Surah Al-Kahf 18:60-70 - Quran Translation Commentary

(18:60) And when Musa said to his (attendant) lad,⁸² ‘I will not cease until I reach the junction of the two seas,⁸³ or I shall keep going for ages.’⁸⁴

(18:61) But when they reached the junction between them, they forgot their fish⁸⁵ which took its way into the river, burrowing.⁸⁶

(18:62) When the two had passed over, he said to his lad, ‘Bring out our morning-meal. We have indeed encountered hardship from this our journey.’

(18:63) He replied, ‘Did you see?! When we took shelter at the rock, I forgot about the fish, and none but Shaytan made me forget that I should mention it. It took its way into the sea in an amazing manner.⁸⁷

(18:64) He said, ‘That was what we were seeking after.’ So they returned, tracing back their footsteps.⁸⁸

(18:65) They found a slave from among Our slaves⁸⁹ on whom we had bestowed mercy from Us, and had taught him knowledge proceeding from Us.⁹⁰

(18:66) Musa asked him, ‘May I follow you on condition that you teach me of what higher knowledge you have been taught?’⁹¹

(18:67) He answered, ‘Assuredly, you will never be able to have patience with me.

(18:68) How can you show patience over what you do not encompass in knowledge?’

(18:69) He said, ‘You will find me, Allah willing, patient; and I shall not disobey you in any command.’

(18:70) Said he, ‘If you follow me, then do not ask me about anything until I myself speak to you about it.’

Commentary

82. Musa was asked to seek a Servant of Allah who would instruct him in such knowledge as he did not possess. “This episode .. is meant to illustrate four points. (1) Moses was learned in (wisdom) .. Even so that wisdom did not comprehend everything, even as the whole stock of the knowledge of the present day, in the sciences and the arts, and in literature, (if it could be supposed to be gathered in one individual), does not include all knowledge. Divine knowledge .. is unlimited. Even after Moses received his divine mission, his knowledge was not so perfect that it could not receive further additions. (2) Constant effort is necessary to keep our knowledge square with the march of time, and such effort Moses is shown to be making. (3) The mysterious man he meets .. to whom Tradition assigns the name of Khidr .. has the type of that knowledge which is ever in contact with life as it is actually lived. (4) There are paradoxes in life; apparent loss may be real gain; apparent cruelty may be real mercy; returning good for evil may really be justice and not charity.. Allah’s wisdom transcends all human calculation (Yusuf Ali).

83. There is no consensus in opinion over the place. Majid writes, “The most probable geographical location .. is where the two arms of the Red Sea join together, viz., the Gulf of Aqabah and the Gulf of Suez. They enclose the Sinai Peninsula, in which Moses and the Israelites spent many years in their wanderings (AYA).”

84. Although there are varied opinions about the period that “huqbah” (pl. huqub, ahqab) covers, from one to eighty years, Ibn ‘Abbas, Qatadah and Ibn Zayd have said that it is used for a very long period, or maybe something running into eternity (Tabari, Ibn Kathir).

85. The construction of the earlier part of the verse is a beautiful way of putting together two sentences in one. It implies that Musa forgot to ask his companion about the fish and his companion forgot to mention its mysterious disappearance (Au.).

86. Ibn ‘Abbas explained the term “saraba” as meaning the fish left a trace of itself as it went into the water (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

87. Someone may ask, how could Yusha` forget such an important incident, that of fish coming alive and jumping into the river? Zamakhshari answers: We should not forget he was in the company of a great Prophet. How many strange occurrences he might not have been noticing in his company, all the while?

88. In all that preceded, it seems the hidden message is that knowledge requires some struggle to acquire. Allah could as well have arranged for Khadir to see Musa at the place he was. But rather, he was asked to travel to the junction of the two waters, at a precise point where his fish would disappear. But, after he reached the place, both he and his companion forgot about it. So, they moved on in their quest, until Musa felt truly fatigued. Yet, when they discovered the fish missing, they had to travel back, another cause of fatigue and the lesson that knowledge has its price (Mufti Shafi`, slightly modified).

89. That was Al-Khadir, (or, as some would say Khidr) meaning , “the Green One,” (implying, [according to popular legend] that his wisdom was ever-fresh: Asad). He was lying asleep, under a cloak covering himself from head to foot. He was given some knowledge of the hidden, unknown, and the unseen (Tabari, Zamakhshari).

According to a hadith in Bukhari narrated by Abu Hurayrah, Khadir was so named because once he sat down on a dry grassy belt and it became green by his touch (Ibn Kathir, Shawkani).

90. Alusi speaks on the new term introduced here in the Qur’an: “`ilm al-ladunni.” He points out that in truth there is no mystery about it. Al-Khadir was given a special knowledge through “wahyu ilham” (“revelation through inspiration,” or “revelation through the blow”) which can be experienced both by Prophets as well as non-prophets. In this kind of revelation, an angel does not appear to the eyes. He does not speak out words, remains concealed, but inspires the recipient with whatever Allah wishes to send across of knowledge. Our Prophet also occasionally experienced this kind of revelation. For example, he said, “The Ruh al-Quds (Jibril) blew into my heart that no soul will die without having obtained its share of provision. Therefore, fear Allah and employ fair means to obtain (it).” This too is “`ilm al-ladunni.” It is also known by the term “`ilm al-batin” (the hidden or esoteric knowledge) by which term it is merely meant to contrast it with “`ilm-azzahir” - the apparent or exoteric knowledge – which is so called because it is obtained by open means (such as study of books). In sharp contrast, “`ilm al-batin” requires practice of what one knows, which opens doors to gates of knowledge hitherto closed. Sheikh ‘Abdul Wahhab Sha`rani has written in his “Al-Durar al-Manthurah” the following: The special knowledge that the Sufis possess, is obtained by no other means than by putting into practice what one learns of the Qur’an and Sunnah. Since Sufis do this diligently and spiritedly, they are able to obtain an in-depth knowledge, of which they speak out, saying things that another cannot say. For, the closer one gets to Allah, the more difficult the transmission of knowledge that one has of this nature, and all the more difficult for those to understand who do not have similar footing in the field.”

Also see Surah Al-Ma’idah, note187 for related discussions.

91. If it is admitted that Khadir was a Waliyy, then, does it imply that a Waliyy can be more knowledgeable than a Nabiyy, as some Sufis claim? The answer is, says Alusi, such an implication is incorrect. For Khadir might have had greater knowledge than Musa in a certain department, but Musa’s knowledge exceeded Khadir’s in every other department. Also, Alusi warns, do not read too much in Musa’s exemplary humble attitude towards Kkadir. (That is how students must behave towards their masters: Razi).