His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And He is the One who has released the two seas, this one fresh and sweet, and that one salty and bitter, and He has placed between them a barrier and a prohibiting partition﴾ ﴿And He is the One who created from water a human being, and made him [of] lineage and marriage. And your Lord is competent﴾ ﴿And they worship besides Allah that which does not benefit them or harm them. And the disbeliever is a helper to his Lord﴾ ﴿And We have not sent you except as a bringer of good tidings and a warner﴾ ﴿Say, 'I do not ask of you for it any reward, except for whoever wills to take to his Lord a way.'﴾

The people have differed in the interpretation of this verse. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: He meant the sea of the sky and the sea that is on the earth. The words of the verse are arranged accordingly. Mujahid said: The sweet sea is the waters of the rivers that are located in the salty sea, and their occurrence in it is its release. He said: And the barrier and the partition is a barrier in the knowledge of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, that humans do not see. This was also said by Al-Zajjaj. And a group said: The meaning of 'released' is that one of them is prolonged in the other. Ibn Abbas said: One is above the other. And this is similar to the sayings that are interrelated.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

What I say regarding the verse is that the intention behind it is to highlight the power of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and the perfection of His creation of things, in that He has spread in the earth abundant sweet waters from rivers, springs, and wells, and made them intermixed with the salty waters, and made the salty waters intermixed with them. So you see the sea surrounded by sweet waters on its banks, and you find the water in the sea in the islands and similar places - it is surrounded by salty water. Thus, its spreading in the earth is its mixing, and from this is His saying: 'released', and from this is ﴿in a matter of swirling﴾ [Qaf: 5].

And 'the two seas' refers to all the sweet water and all the salty water, as if He said: He has released the two types of water. The barrier and the partition are what is between the two seas of land and dryness. This was said by Al-Hasan, and from this is the power that holds it with the proximity of what is between them in some places. The people have all read with a broken 'hā' here, while Al-Hasan read with a rounded 'hā' throughout the Qur'an, and 'the barrier' is the separator between the two things.

And the majority read: 'this one is salty', and Talhah ibn Musarif read: 'and that one is salty' with an open 'mīm' and a broken 'lām'. Abu Hatim said: This is an oddity in the recitation. Ibn Jinni said: He meant salty, and he omitted the 'alif', like 'cold' and 'cool'. And 'the salty' is the most intense of salinity.

'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And He is the One who created from water a human being﴾. This is a recounting of the blessing upon people in their creation after non-existence, and a reminder of the lesson in that. It is also a recounting of the blessing in the kinship that exists between them through lineage and marriage. And His saying: ﴿from water﴾ either means the origin of creation in that every living being is created from water, or it means the sperm of men. All of this has been stated by a group, and the first is clearer and more evident. The

Then Allah, the Most High, mentioned their error in worshiping idols that do not possess harm or benefit for them. His saying: "And the disbeliever was an ally to his Lord" has two interpretations. One of them is that "the ally" means the helper. Thus, the verse would mean reproaching them for the fact that the disbelievers assist others besides their Lord from among the disbelievers, and they assist the devil by obeying him and supporting him. This is the interpretation of Mujahid, Al-Hasan, and Ibn Zayd. The second interpretation, mentioned by Al-Tabari, is that "the ally" is a noun derived from your saying: "I supported the thing" when you cast it behind your back and took it as your support. Therefore, the meaning of the verse in this interpretation is the contempt of the disbelievers, and "the disbeliever" in this verse is a general term. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Rather, it is a specific reference to Abu Jahl ibn Hisham.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It seems that Abu Jahl is the cause of the verse, but the wording is general for all kinds.

And His saying, the Most High: "And We did not send you" is a consolation for Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. That is, do not concern yourself with them, and do not let your soul be consumed with regret for them. For you are only a messenger who brings glad tidings to the believers of Paradise and warns the disbelievers of the Fire, and you are not responsible for their belief altogether.

Then He commanded him, the Most High, to argue against them, removing the faces of the accusations with His saying: "I do not ask you for it any reward," meaning: I do not seek wealth or benefit that is specific to me. And His saying, the Most High: "Except for whoever wills," the apparent meaning of it is that it is an exception that is disconnected. The meaning is: My responsibility and what is required of me is for whoever wishes to be guided and to believe and to take a path to the mercy of his Lord for salvation, let him do so. Al-Tabari said: The meaning is: I do not ask you for a reward except for spending wealth in the way of Allah. This is what is required, and it is the path to the Lord.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Thus, the exception - on this - is like the connected one, as if he said: except for the reward of whoever wills, and the first interpretation is more apparent.