Moses had been delivering sermons to his people. And he made this remark: No person upon the earth has better knowledge than I or nothing better than mine. Thereupon Allah revealed to him: I know one who is better than you (in knowledge) or there is a person on the earth having more knowledge than you. Thereupon he said: My Lord, direct me to him. It was said to him: Keep a salted fish as a provision for journey. The place where that fish would be lost (there you will find that man). So he set forth and a young slave along with him until they came to a place Sakhra. but he did not find any clue. So he proceeded on and left that young man there. The fish began to stir in water and the water assumed the form of an ark over the fish. The young man said: I should meet Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) and inform him, but he was made to forget and when they had gone beyond that place, he (Moses) said to the young man: Bring breakfast. We have been exhausted because of the journey, and he (Moses) was not exhausted until he had crossed that (particular) place (where he had) to meet Khadir, and the youth was reminded and said: Did you not see that as we reached Sakhra I forgot the fish and it is satan alone who has made me forgetful of it'? It is strange that he has been able to find way in the ocean too. He said: This is what we sought for us. They returned retracing their steps, and he (his companion) pointed to him the location (where) the fish (had been lost). Moses began to search him there. He suddenly saw Khadir wrapped in a cloth and lying on his back. He said to him: As-Salamu-'Alaikum. He removed the cloth from his face and said: Wa 'Alaikum-us-Salam! Who are you? He said: I am Moses. He said: Who Moses? He said: Moses Of Bani Isra'il. He said: What brought you here? He said: I have come so that you may teach me what you have been taught of righteousness. He said: You shall have to bear with me, and how can you have patience about a thing of which you have no comprehensive knowledge? You will not have patience when you see me doing a thing I have been ordered to do. He said: If Allah pleases, you will find me patient, nor shall I disobey you in aught. Khadir said: If you follow me, don't ask me about anything until I explain it to you. So they went on until they embarked upon a boat. He (Khadir) made a hole in that. Thereupon he (Moses) said: You have done this so that you may drown the persons sitting in the boat. You have done something grievous. Thereupon he said: Did I not tell you that you will not be able to bear with me? Thereupon he (Moses) said: Blame me not for what I forgot and be not hard upon me for what I did. (Khadir gave him another chance.) So they went on until they reached a place where boys were playing. He went to one of them and caught hold'of one (apparently) at random and killed him. Moses (peace be upon him) felt agitated and said: You have killed an innocent person not guilty of slaying another. You have done something aboininable. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: May Allah have mercy upon us and Moses. Had he shown patience he would have seen wonderful things, but fear of blame, with respect to his companion, seized him and he said: If I ask anything after this, keep not company with me. You will then have a valid excuse in my case, and had he (Moses) shown patience he would have seen many wonderful things. He (the narrator) said: Whenever he (the Holy Prophet) made mention of any Prophet, he always said: May there be mercy of Allah upon us and upon my brother so and so. They, however, proceeded on until they came to the inhabitants of a village who were very miserly. They went to the meeting places and asked for hospitality but they refused to show any hospitality to them. They both found in that village a wall which was about to fall. He (Khadir) set it right. Thereupon he (Moses) said: If you so liked. you could get wages for it. Thereupon he said: This is the partince, of ways between me and you, and, taking hold of his cloth, he said: Now I will explain to you the real significance (of all these acts) for which you could not show patience. As for the boat, it belonged to the poor people working on the river and I intended to damage it for there was ahead of them (a king) who seized boats by force. (When he came) to catch hold of it he found it a damaged boat, so he spared it (and later on) it was set right with wood. So far as the boy is concerned, he has been, by very nature, an unbeliever, whereas his parents loved him very much. Had he grown up he would have involved them in wrongdoing and unbelief, so we wished that their Lord should give them in its place one better in purity and close to mercy. And as for the wall it belonged to two orphan boys in the city and there was beneath it a (treasure) belongin to them,... up to the last verse.

