Modern science has discovered that in estuaries,

where fresh (sweet) and salt water meet, the

situation is somewhat different from that found in

places where two salt water seas meet. It has been

discovered that what distinguishes fresh water from

salt water in estuaries is a "pycnocline zone with a

marked density discontinuity separating the two

salinity different from both the fresh water and the

This phenomenon occurs in several places, including

Egypt, where the river Nile flows into the

Mediterranean Sea.

These scientific phenomena mentioned in the Qur’an

was also confirmed by Dr. William Hay, a wellknown

marine scientist and Professor of Geological

Sciences at the University of Colorado, U.S.A.

Prof. Durga Rao is a world renowned expert in the

field of Marine Geology and was a professor at King

Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah. He was asked to

comment on the following verse:

Prof. Rao said that scientists have only now been

able to confirm, with the help of modern equipment,

that there is darkness in the depths of the ocean.

Humans are unable to dive unaided underwater for

more than 20 to 30 metres, and cannot survive in

the deep oceanic regions at a depth of more than

200 metres. This verse does not refer to all seas

because not every sea can be described as having

accumulated darkness layered one over another. It

refers especially to a deep sea or deep ocean, as the

Qur’an says, "darkness in a vast deep ocean". This

layered darkness in a deep ocean is the result of two

causes:

1. A light ray is composed of seven colours seen

in the rainbow. These seven colours are Violet,

Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red

(VIBGYOR). The light ray undergoes

refraction when it hits water. The upper 10 to

15 metres of water absorb the red colour.

Therefore, if a diver is 25 metres under water

and gets wounded, he would not be able to see

the red colour of his blood, because the red

colour does not reach this depth. Similarly,

orange rays are absorbed at 30 to 50 metres,

yellow at 50 to 100 metres, green at 100 to 200

metres, and finally, blue beyond 200 metres

and violet and indigo above 200 metres. Due to

successive disappearance of colour, one layer

after another, the ocean progressively becomes

darker, i.e. darkness takes place in layers of

light. Below a depth of 1000 meters there is

2. The sun’s rays are absorbed by clouds which in

turn scatter light rays thus causing a layer of

darkness under the clouds. This is the first

layer of darkness. When light rays reach the

surface of the ocean they are reflected by the

wave surface giving it a shiny appearance.

Therefore, it is the waves which reflect light

and cause darkness. The unreflected light

penetrates into the depths of the ocean. Thus,

the ocean has two parts. The surface

characterized by light and warmth and the

depth characterized by darkness. The surface

is further separated from the deep part of the ocean

by waves.

The internal waves cover the deep waters of

seas and oceans because the deep waters have

a higher density than the waters above them.

The darkness begins below the internal waves.

Even the fish in the depths of the ocean cannot

see; their only source of light is from their own

bodies.

The Qur’an describes this aptly:

"Darkness in a vast deep ocean overwhelmed with

waves topped by waves".

In other words, above these waves there are more

types of waves, i.e. those found on the surface of

the ocean. The Qur’anic verse continues, "topped

by (dark) clouds; depths of darkness, one above

another."

These clouds as explained are barriers one over the

other that further cause darkness by absorption of

colours at different levels.

Prof. Durga Rao concluded by saying, "1400 years

ago a normal human being could not explain this

phenomenon in so much detail. Thus the

information must have come from a supernatural

source".

Was it possible 14 centuries ago for any human

being to guess that every living being was made

from water? Moreover would such a guess be

conceivable by a human being in the deserts of

Arabia where there has always been scarcity of