| Answer:
The verse reads thus:
And if all the trees on earth were pens and the oceans [were ink], with
seven oceans behind it to add to its [supply], yet would not the words of
Allah be exhausted [in the writing]. For Allah is Exalted in power, full of
wisdom. (31:27)
A similar reference to Allah’s blessings is made in Sūrah Kahaf:
Say: ‘If the ocean were ink [wherewith to write out], the words of my Lord,
sooner would the ocean be exhausted than would the words of my Lord, even if
we added another ocean like it, for its aid’. (18:109)
Thus, the significance of ‘adding another ocean’ is primarily to stress on
the bountiful providence of God Almighty. Man can reach the peaks of snowy
mountains, he can explore the wonders of the oceans, he can study the depth
of the earth, but he can never discover enough of God’s creations and His
blessings. If the ocean were taken as ink, it would not provide enough to
even calculate the bounties within that very ocean. Thus, if we set off to
count our Lord’s blessings, we would keep adding to the list, but there
would never be an end. Having what limited resources man has at his
disposal, he can only acknowledge a fraction of what he has been bestowed
with. Even the natural resources such as oceans do not have enough to
accommodate the infinitesimal signs of Allah. |