Tafsir of Surah Al Kahf | quranmazid.com

فَأَخَذَ حُوتًا فَجَعَلَهُ بِمِكْتَلٍ ثُمَّ انْطَلَقَ وَانْطَلَقَ مَعَهُ فَتَاهُ يُوشَعُ بْنُ نُونٍ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَأمُ حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَيَا الصَّخْرَةَ وَضَعَا رُءُوْسَهُمَا فَنَامَا وَاضْطَرَبَ الْحُوتُ فِي الْمِكْتَلِ فَخَرَجَ مِنْهُ فَسَقَطَ فِي الْبَحْرِ فَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ سَرَبًا

وَأَمْسَكَ اللهُ عَنِ الْحُوتِ جِرْيَةَ الْمَاءِ فَصَارَ عَلَيْهِ مِثْلَ الطَّاقِ

فَلَمَّا اسْتَيْقَظَ نَسِيَ صَاحِبُهُ أَنْ يُخْبِرَهُ بِالْحُوتِ فَانْطَلَقَا بَقِيَّةَ يَوْمِهِمَا وَلَيْلَتَهُمَا

حَتَّى إِذَا كَانَ مِنَ الْغَدِ قَالَ مُوسَى لِفَتَاهُ

اتِنَا غَدَاءنَا لَقَدْ لَقِينَا مِن سَفَرِنَا هَذَا نَصَبًا

Musa got up to deliver a speech before the Children of Israel and he was asked, �Who is the most learned person among the people?��

Musa replied, �I am.��

Allah rebuked him because he did not refer the knowledge to Allah.

So Allah revealed to him:�At the junction of the two seas there is a servant of Ours who is more learned than you.��

Musa asked, �O my Lord, how can I meet him?��

Allah said, �Take a fish and put it in a vessel and then set out, and where you lose the fish, you will find him.��

So Musa took a fish, put it in a vessel and set out, along with his boy-servant Yusha` bin Nun, peace be upon him, till they reached a rock (on which) they both lay down their heads and slept. The fish moved vigorously in the vessel and got out of it and fell into the sea and there it took its way through the sea (straight) as in a tunnel.

Allah stopped the flow of water on both sides of the way created by the fish, and so that way was like a tunnel.

When Musa got up, his companion forgot to tell him about the fish, and so they carried on their journey during the rest of the day and the whole night.

The next morning Musa said to his boy-servant,

�Bring us our morning meal; truly, we have suffered much fatigue in this, our journey.��

Musa did not get tired till he had passed the place that Allah had ordered him to look for. His boy-servant then said to him,

أَرَأَيْتَ إِذْ أَوَيْنَأ إِلَى الصَّخْرَةِ فَإِنِّى نَسِيتُ الْحُوتَ وَمَأ أَنْسَانِيهُ إِلاَّ الشَّيْطَـنُ أَنْ أَذْكُرَهُ وَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِى الْبَحْرِ عَجَبًا

�Do you remember when we betook ourselves to the rock I indeed forgot the fish; none but Shaytan made me forget to remember it. It took its course into the sea in a strange way.��

There was a tunnel for the fish and Musa and his boy-servant were amazed. Musa said,

ذَلِكَ مَا كُنَّا نَبْغِ فَارْتَدَّا عَلَى ءَاثَارِهِمَا قَصَصًا

�That is what we have been seeking.�� So they went back retracing their footsteps.��

So they went back retracing their steps until they reached the rock. There they found a man covered with a garment.

Musa greeted him.

Al-Khidr said, �Is there such a greeting in your land!��

Musa said, �I am Musa.��

He said, �Are you the Musa of the Children of Israel?��

Musa said, �Yes,�� and added, �I have come to you so that you may teach me something of that knowledge which you have been taught.��

قَالَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِىَ صَبْراً

Al-Khidr said, �You will not be able to have patience with me.

O Musa! I have some of Allah�s knowledge which He has bestowed upon me but you do not know it; and you too, have some of Allah�s knowledge which He has bestowed upon you, but I do not know it.��

Musa said,

سَتَجِدُنِى إِن شَأءَ اللَّهُ صَابِرًا وَلَا أَعْصِى لَكَ أمْراً

�If Allah wills, you will find me patient, and I will not disobey you in aught.��

Al-Khidr said to him,

فَإِنِ اتَّبَعْتَنِى فَلَ تَسْأَلْنى عَن شَىءٍ حَتَّى أُحْدِثَ لَكَ مِنْهُ ذِكْراً

�Then, if you follow me, ask me not about anything till I myself mention it to you.��

So they set out walking along the shore, until a boat passed by and they asked the crew to let them go on board.

The crew recognized Al-Khidr and allowed them to go on board free of charge.

When they went on board, suddenly Musa saw that Al-Khidr had pulled out one of the planks of the ship with an adz.

Musa said to him, �These people gave us a free ride, yet you have broken their boat so that its people will drown!

