The darkness of the Sea and of the Waves

The darkness of the Sea and of the Waves.

 Verses conernig  this miracle.

أَوْ كَظُلُمَٰتٍۢ فِى بَحْرٍۢ لُّجِّىٍّۢ يَغْشَىٰهُ مَوْجٌۭ مِّن فَوْقِهِۦ مَوْجٌۭ مِّن فَوْقِهِۦ سَحَابٌۭ ۚ ظُلُمَٰتٌۢ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ إِذَآ أَخْرَجَ يَدَهُۥ لَمْ يَكَدْ يَرَىٰهَا ۗ وَمَن لَّمْ يَجْعَلِ ٱللَّهُ لَهُۥ نُورًۭا فَمَا لَهُۥ مِن نُّورٍ ﴿۰٤﴾

"Or (the state of adisbiliever) is like the darkness in a vast deep sea, overwhelmed with waves topped by dark clouds, (layers of) darkness uppon darkness: if a man stretches out his hand, he can hardly ee it! And he for whom Allah has not appointed light, for him there is no light."

(Sr, Al-noor;24:4)

Linguistic explanations

  The phase Bahr Lujiyy (translated here here as "a vast deep sea") refers to a sea the bottom of which cannot be fathomed, and the edges of which cannot be seen.

Explanations of the Mufassireen (exegetes)

Imam Qurtubi said in his commentary on this verse:

What is mean by these "darknesses" is the darkness of the clouds, the darkness of the waves, the darkness of the night and the darkness of the sea, because the onw two finds himsef in all these darkness cannot see anyhting.

 Historycal introduction 

  In the past, man believed in many myths about the seas and oceans, becauce at that there was no scientific knowledge about conditions in the depths of the sea or about the ocean current. This is what encouraged the myths about the motionless oceans that could not be crossed by ships. the acient Romanbelieved in the evistence of a "suking fish" that had magical powers and could stop the movement of ships. Despite the fact that the people in the ancient times knew that the wind has an effect on the waves and currents close to the surface of the sea, it was difficult to know anything about the movements in the depths of the oceans.


  The hitory of science shows that studies of the ocean and its depths did not begin until the early eighteenth century, when equipment, that was suited to such precise studies was invented. Among this equipment which is used to measure the depth to which light can penetrate the water of the ocean, is the Secchi disk. THis is a white disk can no longer be seen. At the end of of the ninetheenth century, photographic means began to be used, which were further developed in the 1930s when electrolytic cell were used  The phenomenom of internal waves was explained bi Dr. V.W Ekman at the begi

Scientific fact

• Scientists have discovered that the seas and oceans  are recovered by thick cumulus clouds that block a great proportion of sunlight.

•  The of the sea absorbs the colors of the spectrum gradually; when the deeper these colors go, they create different levels of darkness in the sea. It becomes very dark after a depth of 1,000 meters where, if a man were to hold out his hand he would not be able to see it.
• Modern oceanography has discovered the precence of strong waves in the depth of the sea.

• Scientists have been able to see fish i the deep sea at depths between 600 and 2,700 meters that use a light-producing fleshy growth to see in the darkness and pursue their prey.   

 Scientific explanation

    In the second half  of the etintieth century, modern oceanography discovered astonishing secrets in the depths of the seas and oceas.Here we will discuss two of these phenomena: the layer of darkness of the deep sea and the movement of internal waves.
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