سورة الكهف

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): A man from the Jewish scholars ... came to Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and questioned him... The Imam (peace be upon him) said, "O Jew! ... You say that the first spring that gushed forth on the face of the earth was a spring in Bayt al-Maqdis, and you lie. That is the Spring of Life in which Yusha ibn Nun (peace be upon him) washed the fish, and it is the spring from which Khidr (peace be upon him) drank, and no one drinks from it but that he lives on." He said, "You have spoken the truth! By Allah, this statement is in the handwriting of Harun and by the dictation of Musa (peace be upon them)."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): In the narration of Abu al-Jarud, it is reported that Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said regarding the verse: وَ إِذْ قالَ مُوسَی لِفَتاهُ [And when Musa said to his servant]: what is meant by "fata (servant)" is Yusha ibn Nun (peace be upon him), and لا أَبْرَحُ means "I will continually keep moving". حَتَّی أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَیْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِیَ حُقُباً [until I reach the junction of the two seas or I go on for ages] — that is, until I reach Majma al-Bahrayn. He said: "A huqb is eighty years."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): When the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) informed the people of Quraysh of the story of the Companions of the Cave, they said, "Inform us about that learned one whom Allah commanded Musa (peace be upon him) to follow, and what his story was." Allah the Exalted revealed this verse: وَ إِذْ قالَ مُوسی لِفَتاهُ لا أَبْرَحُ حَتَّی أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَیْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِیَ حُقُباً [And when Musa said to his servant: I will not cease until I reach the junction of the two rivers or I will go on for years]. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "The reason for this was that when Allah spoke to Musa (Nisa 4:164) and sent down upon him the Tablets, as Allah said: 'And We wrote for him on the Tablets an admonition concerning every matter and an exposition of every thing' (A'raf 7:145), Musa (peace be upon him) returned to the Bani Isra'il and ascended the pulpit and informed them that Allah had sent down the Tawrah upon him and had spoken to him. Musa (peace be upon him) said to himself, 'Allah has not created anyone more learned than me.' Then Allah revealed to Jibra'il to go to the aid of Musa (peace be upon him), for he had destroyed himself, and to tell him that at the junction of the two seas, beside a rock, there is a man more learned than him. So go to him and learn from his knowledge. Jibra'il descended upon Musa and informed him. Then Musa (peace be upon him) felt humbled in himself and realised he had erred and became afraid. He said to his successor Yusha (peace be upon him), 'Allah has commanded me to follow a man who is at the junction of the two seas, and to learn knowledge from him.' Yusha took a salted fish as provision, and then they set out. When they left the town and reached that place, they saw a man lying on his back; they did not recognise him. Yusha (peace be upon him) took the fish out of the bag, washed it with sea water and placed it on a rock. Then they continued on their way and forgot the fish. That water was the water of life; the fish came alive and entered the water. Musa (peace be upon him) went on, and Yusha (peace be upon him) went with him, until they became tired. He said to Yusha (peace be upon him), 'آتِنَا غَدَاءنَا لَقَدْ لَقِینَا مِن سَفَرِنَا هَذَا نَصَبًا' [Bring us our breakfast; indeed we have met with fatigue from this journey of ours]; nasaba means hardship. Yusha (peace be upon him) remembered that he had left the fish behind and said, 'I forgot that fish on that rock.' Musa (peace be upon him) said, 'That man whom we saw beside the rock is the very one we are seeking.' So they returned by the same way they had come to that man, while he was praying. Musa (peace be upon him) sat down until his prayer was finished, and he greeted the two of them. Yunus narrates: Yunus and Hisham ibn Ibrahim differed concerning that learned man to whom Musa (peace be upon him) went — which of them was more learned? And is it possible that in the time of Musa (peace be upon him) someone would be a proof over him, while he was the proof of Allah over people? Qasim al-Sayqal says: They wrote to Imam Rida (peace be upon him) in a letter and asked him about this. He wrote in reply: 'Musa (peace be upon him) came to that learned man and reached him on one of the islands, and he was seated or leaning on something. Musa (peace be upon him) greeted him, but he did not return the greeting, because he was in a land where greetings did not exist. He asked Musa (peace be upon him), "Who are you?" He said, "I am Musa son of Imran." He said, "Are you the Musa who spoke with Allah?" He said, "Yes." He asked, "What do you want?" He said, "I have come to you so that you may teach me insight from what has been taught to you." He said, "I am charged with a matter which you cannot bear, just as I