Sweet and Salty
\r\n Al-Rahman (The Beneficent) - Chapter 55: Verses 19-20
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"He has allowed the two great bodies of water to meet together. [Yet] between them there is a barrier which they do not overpass.\"
Two huge bodies of waters exist in the world: one of sweet water as in rivers, lakes, springs or underground water resources, and another of salty water as in seas and oceans. The latter bodies of salty water can themselves supply sweet water through the process of evaporation and condensation which may end in rain or snow. Although these two types of bodies may meet, as when a river ends in a sea where we see the sweet water poured through the mouth of the river into the sea, an isthmus or an invisible barrier keeps each body of water distinct in its original character, in spite of such meeting points. Therefore, despite the perfectly coordinated interrelations between the two bodies of water, and the meeting and mingling of their waters at certain points, they remain distinct, each benefiting human beings with its specific characteristic in providing drinking water or salt or in facilitating navigation.
\r\nBeyond such an obvious understanding of the verse based on scientific or concrete facts, there has been a mystic "sufi" understanding - as rightfully pointed out by Muhammad Asad in his note about it - that sees in the verse a symbolization of the sweet human spirituality and the salty environment of the world, between which a natural and healthy correlation ought not go beyond certain bounds.
\r\nCompiled From:
\r\n \"Concepts of the Quran\" - Fathi Osman, p. 40