Verily, you have done a terrible thing!

قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِىَ صَبْراً

�Al-Khidr said, �Did I not tell you, that you would not be able to have patience with me!��

قَالَ لَا تُوَاخِذْنِى بِمَا نَسِيتُ وَلَا تُرْهِقْنِى مِنْ أَمْرِى عُسْراً

Musa said, �Call me not to account for what I forgot and be not hard upon me for my affair (with you).��

The Messenger of Allah said,

In the first instance, Musa asked Al-Khidr because he had forgotten his promise.

Then a bird came and sat on the edge of the boat, dipping its beak once or twice in the sea. Al-Khidr said to Musa, �My knowledge and your knowledge, in comparison to Allah�s knowledge, is like what this bird has taken out of the sea.��

Then they both disembarked from the boat, and while they were walking on the shore, Al-Khidr saw a boy playing with other boys.

Al-Khidr took hold of the boy�s head and pulled it off with his hands, killing him.

Musa said to him,

فَانْطَلَقَا حَتَّى إِذَا لَقِيَا غُلَمًا فَقَتَلَهُ قَالَ أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ لَّقَدْ جِيْتَ شَيْياً نُّكْراً

�Have you killed an innocent person who had killed none! Verily, you have committed a thing Nukr!��

قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَّكَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِىَ صَبْراً

He said, �Did I not tell you that you would not be able to have patience with me��

(The narrator) said, "The second blame was stronger than the first one".

قَالَ إِن سَأَلْتُكَ عَن شَىْءٍ بَعْدَهَا فَلَ تُصَاحِبْنِى قَدْ بَلَغْتَ مِن لَّدُنِّى عُذْراً فَانطَلَقَا حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَيَأ أَهْلَ قَرْيَةٍ اسْتَطْعَمَأ أَهْلَهَا فَأَبَوْاْ أَن يُضَيِّفُوهُمَا فَوَجَدَا فِيهَا جِدَاراً يُرِيدُ أَن يَنقَضَّ

Musa said, "If I ask you anything after this, keep me not in your company; you have received an excuse from me." Then they both proceeded until they came to the people of a town. They asked them for food but they refused to entertain them. (Then) they found there a wall on the point of falling down.

(Al-Khidr) set it up straight with his own hands.

فَانطَلَقَا حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَيَأ أَهْلَ قَرْيَةٍ اسْتَطْعَمَأ أَهْلَهَا فَأَبَوْاْ أَن يُضَيِّفُوهُمَا فَوَجَدَا فِيهَا جِدَاراً يُرِيدُ أَن يَنقَضَّ فَأَقَامَهُ قَالَ لَوْ شِيْتَ لَاتَّخَذْتَ عَلَيْهِ أَجْراً

Musa said, "We came to these people, but they neither fed us nor received us as guests. If you had wished, surely, you could have taken wages for it!"

قَالَ هَـذَا فِرَاقُ بَيْنِى وَبَيْنِكَ سَأُنَبِّيُكَ بِتَأْوِيلِ مَا لَمْ تَسْتَطِع عَّلَيْهِ صَبْراً

(Al-Khidr) said:"This is the parting between you and I. I will tell you the interpretation of (those) things over which you were unable to be patient."

The Messenger of Allah said:

وَدِدْنَا أَنَّ مُوسَى كَانَ صَبَرَ حَتَّى يَقُصَّ اللهُ عَلَيْنَا مِنْ خَبَرِهِمَا

We wish that Musa was patient so that Allah would have told us more about both of them.

Sa`id bin Jubayr said:

"Ibn Abbas used to recite (Ayah no. 79),

وَكَانَ أَمَامَهُمْ مَلِكٌ يَاْخُذُ كُلَّ سَفِينَةٍ صَالَحَةٍ غَضْبًا

There was a king before them who seized every good-conditioned ship by force.

and (Ayah no 80)

وَأَمَّا الْغُلَامُ فَكَانَ كَافِرًا وَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤْمِنَيْنِ

As for the boy, he was a disbeliever and his parents were believers.

Then (in another narration) Al-Bukhari recorded a similar account which says:

then Musa set out and with him was his boy-servant Yusha` bin Nun, and they had the fish with them. When they reached the rock, they camped there, and Musa lay down his head and slept. At the base of the rock there was a spring called Al-Hayat; its water never touched a thing but it brought it to life. Some of its water touched the fish, so it began to move and jumped out of the vessel and into the sea. When he woke up, Musa said to his boy-servant:

Bring us our morning meal.

Then he quoted the rest of the Hadith.

Then a bird came and perched on the edge of the ship, and dipped its beak in the sea, and Al-Khidr said to Musa,

"My knowledge and your knowledge and the knowledge of all of creation, in comparison to the knowledge of Allah, is like what this bird has taken from the sea."

Then he mentioned the rest of the report