Sea Winds

Ask any modern day sailors and they will tell you all about the Beaufort Scale to tell the sea conditions. It is simple. A set of numbers to represent the combination of wind speed and sea sate. You know the number, you know the sea state. What is beautiful about this scale is, if you know the sea state, you will also be able to work out the number.

Example: Force 6 = Strong Breeze 22-27 knots winds. Large waves, white foam crests. For sailing, deep reefing required for main and put up a small jib. (I am uploading the full list below for reference)

This scale allows us to tell the sea conditions and how to prepare the sail boat given the wind speed. Conversely, just by looking at the sea we can roughly estimate the wind speed. There is an elegence and beauty in this scale only sailors can appreciate. As commented by Tristan Gooley in his book How to Read Water, with one stroke the scale deals with two main traits of sailors. The exageration bit ("I faced waves a high as mountains") and the aversion to  exactness ("You are safe if you keep the sandbanks to the port side").

This week I learned that the Quran has given this classification of sea winds more than a thousand years ago.  There are three places in which sea winds are mentioned:

Verse 1: If He willed, He could still the wind, and they would remain motionless on its surface, Indeed in that are signs for everyone patient and grateful. (42:33)

Verse 2: It is He who enables you to travel on land and sea until, when you are in ships and they sail with them by a good wind and they rejoice therein, there comes a storm wind and the waves come upon them from everywhere and they assume that they are surrounded, supplicating Allah, sincere to Hm in religion, 'If You should save us from this, we will surely be among the thankful" (10:22)

Verse 3: Do you feel secure that He will not send you back into the sea another time and send upon you a hurricane of wind and drown you for what you denied? Then you would not find yourselves against Us an avenger (17:69)

Calm (Saakinah) winds is when the sea state is calm and there is no presence of wind and no vertical wave movement. The ship would be motionless.

Pleasant (Tayyibah) winds is used to describe Force 1 - 6 breezes on the Beaufort Scale. These winds produce pleasant and delightful effect. The ship travels in these winds and seafarers are in a state of joy.

Gale ('Aasif) winds describes Force 7 - 10 gales. Here the waves are extremely high, leaving people on the vessel in a state of intense fear and certainty of death. The ship is sorrounded by waves in every direction and fould either sink or be spared.

Hurricane (Qaasif) winds describes Force 11 and 12 hurricanes. These winds destroy ships and leave no hope for survivors.

After learning about these wind classifications, the following verse of the Quran kept me in awe:

And to Solomon [we subjected] the wind, blowing forcefully ('aasifah) (21:81)

Imagine, if we were given the same gift as Solomon to control the winds!