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“He has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together: Between them is a Barrier which they do not transgress:” (Surah Al Rahman 55:19-20)
“It is He Who has let free the two bodies of flowing water: One palatable and sweet, and the other salt and bitter; yet has He made a barrier between them, a partition that is forbidden to be passed.” (Surah Al Furqan 25:53)
In the Arabic text the word ‘barzakh‘ means a barrier or a partition. This barrier, however, is not a physical partition. The Arabic word ‘maraja‘ literally means ‘they both meet and mix with each other’. Early commentators of the Quran were unable to explain the two opposite meanings for the bodies of water, i.e. they meet and mix, and at the same time there is a barrier between them.
Modern Science has discovered that in the places where two different seas meet, there is a barrier between them. This barrier divides the two seas so that each sea has its own temperature, salinity and density. There is a slanted unseen water barrier between the two seas through which water from one sea passes to the other.
But when the water from one sea enters the other sea, it loses its distinctive characteristic and becomes homogenized with the other water. In a way this barrier serves as a transitional homogenizing area for the two waters.
These scientific phenomena mentioned in the Quran was also confirmed by Dr. William Hay, a wellknown marine Scientist and Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado, U.S.A.
This phenomena occurs in several places, including Egypt, where the river Nile flows into the Mediterranean Sea.
Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
