When they sailed past the king he would leave the vessel alone because of its defect; once they were out of his reach they repaired it and continued to benefit from it.
Some said, “They plugged the hole with a piece of pottery,” while others said, “They tarred it over.”

“As for the boy, his parents were believers while he himself was an unbeliever. We feared that he would overwhelm them with rebellion and disbelief”—that is, their love for him might cause them to follow him in his religion—“so We intended that their Lord should replace him with one purer” (in answer to Moses’ words, “Have you slain a pure soul?”) “and more affectionate.” The child given in exchange would be more tender toward them than the first whom al-Khidr had slain.
Someone other than Saʿīd ibn Jubayr asserted that the replacement was a girl, and Dāwūd ibn Abī ʿĀṣim likewise reported from several narrators that it was a daughter.

ʿAbd al-Razzāq transmitted—from Maʿmar, from Abū Isḥāq, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās—that Moses once addressed the Children of Israel, saying, “No one is more knowledgeable about Allah and His command than I.” He was therefore ordered to meet that man, and the story proceeded as related above.
Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq likewise reported it—from al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUmārah, from al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtaybah, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in similar wording; al-ʿAwfī also narrated it from him as a mawqūf report.

Al-Zuhrī related—from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtbah, from Ibn ʿAbbās—that he and al-Ḥurr ibn Qays ibn Ḥiṣn al-Fazārī once disputed about the identity of Moses’ companion. Ibn ʿAbbās said, “He is al-Khidr.” Ubayy ibn Kaʿb happened to pass by, so Ibn ʿAbbās called him and said, “My companion and I have been arguing about the man to whom Moses sought a path; have you heard anything from the Messenger of Allah about him?” Ubayy replied, “Yes,” and recounted the ḥadīth.

We have already gathered the various chains and wordings of this narration in our commentary on Sūrat al-Kahf—praise be to Allah.

Concerning His words, “As for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town” (18:82), al-Suhaylī said that the boys were Aṣram and Ṣarīm, the sons of Kāshiḥ. “Beneath it was a treasure belonging to them.” According to ʿIkrimah it was gold; Ibn ʿAbbās said it was knowledge. The view that best reconciles the reports is that it was a tablet of gold on which knowledge had been inscribed.

Al-Bazzār said: “Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿīd al-Jawharī told us; Bishr ibn al-Mundhir told us; al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Yaḥṣubī told us; from ʿAyyāsh ibn ʿAbbās al-Qatabānī; from Ibn Ḥujayrah, from …”