- “When Moses met al-Khidr, a bird came and dipped its beak into the water. Al-Khidr said to Moses, ‘Do you know what this bird is saying?’ He replied, ‘And what is it saying?’ He said, ‘It says: “Your knowledge and Moses’ knowledge, in comparison with Allah’s knowledge, are only like what my beak has taken from the water.”’”
Al-Hakim transmitted it (2/369): Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Balawayh narrated to us; Abu ʿImran Musa ibn Harun ibn ʿAbd Allah, the hadith master, narrated to me; my father narrated to us; Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi narrated to us; Ibn ʿUyaynah narrated from ʿAmr ibn Dinar, from Saʿid ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbas, who said: Ubayy ibn Kaʿb told me that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said it—then he cited it. Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim.” Al-Dhahabi concurred with him, and al-Suyuti approved it in al-Durr al-Manthur (4/234).
I say: It is only according to Muslim’s criteria, for al-Bukhari did not rely on either Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi or Harun ibn ʿAbd Allah—who was known as al-Hammal. As for Musa ibn Harun and Ibn Balawayh, neither was among the narrators of al-Bukhari and Muslim. Musa was a trustworthy, eminent hadith master, as al-Hafiz stated, and he mentioned him for identification. As for Ibn Balawayh, al-Khatib gave his biography (1/282) and said: “Abu Bakr al-Barqani narrated to us from him. I asked him about him, and he said: ‘Trustworthy.’ He died in the year 374 AH, at the age of ninety-four.”
This hadith is an excerpt from the account of al-Khidr and Moses, peace be upon them both, found in the two Sahihs and in the additional reports of Ahmad (5/117–118), but this excerpt in its complete form was not available to them; therefore, I have cited it.