Tafsir Ibn Abbas: Al-Kahf, Ayah 81
فَأَرَدْنَآ أَن يُبْدِلَهُمَا رَبُّهُمَا خَيْرًۭا مِّنْهُ زَكَوٰةًۭ وَأَقْرَبَ رُحْمًۭا
So we intended that their Lord should substitute for them one better than him in purity and nearer to mercy.
Common Words
9 total9 unique0 repeated
فأردنا1x
أن1x
يبدلهما1x
ربهما1x
خيرا1x
منه1x
زكوة1x
وأقرب1x
رحما1x
Other Scholars on This Ayah
Tafsir
Scholars offer complementary perspectives
So We desired that their Lord should give them in exchange read yubaddilahumā or yubdilahumā one better than him in purity that is in righteousness and God-fearing and closer than him to mercy read ruhman or ruhuman in other words it is to be understood as rahmatan ‘by way of mercy’ namely closer to dutifulness towards his parents. Thus God exalted be He gave them in exchange a girl who afterwards married a prophet and gave birth to a prophet through whom God guided an entire community.
Ibn Abbas Commentary
(And We intended that their Lord should change him for them for one) another child (better in purity) righteous (and nearer to mercy) who is more keen to keep ties of kinship. Allah gave them instead of him a girl who later married a prophet and from whom she gave birth to a prophet at whose hand a great number of people were guided. The son killed by Khidr, whose name was Jaysur, was, on the other hand, a disbeliever, a thief and a murderer. This is why Khidr killed him.