Ubayy ibn Kaʿb related from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: “Until, when they came to the people of a mean-spirited town, they went around its gatherings and asked its people for food, but they refused to receive them as guests.” (1)

It is also related that they went around the town seeking food from its people, but they did not feed them; and they sought their hospitality, but they did not host them.

Qatadah said: The worst of towns are those that do not host the guest.

It is related from Abu Hurayrah that he said: A woman from among the Berbers fed them after they had asked the men, but the men did not feed them. So he prayed for their women and invoked a curse upon their men.

His saying, exalted is He: “There they found a wall about to collapse”: that is, to fall. This is figurative usage in Arabic speech, for a wall has no will of its own; rather, its meaning is that it had drawn near to falling and was on the verge of collapse. Thus the Arabs say, “My house looks toward so-and-so’s house,” when it faces it.

“And he restored it”: that is, he set it upright. It is related from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that al-Khidr set it upright with his hand. (2)

Saʿid ibn Jubayr said: He wiped the wall with his hand, and it became straight. It is related from Ibn ʿAbbas that he demolished it and then sat down to rebuild it. Al-Suddi said instead: They plastered it with clay and began rebuilding the wall.

Moses said, “If you wished, you could have taken payment for it.” Ibn Kathir, Abu ʿAmr, and Yaʿqub recited it with a light t and an i-vowel, while the others recited it with a doubled t and an a-vowel. Both are recognized Arabic forms, like ittabaʿa and tabiʿa (“to follow”). “For it” means for repairing the wall; “payment” means compensation. Its meaning is: You knew that we were hungry and that the people of the town had not fed us; so if only you had taken payment for your work.

“He said, ‘This is the parting between me and you. I shall inform you of the interpretation of that which you were unable to bear patiently.’” (78)

Al-Khidr said, “This is the parting between me and you”: that is, this is the time for parting between me and you. It was also said: This objection to leaving the payment is what has separated us. Al-Zajjaj said: Its meaning is, “This is the severance between us”—that is, the ending of our association. He repeated the word “between” for emphasis.

“I shall inform you”: that is, I shall tell you “the interpretation of that which you were unable to bear patiently.” Some exegetical works relate that Moses caught hold of al-Khidr’s garment and said, “Tell me the meaning of what you did before you part from me.” He replied, “As for the boat, it belonged to poor people who worked at sea.”