the signs that indicate the completeness of His power, choice, oneness, and great authority, is His subjugation and making easy the sailing of the ships in it, carrying what no one else carries. This is the meaning of His saying: ﴿the ships﴾ meaning from the vessels, and it is one of the attributes that have taken the place of the nouns. And it indicated the described that follows it; therefore, it was omitted because the rule is that if the attribute does not specify the described, its omission is prevented. So we say: I passed by an engineer, and do not say: I passed by a walker - except with a context as here.

And when it was heavy in their souls, and burdens were placed in it that would weigh down mountains, and every heavy thing has nothing of itself except diving into the water, it was as if it were in it, not upon it, because it is deserving of sinking. So He, the Most High, said, warning of its might, recognizing His great blessing, and informing of the reality of the ships: ﴿in the sea like mountains﴾ meaning the towering mountains due to their height above the water, then by what connects them and what is in it from the sails upon them from the elevation. And the friend said: Everything elevated among the Arabs is knowledge.