Abu Tufail, come to us. There has been a difference of opinion between me and my friend about the companion of Moses whom he wanted to meet on the way. Did hear anything from Allah's meesenger (ﷺ) making a mention of anything? Ubayy said: I heard Allah's Messenger (may Peace be upon him) as saying: As Moses was amongst the group of Bani Isra'il, there came to him a person and he said to him: Do you know anyone having better knowledge than you? Moses said: No. Thereupon Allah revealed to Moses: Of course, there is amongst Our servants Khadir (who has better knowledge) than you. Moses asked the way of meeting him. Allah made the fish a sign and it was said to him: Where you miss the fish return to that (place) and you will soon find him. So Moses moved on as Allah wished him to move on. He then said to his young companion: Bring for us the breakfast. Thereupop that young man said to Moses. when he asked him for the breakfast: Don't you see that as we had reached the Sakhra I forgot the fish and nobody made it forget (in our mind) but the satan that I should remind you of it? Mosed said to that young man: This was what we wanted. So they retraced their steps and met Khadir and the events which followed have been described in His Book except that Yunus (the narrator) said that he followed the traces of fish in the ocean.

I said to Ibn `Abbas, "Nauf Al-Bukah claims that Moses, the companion of Al-Khadir was not Moses (the prophet) of the children of Israel, but some other Moses." Ibn `Abbas said, "Allah's enemy (i.e. Nauf) has told a lie. Ubai bin Ka`b told us that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, 'Once Moses stood up and addressed Bani Israel. He was asked who was the most learned man amongst the people. He said, 'I.' Allah admonished him as he did not attribute absolute knowledge to Him (Allah). So, Allah said to him, 'Yes, at the junction of the two seas there is a Slave of Mine who is more learned than you.' Moses said, 'O my Lord! How can I meet him?' Allah said, 'Take a fish and put it in a large basket and you will find him at the place where you will lose the fish.' Moses took a fish and put it in a basket and proceeded along with his (servant) boy, Yusha` bin Noon, till they reached the rock where they laid their heads (i.e. lay down). Moses slept, and the fish, moving out of the basket, fell into the sea. It took its way into the sea (straight) as in a tunnel. Allah stopped the flow of water over the fish and it became like an arch (the Prophet (ﷺ) pointed out this arch with his hands). They travelled the rest of the night, and the next day Moses said to his boy (servant), 'Give us our food, for indeed, we have suffered much fatigue in this journey of ours.' Moses did not feel tired till he crossed that place which Allah had ordered him to seek after. His boy (servant) said to him, 'Do you know that when we were sitting near that rock, I forgot the fish, and none but Satan caused me to forget to tell (you) about it, and it took its course into the sea in an amazing way?.' So there was a path for the fish and that astonished them. Moses said, 'That was what we were seeking after.' So, both of them retraced their footsteps till they reached the rock. There they saw a man Lying covered with a garment. Moses greeted him and he replied saying, 'How do people greet each other in your land?' Moses said, 'I am Moses.' The man asked, 'Moses of Bani Israel?' Moses said, 'Yes, I have come to you so that you may teach me from those things which Allah has taught you.' He said, 'O Moses! I have some of the Knowledge of Allah which Allah has taught me, and which you do not know, while you have some of the Knowledge of Allah which Allah has taught you and which I do not know.' Moses asked, 'May I follow you?' He said, 'But you will not be able to remain patient with me for how can you be patient about things which you will not be able to understand?' (Moses said, 'You will find me, if Allah so will, truly patient, and I will not disobey you in aught.') So, both of them set out walking along the sea-shore, a boat passed by them and they asked the crew of the boat to take them on board. The crew recognized Al-Khadir and so they took them on board without fare. When they were on board the boat, a sparrow came and stood on the edge of the boat and dipped its beak once or twice into the sea. Al-Khadir said to Moses, 'O Moses! My knowledge and your knowledge have not decreased Allah's Knowledge except as much as this sparrow has decreased the water of the sea with its beak.' Then suddenly Al-Khadir took an adze and plucked a plank, and Moses did not notice it till he had plucked a plank with the adze. Moses said to him, 'What have you done? They took us on board charging us nothing; yet you I have intentionally made a hole in their boat so as to drown its passengers. Verily, you have done a dreadful thing.' Al-Khadir replied, 'Did I not tell you that you would not be able to remain patient with me?' Moses replied, 'Do not blame me for what I have forgotten, and do not be hard upon me for my fault.' So the first excuse of Moses was that he had forgotten. When they had left the sea, they passed by a boy playing with other boys. Al-Khadir took hold of the boys head and plucked it with his hand like this. (Sufyan, the sub narrator pointed with his fingertips as if he was plucking some fruit.) Moses said to him, "Have you killed an innocent person who has not killed any person? You have really done a horrible thing." Al-Khadir said, "Did I not tell you that you could not remain patient with me?' Moses said "If I ask you about anything after this, don't accompany me. You have received an excuse from me.' Then both of them went on till they came to some people of a village, and they asked its inhabitant for wood but they refused to entertain them as guests. Then they saw therein a wall which was just going to collapse (and Al Khadir repaired it just by touching it with his hands). (Sufyan, the sub-narrator, pointed with his hands, illustrating how Al-Khadir passed his hands over the wall upwards.) Moses said, "These are the people whom we have called on, but they neither gave us food, nor entertained us as guests, yet you have repaired their wall. If you had wished, you could have taken wages for it." Al-Khadir said, "This is the parting between you and me, and I shall tell you the explanation of those things on which you could not remain patient." The Prophet (ﷺ) added, "We wished that Moses could have remained patient by virtue of which Allah might have told us more about their story. (Sufyan the sub-narrator said that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "May Allah bestow His Mercy on Moses! If he had remained patient, we would have been told further about their case.")

