Sahih al-Bukhari #4521
Prophetic Commentary on the Qur'an (Tafseer of the Prophet (pbuh))
I said to Ibn `Abbas, "Nauf-al-Bakali " claims that Moses of Bani Israel was not Moses, the
companion of Al-Khadir." Ibn `Abbas said, "Allah's enemy tells a lie! Ubai bin Ka`b narrated to us
that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, 'Moses got up to deliver a sermon before Bani Israel and he was asked, 'Who
is the most learned person among the people?' Moses replied, 'I (am the most learned).' Allah then
admonished Moses for he did not ascribe all knowledge to Allah only (Then) came the Divine
Inspiration:-- 'Yes, one of Our slaves at the junction of the two seas is more learned than you.'
Moses said, 'O my Lord ! How can meet him?' Allah said, 'Take a fish in a basket and wherever the
fish is lost, follow it (you will find him at that place). So Moses set out along with his attendant
Yusha` bin Noon, and they carried with them a fish till they reached a rock and rested there. Moses
put his head down and slept. (Sufyan, a sub-narrator said that somebody other than `Amr said) 'At the
rock there was a water spring called 'Al-Hayat' 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 Moses woke up, he asked his attendant, 'Bring our early meal' (18.62).
The narrator added: Moses did not suffer from fatigue except after he had passed the place he had
been ordered to observe. His attendant Yusha` bin Noon said to him, 'Do you remember (what
happened) when we betook ourselves to the rock? I did indeed forget (about) the fish ...' (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 attendant, and there was tunnel for
the fish. When they reached the rock, they found a man covered with a garment. Moses greeted him.
The man said astonishingly, 'Is there any such greeting in your land?' Moses said, 'I am Moses.' The
man said, 'Moses of Bani Israel?' Moses said, 'Yes,' and added, 'may I follow you so that you teach me
something of the Knowledge which you have been taught?' (18.66). Al-Khadir said to him, 'O Moses!
You have something of Allah's knowledge which Allah has taught you and which I do not know; and I
have something of Allah's knowledge which Allah has taught me and which you do not know.' Moses
said, 'But I will follow you.' Al-Khadir said, 'Then if you follow me, ask me no question about
anything until I myself speak to you concerning it.' (18.70). After that both of them proceeded along
the seashore. There passed by them a boat whose crew recognized Al-Khadir and received them on
board free of charge. So they both got on board. A sparrow came and sat on the edge of the boat and
dipped its beak unto the sea. Al-Khadir said to Moses. 'My knowledge and your knowledge and all the
creation's knowledge compared to Allah's knowledge is not more than the water taken by this
sparrow's beak.'
Then Moses was startled by Al-Khadir's action of taking an adze and scuttling the boat with it. Moses
said to him, 'These people gave us a free lift, but you intentionally scuttled their boat so as to drown
them. Surely you have...' (18.71) Then they both proceeded and found a boy playing with other
boys. Al-Khadir took hold of him by the head and cut it off. Moses said to him, 'Have you killed an
innocent soul who has killed nobody? Surely you have done an illegal thing! ' (18.74) He said,
"Didn't I tell you that you will not be able to have patient with me up to ..but they refused to entertain
them as their guests. There they found a wall therein at the point of collapsing.' (18.75-77) Al-Khadir
moved his hand thus and set it upright (repaired it). Moses said to him, 'When we entered this town,
they neither gave us hospitality nor fed us; if you had wished, you could have taken wages for it,' Al-
Khadir 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.'...(18.78)
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, 'We wished that Moses could have been more patient so that He (Allah) could
have described to us more about their story.' Ibn `Abbas used to recite:-- 'And in front (ahead) of them
there was a king who used to seize every (serviceable) boat by force. (18.79) ...and as for the boy he
was a disbeliever. "
Narrated by Narrated Sa`id bin Jubair:
Topics
Related Ayahs
سُورَةُ طه
Taa-Haa (Taa-Haa)
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
1 ayah
وَهَلْ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ مُوسَىٰٓ
And has the story of Moses reached you? -
سُورَةُ النَّازِعَاتِ
An-Naazi'aat (Those who drag forth)
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
1 ayah
هَلْ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ مُوسَىٰٓ
Has there reached you the story of Moses? -
سُورَةُ الكَهۡفِ
Al-Kahf (The Cave)
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
3 ayahs
فَٱنطَلَقَا حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا لَقِيَا غُلَٰمًۭا فَقَتَلَهُۥ قَالَ أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًۭا زَكِيَّةًۢ بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍۢ لَّقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْـًۭٔا نُّكْرًۭا
So they set out, until when they met a boy, al-Khidh r killed him. [Moses] said, "Have you killed a pure soul for other than [having killed] a soul? You have certainly done a deplorable thing."
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِفَتَىٰهُ لَآ أَبْرَحُ حَتَّىٰٓ أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ ٱلْبَحْرَيْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِىَ حُقُبًۭا
And [mention] when Moses said to his servant, "I will not cease [traveling] until I reach the junction of the two seas or continue for a long period."
قَالَ لَهُۥ مُوسَىٰ هَلْ أَتَّبِعُكَ عَلَىٰٓ أَن تُعَلِّمَنِ مِمَّا عُلِّمْتَ رُشْدًۭا
Moses said to him, "May I follow you on [the condition] that you teach me from what you have been taught of sound judgement?"
Common Words
48 total39 unique6 repeated
موسى4x
قال3x
أتىك2x
حديث2x
هل2x
حتى2x
وهل1x
فٱنطلقا1x
إذا1x
لقيا1x
غلما1x
فقتله1x
أقتلت1x
نفسا1x
زكية1x
بغير1x
نفس1x
لقد1x
جئت1x
شيـا1x