English translation
4727. Narrated Sa‘īd bin Jubair: I said to Ibn ‘Abbās, “Nauf Al-Bakālī claims that Mūsā (Moses) of Bani Isrāel was not Mūsā, (Moses) the companion of Al-Khiḏr.” Ibn ‘Abbās said, “Allāh’s enemy tells a lie!” Ubayy bin Ka‘b narrated to us that Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ said, “Mūsā (Moses) got up to deliver a Khuṭba (religious talk) before Bani Isrāel and he was asked: Who is the most learned person among the people? Mūsā (Moses) replied, ‘I (am the most learned).’ Allāh then admonished Mūsā (Moses) for he did not ascribe all knowledge to Allāh Alone. (Then) came the Divine Revelation: ‘Yes, one of Our slaves at the junction of the two seas is more learned than you.’ ‘Mūsā (Moses) said, ‘O my Lord! How can I meet him?’ Allāh said, ‘Take a fish in a basket and wherever the fish is lost, follow it (you will find him at that place).’ So Mūsā (Moses) set out along with his boy-servant Yūsha’ bin Nūn, and they carried with them a fish till they reached a rock and rested there. Mūsā (Moses) put his head down and slept. (Sufyān, a subnarrator said that somebody other than 'Amr said), 'At the rock there was a water spring called Al-Hayāt, and none came in touch with its water but became alive. So, some of the water of that spring fell over that fish, so it moved and slipped out of the basket and entered the sea.' When Mūsā (Moses) woke up, he asked his boy-servant, 'Bring our morning meal...' (V.18:62). The narrator added: Mūsā (Moses) did not suffer from fatigue except after he had passed the place he had been ordered to observe. His boy-servant Yūsha' bin Nūn said to him, 'Do you remember when we betook ourselves to the rock? I did indeed forget the fish...' (V.18:63) The narrator added: So they came back, retracing their steps and then they found in the sea, the way of the fish looking like a tunnel. So, there was an astonishing event for his boy-servant and there was tunnel for the fish. When they reached the rock, they found a man covered with a garment. Mūsā (Moses) greeted him. The man said astonishingly, 'Is there any such greeting in your land?' Mūsā (Moses) said, 'I am Mūsā (Moses).' The man said, 'Mūsā (Moses) of Bani Isrāel?' Mūsā (Moses) said, 'Yes,' and added, 'may I follow you so that you teach me something of the knowledge which you have been taught (by Allāh)?' (V.18:66). Al-Khiḏr said to him, 'O Mūsā! (Moses) You have something of Allāh's Knowledge which Allāh has taught you and which I do not know; and I have something of Allāh's Knowledge which Allāh has taught me and which you do not know.' Mūsā (Moses) said, 'But I will follow you.' Al-Khiḏr said, 'Then, if you follow me, ask me not about anything till I myself mention it to you' (V.18:70). After that both of them proceeded along the sea-shore. There passed by them a ship whose crew recognized Al- Khiḍr and received them on board. A sparrow came and sat on the edge of the ship and dipped its beak into the sea. Al-Khiḍr said to Mūsā (Moses), 'My knowledge and your knowledge and all the creation's knowledge compared to Allāh's Knowledge is not more than the water taken by this sparrow's beak.' Then Mūsā (Moses) was startled by Al-Khiḍr's action of taking an adze and scuttling the boat with it. Mūsā (Moses) said to him, 'Have you scuttled it in order to drown its people?... ' (V.18:71) 'Then they both proceeded and found a boy playing with other boys. Al-Khiḍr took hold of him by the head and cut it off. Mūsā (Moses) said to him, 'Have you killed an innocent person who has killed none? Verily, you have committed a thing Nukr (a great Munkar — prohibited, evil, dreadful thing)!' (V.18:74) He said, 'Did I not tell you that you can have no patience with me ... (up to) ... but they refused to entertain them. Then they found therein a wall about to collapse...' (V.18:75-77) 'Al-Khiḍr moved his hand thus and set it upright (repaired it). Mūsā (Moses) said to him, 'When we entered this town, they neither gave us hospitality nor fed us; if you had wished, surely, you could have taken wages for it.' (Al-Khiḍr said) 'This is the parting between you and me. I will tell you the interpretation of (those) things about which you were unable to hold patience.' (V.18:78) Allāh's Messenger ﷺ said, "We wished that Mūsā (Moses) could have been more patient, so that He (Allāh) could have described to us more about their story." Ibn 'Abbās used to recite: "...As there was a king in front (ahead) of them who seized every ship by force." As for the boy, he was a disbeliever.