The Story of Moses and al-Khiḍr

God, Exalted is He, says:

“And when Moses said to his servant, ‘I will not cease until I reach the meeting-point of the two seas, or else travel on for ages.’

So when they reached the junction of the two seas, they forgot their fish, and it slipped away into the sea through a tunnel.

After they had gone on, Moses said to his servant, ‘Bring us our morning meal; we have certainly encountered fatigue on this journey of ours.’

He replied, ‘Did you see? When we took shelter by the rock, I forgot the fish—and none made me forget to mention it except Satan—and it took its way into the sea in a wondrous manner.’

Moses said, ‘That is what we were seeking.’ So they retraced their footsteps, following their tracks.

There they found one of Our servants to whom We had given mercy from Us and to whom We had imparted knowledge from Our Presence.

Moses said to him, ‘May I follow you so that you may teach me something of the sound judgment you have been taught?’

He said, ‘You will never be able to bear with me.

And how could you be patient over something whose reality you do not comprehend?’

Moses said, ‘You will find me—if God wills—patient, and I shall not disobey you in any matter.’

He said, ‘Then, if you follow me, do not question me about anything until I mention it to you of my own accord.’

So they set out. When they had boarded a ship, he bored a hole in it. Moses said, ‘Have you damaged it so as to drown its people? You have certainly done a grievous thing.’

He replied, ‘Did I not say that you would never be able to be patient with me?’

Moses said, ‘Do not take me to task for what I forgot, and do not burden me with hardship in my affair.’

Then they continued until they met a boy, and he killed him. Moses said, ‘Have you killed a pure soul without another soul in requital? You have indeed committed a monstrous act.’

He answered, ‘Did I not tell you that you would never be able to be patient with me?’

Moses said, ‘If I question you about anything after this, then keep me not in your company; you have obtained an excuse from me.’

So they went on until they came to the people of a town; they asked its people for food, but they refused to host them. They found in it a wall that was about to collapse, and he set it upright. Moses said, ‘If you wished, you could have taken payment for it.’

He replied, ‘This is the parting between you and me; I shall tell you the interpretation of that over which you could not remain patient.

As for the ship, it belonged to some poor people working at sea. I intended to damage it, for behind them was a king who seized every ship by force.

And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overwhelm them with rebellion and disbelief.

So we wished that their Lord would replace him for them with one better in purity and nearer in affection.

And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town; beneath it was a treasure that belonged to them. Their father had been righteous, so your Lord willed that they should reach maturity and bring out their treasure as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do it of my own accord. That is the interpretation of what you could not bear patiently.”

(al-Kahf, 18:60-82)

Some of the People of the Scripture have claimed that the Moses who journeyed to meet al-Khiḍr was Moses son of Mīshāʾ son of Joseph son of Jacob son of Isaac son of Abraham, the Friend of God. Certain narrators who draw from their scrolls and reproduce their books have adopted this view, among them Nauf ibn Faḍālah al-Ḥimyarī, the Syrian, known as al-Bikālī.

It is also said that he was from Damascus and that his mother had been the wife of Kaʿb al-Aḥbār.

The sound opinion, however—indicated by the plain wording of the Qurʾānic narrative and by the explicit, rigorously authentic ḥadith on which the scholars agree—is that he was Moses son of ʿImrān, the prophet of the Children of Israel.