I said to Ibn Abbas that Nauf al-Bikali was of the opinion that Moses (peace be upon him), the Apostle of Bani Isra'il, was not the same who accompanied Khadir, whereupon he said: The enemy of Allah tells a lie. I heard Ubayy b. Ka'b say: Moses (peace be upon him) stood up to give sermon to the people of Isra'il. He was asked as to who amongst the people has the best knowledge, whereupon he said: I have the best knowledge. Thereupon Allah was annoyed with him that he did not attribute (the best knowledge) to Him. He revealed to him: A servant amongst My servants is at the junction of two rivers who has more knowledge than yours. Moses said: How can I meet him? It was said to him: Carry a fish in the large basket and the place where you find it missing there you will find him. Thereupon Moses proceeded forth along with a young man (Yusha'). Joshua b. Nun and Moses (peace be upon him) put the fish in the basket and there went along with him the young man (Yusha') until they came to a certain rock and Moses and his companion went to sleep and the fish stirred in that basket and fell into the ocean and Allah stopped the current of water like a vault until the way was made for the fish. Moses and his young companion were astonished and they walked for the rest of the day and the night and the friend of Moses forgot to inform him of this incident. When it was morning, Moses (peace be upon him) said to the young man: Bring for us the breakfast for we are dead tired because of this journey, and they did not feel exhausted until they had passed that place where they had been commanded (to stay). He said: Don't you know that when we reached the Sakhra (rock) I forgot the fish and nothing made me forget it but Satan that I could not remember it? How strange is it that the fish found a way in the river? Moses said: That was what we had been aiming at. Then both of them retraced their steps until they reached Sakhra; there they saw a man covered with a cloth. Moses greeted him. Khadir said to him: Where is as-Salam in our country.? He said: I am Moses, whereupon he (Khadir) said: You mean the Moses of Bani Isra'il? He said: Yes. He (Khadir) said: You have a knowledge out of the knowledge of Allah which in fact Allah imparted to you and about that I know nothing and I have knowledge out of Allah's knowledge which He imparted to me and about that you do not know. Moses (peace be upon him) said to him: May I follow you so that you may teach me that with which you have been taught righteousness. He said: You will not be able to bear with me; how you will be able to bear that about which you do not know? Moses said: Thou wilt find me patient, nor shalt I disobey you in aught. Khadir said to him: If you were to follow me, then do not ask me about anything until I myself speak to you about it. He said: Yes. So Khadir and Moses set forth on the bank of the river that there came before them a boat. Both of them talked to them (the owners of the boat) so that they might carry both of them. They had recognised Khadir and they carried them free. Khadir thereupon took hold of a plank in the boat and broke it away. Moses said: These people have carried us without any charge and you attempt to break their boat so that the people sailing in the boat may drown. This is (something) grievous that you have done. He said: Did I not say that you would not bear with me? He said: Blame me not for what I forgot and be not hard upon what I did. Then both of them got down from the boat and began to walk along the coastline that they saw a boy who had been playing with other boys. Khadir pulled up his head and killed him. Moses said: Have you killed an innocent person who is in no way guilty of slaying another? You have done something horrible. Thereupon he said: Did I not say to you that you will not be able to bear with me? He (Moses) said: This (act) is more grievous than the first one. He (Moses) further said. If I ask you about anything after this, keep not company with me, then you would no doubt find (a plausible) excuse for this. Then they both walked on until they reached the inhabitants of a village. They asked its inhabitants for food but they refused to entertain them as their guests. They found in it a wall which had been bent on one side and was about to fall. Khadir set it right with his own hand. Moses, said to him: It is the people to whom we came but they showed us no hospitality and they did not serve us food. If you wish you can get wages for it. He (Khadir) said: This is the parting of ways between me and you. Now I wish to reveal to you the significance of that for which you could not bear with me. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said. May Allah have mercy upon Moses! I wish if Moses could show patience and a (fuller) story of both of them could have been told. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said that the first thing which Moses said was out of forgetfulness. Then there came a sparrow until it perched on the wall of the boat and took water from the ocean. Thereupon, Khadir said: My knowledge and your knowledge in comparison with the knowledge of Allah is even less than the water taken by the sparrow in its beak in comparison to the water of the ocean, and Sa'id b. Jubair used to recite (verses 79 and 80 of Sura Kahf) in this way: There was before them a king who used to seize every boat by force which was in order, the boy was an unbeliever.

