Basic
Monotheism
Surah: Al-Kahf (109)
Say: If the Ocean Were Ink for the Words of My Lord — The Infinity of Divine Knowledge
قُل لَّوۡ كَانَ ٱلۡبَحۡرُ مِدَادٗا لِّكَلِمَٰتِ رَبِّي
— الكهف الآية 109
Verse: "Say: if the ocean were ink for the words of my Lord, the ocean would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted." (18:109) — An unparalleled mental image: take all the oceans as ink, all the trees as pens (Luqman 27) — they would run out before "Allah's words" end. "Allah's words" = His boundless knowledge, wisdom, and will. The rhetorical subtlety: "the ocean would be exhausted" (certain) "before the words run out" (also certain) — two certainties in opposite directions. Lesson: what your knowledge has reached of Allah's knowledge resembles a drop from an endless ocean — be humble.
Source: Ibn Kathir (5/202); Al-Sadi
Test Yourself
What is meant by "words of my Lord" in this verse?
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