Surah Al Kahf Tafseer

The Story of killing the Boy

Allah tells:

فَانطَلَقَا

Then they both proceeded,

means, after the first incident,

حَتَّى إِذَا لَقِيَا غُلَمًا فَقَتَلَهُ

till they met a boy, and he (Khidr) killed him.

It has been stated previously that this boy was playing with other boys in one of the towns, and that Al-Khidr deliberately singled him out. He was the finest and most handsome of them all, and Al-Khidr killed him. When Musa, peace be upon him, saw that he denounced him even more fervently than in the first case, and said hastily:

قَالَ أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً

He (Musa) said:Have you killed an innocent person,

meaning, a young person who had not yet committed any sin or done anything wrong, yet you killed him

بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ

without Nafs,

with no reason for killing him.

لَّقَدْ جِيْتَ شَيْيًا نُّكْرًا

Verily, you have committed a thing Nukr!

meaning, something that is clearly evil.

قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِي صَبْرًا