I said to Ibn `Abbas, "Nauf-Al-Bakali claims that Moses (the companion of Khadir) was not the Moses of Bani Israel but he was another Moses." Ibn `Abbas remarked that the enemy of Allah (Nauf) was a liar. Narrated Ubai bin Ka`b: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Once the Prophet (ﷺ) Moses stood up and addressed Bani Israel. He was asked, "Who is the most learned man amongst the people. He said, "I am the most learned." Allah admonished Moses as he did not attribute absolute knowledge to Him (Allah). So Allah inspired to him "At the junction of the two seas there is a slave amongst my slaves who is more learned than you." Moses said, "O my Lord! How can I meet him?" Allah said: Take a fish in a large basket (and proceed) and you will find him at the place where you will lose the fish. So Moses set out along with his (servant) boy, Yusha` bin Noon and carried a fish in a large basket till they reached a rock, where they laid their heads (i.e. lay down) and slept. The fish came out of the basket and it took its way into the sea as in a tunnel. So it was an amazing thing for both Moses and his (servant) boy. They proceeded for the rest of that night and the following day. When the day broke, Moses said to his (servant) boy: "Bring us our early meal. No doubt, we have suffered much fatigue in this journey." Moses did not get tired till he passed the place about which he was told. There the (servant) boy told Moses, "Do you remember when we betook ourselves to the rock, I indeed forgot the fish." Moses remarked, "That is what we have been seeking. So they went back retracing their footsteps, till they reached the rock. There they saw a man covered with a garment (or covering himself with his own garment). Moses greeted him. Al-Khadir replied saying, "How do people greet each other in your land?" Moses said, "I am Moses." He asked, "The Moses of Bani Israel?" Moses replied in the affirmative and added, "May I follow you so that you teach me of that knowledge which you have been taught." Al-Khadir replied, "Verily! You will not be able to remain patient with me, O Moses! I have some of the knowledge of Allah which He has taught me and which you do not know, while you have some knowledge which Allah has taught you which I do not know." Moses said, "Allah willing, you will find me patient and I will disobey no order of yours. So both of them set out walking along the seashore, as they did not have a boat. In the meantime a boat passed by them and they requested the crew of the boat to take them on board. The crew recognized Al-Khadir and took them on board without fare. Then a sparrow came and stood on the edge of the boat and dipped its beak once or twice in the sea. Al-Khadir said: "O Moses! My knowledge and your knowledge have not decreased Allah's knowledge except as much as this sparrow has decreased the water of the sea with its beak." Al- Khadir went to one of the planks of the boat and plucked it out. Moses said, "These people gave us a free lift but you have broken their boat and scuttled it so as to drown its people." Al-Khadir replied, "Didn't I tell you that you will not be able to remain patient with me." Moses said, "Call me not to account for what I forgot." The first (excuse) of Moses was that he had forgotten. Then they proceeded further and found a boy playing with other boys. Al-Khadir took hold of the boy's head from the top and plucked it out with his hands (i.e. killed him). Moses said, "Have you killed an innocent soul who has killed none." Al-Khadir replied, "Did I not tell you that you cannot remain patient with me?" Then they both proceeded till when they came to the people of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused to entertain them. Then they found there a wall on the point of collapsing. Al-Khadir repaired it with his own hands. Moses said, "If you had wished, surely you could have taken wages for it." Al-Khadir replied, "This is the parting between you and me." The Prophet added, "May Allah be Merciful to Moses! Would that he could have been more patient to learn more about his story with Al-Khadir. "