“Moses said to him, ‘May I follow you so that you may teach me some of the right guidance which you have been taught?’ He said, ‘You will certainly not be able to bear patiently with me. And how can you be patient with that which lies beyond your knowledge?’ Moses said, ‘If Allah wills, you will find me patient, and I will not disobey any command of yours.’ He said, ‘Then if you follow me, do not ask me about anything until I myself mention it to you.’ So they set out, until, when they boarded a ship, he damaged it. Moses said, ‘Have you damaged it in order to drown its people? You have certainly done a grave thing.’” (66–71)

When Moses said to him, “May I follow you?” he meant: I have come to you so that I may follow and accompany you. “So that you may teach me some of the right guidance which you have been taught”: Abu ‘Amr and Ya‘qub read it as rashadan, with the raa’ and sheen both pronounced with a fathah, while the others read it as rushdan, with the raa’ pronounced with a dammah and the sheen without a vowel. It means sound judgment. It was also said: knowledge by which you may guide me.

Some reports state that when Moses said this to him, Khidr said: “The Torah is sufficient knowledge for you, and the Children of Israel are sufficient occupation for you.” Moses replied: “Allah has commanded me to do this.” It was then that he said, “You will certainly not be able to bear patiently with me.” Khidr said to him, “You will certainly not be able to bear patiently with me,” because he knew that Moses would witness matters that appeared reprehensible, and prophets are not permitted to remain patient in the face of reprehensible acts.

He then explained Moses’s excuse for being unable to remain patient, saying: “And how can you be patient with that which lies beyond your knowledge?”—that is, beyond your knowledge. Moses said, “If Allah wills, you will find me patient.” He made this qualification because he was not confident that he would be able to remain patient. “And I will not disobey any command of yours”: that is, I will not go against what you command.

He said, “Then if you follow me,” meaning, if you accompany me. He did not say, “Follow me,” but left the choice to Moses, although he stipulated a condition for him, saying: “Do not ask me.” Abu Ja‘far, Nafi‘, and Ibn ‘Amir read it with the laam pronounced with a fathah and the noon doubled, while the others read it with the laam without a vowel and the noon undoubled. “About anything”—that is, anything I do which you find objectionable; do not object to it—“until I myself mention it to you”: until I initiate an explanation of it for you and clarify its matter.

“So they set out,” walking along the shore in search of a ship to board. They found a ship and boarded it. The people of the ship said: “These are thieves,” and ordered them both to leave. But the owner of the ship said: “They are not thieves; rather, I hope for blessing through the faces of the prophets.”

It has been narrated to us from Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: “A ship passed by them, and they spoke to its people, asking them to carry them. They recognized…”