Ships that sail and other Divine signs; an analysis and contextualization of Surah 31:29-31

Chapter 31 of the Qur’an, known as Surah Luqman, verse 31 states: ‘Do not you see that the ships sail in the sea by the favour of Allah that He may show you of His signs’?. The addressee is alerted to a common phenomenon to which a theological explanation is then given. Additional to this immediate context, the expression, ‘ships sail in the sea’, may be framed in various ways. Preceding verse 31 attention is drawn to another phenomenon (29-30), dawn and twilight, accompanied by a more elaborate explanation, calling the listener and reader to recognise the Oneness of God. Following verse 31, a storm at sea and shipwreck are described (32), after which is a strong comment on the response of those who survived in relation to their attitude to God, Who rescued them from disaster. These three occurrences link to one another and to verses adjacent to them in various ways, depending (inter alia) on how the 34 verses of the Surah are divided. The contextual scope may be further enlarged by juxtaposing the event of ships sailing as well as each of the other two occurrences with similar statements in the rest of the Qur’an. Parallels resembling the three phenomena are also to be found in the Old Testament, although the mentioning of a ship sailing as an amazing event features only once. Immediate and wider contexts multiply the perspectives within which ships that sail may be viewed, but also bring to question the function of context in hermeneutics.

well as adjacent verses respectively referring to sunset (31:29-30) and the episode of shipwreck (31:32). Furthermore, their relationship to one another and to other verses in Surah Luqman will be examined. And within wider scope, parallels to the three themes in the rest of the Qur'an and in the Bible (Old Testament) will be surveyed. Ever-widening contours of context will thus be observed, leading finally to a reflection on the function of literary contextualisation in Qur'anic research.

Text and Classical commentary
Provided below is a transliterated version of the Qur'anic Arabic text and an English rendering [1]  Segmentation of verses has been guided by syntactic considerations. However, on a poetic level, in verse 29 parallel lines describing sunrise and sunset as well as Allah's subjecting of celestial bodies correspond in terms of end-rhyme, cf. nahāri // laili and qamara // musamma [n]. Furthermore, comments following Allah's subjecting of celestial bodies, and introduced by 'anna 'Allāha at the end of verse 29 and verse 30 have similar end-rhyme, i.e., kabīrun, ḥaqqu, bāṭilu and kabīru. In addition, lines drawing attention to, and commenting on, ships sailing in verse 31 also exhibit end-rhyme, cf. baḥri,'Allāhi, 'āyāti-hi, la-'āyāti and šakūri [n]. 29 'a-lam tara / Do you not see 'anna 'Allāha / that Allah yūliju 'al-laila fī 'al-nahār i / causes-to-enter the night into the day wa-yūliju 'al-nahāra fī 'al-lail i / and causes-to-enter the day into the night [2] wa-sakkara 'la-šamsa wa-'al-qamara / and has subjected the sun and the moon [3] kullu yajrī 'ilā 'ajali musamman / each runs for a term specified [4] wa-'anna 'Allāha / and that Allah
As in verse 31, a rhetorical question that is common in the Qur'an is asked of the addressee, 'Do you not see'?, expecting an affirmative answer. Attention is drawn to a daily event, namely the gradual occurrence of sunrise followed by sunset.
Allah asks the question ('Do you not see') while He attributes Himself as the One who brings about the event. He is the grammatical subject of the verb ('causes-to-enter'; yūliju) in 31:29a; this is compared to 31:31where it is stated the ships sail through Divine agency ('by the favour of Allah'), and not by His direct command The merging of night into day and day into night in 31:29 is followed by an extended description and a theological description. In the extended description (29b) 'sun' is associated with sunrise and 'moon' with sunset: And has subjected the sun and the moon, each runs (yajrī) for a term specified ('ilā 'ajali musamman) Allah's attribute of Authority is accentuated, because it is demonstrated through the determining of the length of day and night -an act of which no other being is capable.
Reference to Allah's omnipotence above (29b) is then juxtaposed with the accentuation of his omniscience in a theological addendum (29c). Thus, the addressee's attention is driven immediately from the universe to the individual:

and that (wa-'anna) Allah with what you do [is] acquainted.
In the next verse (30) Allah is twice characterised by Divine epithets (29ci and 29ciii) emphasising his Uniqueness; this is then interrupted by a warning against taking others as gods (29cii)

That [is] in that (bi-'anna; i.e., because) Allah He [is] the Truth and that (wa-'anna) what they call other than Him is falsehood and that (wa-'anna) Allah He [is] the Most-high, the Grand
Surah 31:32 (waves like canopies) Description and exposition of 'ships sail' in 31:31 is supplemented by a description of a storm at sea, described in vivid simile, and its consequences.

And when (wa-'idā) waves cover them (ḡašiya-hum) like a canopies (ka-'al-ẓulali)
they supplicate Allah, [ Verse 32 presupposes the subject to be the ships that sail mentioned in 31, but then describes an interrupted journey.
The new situation is a storm at sea, leveraging the powerful visual metaphor of 'waves [that] cover them like a canopies (ka-'al-ẓulali)'. 'Them' refers to people aboard, but implies the ships are also engulfed by waves. The sailors call upon Allah in all sincerity. However, when the people concerned and possibly their ships manage to reach the shore safely, they do not acknowledge their survival as due to Divine intervention. As a matter of fact, they take "a middling course" (Nasr 2015).
This means they do not acknowledge their rescue and being due to Him. Rather, they adopt an attitude of indecisiveness, neither confirming nor denying the Truth; to adhere to it would require their submission in Islam.
Commenting on their behaviour, a general statement is made. This indecision amounts to the rejection or denial of Divine signs, as being from Allah -these include the ships sailing, the remarkable and seamless transition of day into night and night into day, and the rescue from drowning, the direct answer to the plea of the lost -and this is conduct typical of those who are 'treacherous, ungrateful'. We understand that this is unwanted and -since the human being is designed to worship Allah Alone -unexpected conduct. It is the opposite of 'everyone patient and grateful' (kulli ṣabbārin šakūrin; 31:31); the latter being those who recognise the presence of Allah in everyday events.
Verse 32 (storm and survival) thus links to 31 (ships sail) in an antonymous way. Tranquillity (31) is juxtaposed with commotion (32), and in parallel to this, a religiously positive attitude (31) in submission to and worship of Allah, with an ungrateful, indecisive experience of the Creator belied by a lack of acknowledgement of His Authority in all affairs, and the requirement to express gratitude and awe in the proper way required by Islam. Some verses allude to ships as vehicles to transport products, which are the'bounty of Allah' [12] :

Segmentation of Surah
Q. 45:12, 'It is Allah who subjected ( sakkara) to you the sea so that ships may sail upon it by His command and that you may seek of his bounty (min faḍli-hi); and perhaps you will be grateful.'

Q. 16:14, 'And you see the ships (al-fulka) ploughing through it (mawākira [pl. of mākir] fī-hi) and He subjected it
that you may seek of its bounty; and perhaps you will be grateful.' Ships sailing are also associated with other material blessings ascribed to Allah: Isaiah 45:7 [13] : Amos 5:8 [14] : the way of a ship (' ŏniyyāh) on the high sea (in the heart of the sea; bĕ-leb yām),

and the way of a man with a maiden ( bĕ-'almāh)
Contrary to the Qur'an, ships as trading vessels are at times associated with the arrogance of man which would be 'brought low': Isaiah 2:12, 15-18: The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty … for every lofty tower and every fortified wall; for every trading ship and every stately vessel [17] (śĕkiyyāh).
The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exulted in that day, and the idols will totally disappear.

Q. 31:32
The simile waves like canopies has corresponding Biblical equivalents. In one instance the storm is described Jonah 1:4 [18] : In another example threatening shipwreck, supplications to God and reaching the harbour in safety has as an epilogue the exhortation to the sailors to thank and exult God for their rescue.
Psalm 107:23-32 [19] Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. 7. Context [20] Mentioning a ship or ships ('al-fulqu is a collective noun) sailing in the sea (31:31) evokes different mental pictures.
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (9 th edition, 2015), the English verb 'sail' refers to a boat or ship [i.e., a large boat] travelling on water, using sails or an engine. Arguing from the perspective that the Qur'an expresses timeless truths, the exact image of the hearer or reader would not matter. Emphasis is on the seemingly automatic movement (tajrī) of the sailing object. However, if the reader/hearer visualises the maritime situation of early 7 th century Arabia, the maritime recollections would be that of sailing boats that pass by. An everyday event observable for those close to the sea is now theologically contextualised in the Qur'an as elucidated above. The addressee is Prophet Muhammad, and through him believers individually and collectively.
This has a corresponding structure with 31:29-30, where daybreak and sunset are presented as being regulated by Allah, being Master of the universe, but also the One Who is Knowledgeable of the behaviour, thoughts, and heart of each individual person.
Thematically the regulated movement (yajrī, 31:29) of sun and moon corresponds with the image of ships sailing ( tajrī, 31:31). However, the harmony between the motion of celestial bodies and human means of transport by sea, is disrupted by the portrayal of the towering waves, the storm and pending shipwreck, dampened again by the lack of thankfulness of the survivors to their Lord, as depicted by their attitude of dismissive indecision in 31:32.
Within each of the themes, merging of night into day (seen in isolation according to traditional segmentation of Surah 31), ships sailing and shipwreck, the focus is on Allah, the event and the people concerned -in that order.
Events are signs that affirm the Oneness and Greatness of Allah, demonstrating his involvement in nature, and in everyday events often ascribed to men, such as the sailing of ships, and His authorship of the miraculous. The people concerned may be ideally believers but may include those 'who call other than Him' (Q. 31:30) -that is, those who worship others besides Allah, or who take gods instead of Him -and the hypocrites who supplicate to Allah in need, while otherwise standing aloof or even rejecting His Signs (31:32).
The present reader or hearer of the Qur'anic verses, in turn, becomes part of the context depending on the way he or she experiences the contents of 31:29-32. The contents can, for example, be understood as a personal Divine directive [21] , or as informative of the source (Qur'an) informing Islamic theology.
Related to the latter, informative reading of the subject matter, are Qur'anic parallels pertaining specifically to ships Biblical parallels also present light and darkness as Divinely regulated (Isaiah 31:29). A storm at sea and its desirable outcome are vividly described (Psalm 107:23-32). However, Biblical images also vary from the Qur'anic presentations.
Changing of night into day is juxtaposed with the roaring waves of the sea (Jeremiah 31:35), both ascribed to God. Sailing ships as a wondrous event is mentioned, but only in a single instance (Proverbs 30: . Furthermore, trading ships are presented as symbols of human arrogance and thus a legitimate target of Divine retribution (Isaiah 2:12 and 15-18). Ships thus fulfil diverse functions within Biblical argumentation. The themes of sunrise, ships sailing and shipwreck depicted in the Bible also link in ways that vary with those meanings found in similar images and events in the Qur'an.
Contours provided by literary context added or applied to text, furnish an ever-widening circle that both broadens and deepens stereotypical understanding, but also perpetually invites further investigation. This may include examining the way literary contextualisation relates to theological settings in life suggested by asbāb al-nuzul (occasions of revelation).