cannot bear the matter with which you are charged." Then that learned one spoke of the calamities that would befall the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), so much that they both wept greatly. Then he spoke of the excellence and greatness of the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) until Musa (peace be upon him) said, "Would that I too were among the family of Muhammad (peace be upon them)." He even spoke about a certain person and another certain person, and the sending of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) to his people, and the evils they would inflict on him and their denial of him. And he explained this verse to him: 'And We turn away their hearts and eyes (from the truth), as they refused to believe in it the first time' (An'am 6:110) — when the covenant was taken from them. Musa (peace be upon him) said, "هَلْ أَتَّبِعُکَ عَلی أَنْ تُعَلِّمَنِ مِمَّا عُلِّمْتَ رُشْداً [May I follow you so that you may teach me from what you have been taught, of guidance]?" Khidr (peace be upon him) replied, "إِنَّکَ لَنْ تَسْتَطِیعَ مَعِیَ صَبْراً وَ کَیْفَ تَصْبِرُ عَلی ما لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ خُبْراً [Indeed you will never be able to have patience with me, and how can you be patient about something of which you have no knowledge]?" Musa (peace be upon him) said, "قَالَ سَتَجِدُنِی إِنْ شاءَ اللهُ صابِراً وَ لا أَعْصِی لَکَ أَمْراً [You will find me, if Allah wills, patient, and I will not disobey you in any matter]." Khidr (peace be upon him) replied, "قَالَ فَإِنِ اتَّبَعْتَنِی فَلَا تَسْأَلْنِی عَن شَیْءٍ حَتَّی أُحْدِثَ لَکَ مِنْهُ ذِکْرًا [If you follow me, then do not ask me about anything until I mention it to you myself]." He said, "Do not ask me about anything I do, and do not object to my doing it, until I inform you about it." Musa (peace be upon him) said, "Yes." Then the three of them went on until they reached the shore of the sea. There was a ship there, fully loaded, about to set off. The owner of the ship said, "We will take these three with us; they are righteous people." So they took them aboard. When the ship entered the water, Khidr began to make holes in the sides of the ship and to fill them with rags and mud. Musa (peace be upon him) became angry and said to Khidr (peace be upon him), "Have you made a hole in it to drown its people? Truly you have done a dreadful thing!" Khidr (peace be upon him) said to him, "Did I not say that indeed you would never be able to have patience with me?" Musa (peace be upon him) said, "Do not blame me for my forgetfulness and do not be hard on me for this matter of mine." They left the ship, and Khidr looked at a beautiful boy who was as though a piece of the moon, playing with his friends, with two pearls in his ears. Khidr thought for a moment, then took hold of him and killed him. Musa (peace be upon him) leapt upon Khidr (peace be upon him) and threw him to the ground and said, "Have you killed a pure soul, without his having killed anyone? Truly you have done an abominable thing!" Khidr (peace be upon him) said, "Did I not tell you that indeed you would never be able to have patience with me?" Musa (peace be upon him) said, "If after this I ask you about anything, then do not keep company with me; you have received an excuse from my side." Then they set off, until at night they arrived at a village called al-Nasirah, to which the Christians (Nasara) are attributed; they had never hosted anyone and had never fed a stranger. They asked the people of that village for food, but they did not give them any and did not host them. Khidr (peace be upon him) looked at a wall there which was about to fall, and he placed his hand on it and said, "Stand up by the permission of Allah," and that wall became upright and firm. Musa (peace be upon him) said, "It was not fitting to repair the wall until they gave us food and lodging." This is what the Qur'an says: "[At the least] you could have taken payment for this work." Khidr (peace be upon him) said to Musa (peace be upon him), "Now the time of separation between me and you has come; but I will presently inform you of the meaning of that concerning which you were not able to have patience. As for the ship, it belonged to a group of poor people who worked with it on the sea; and I wished to make it defective, because behind them was a (tyrannical) king who would seize every (sound) ship by force." Had that ship not been sound, they would not have taken it from its owners. As for that boy, his father and mother were believers, and I looked at his forehead and it was written upon it that in his nature he was a disbeliever; and we feared that he would drive them to rebellion and disbelief. Therefore we wished that their Lord would give them, in his place, a child purer and more affectionate. And Allah gave them, in his place, a daughter, from whom seventy prophets were born. As for that wall which I rebuilt, it belonged to two orphan boys in that city, and beneath it was a treasure belonging to them, and their father had been a righteous man; and your Lord willed that they should reach the age of maturity and extract their treasure — this was a mercy from your Lord; and I did not do those (things) of my own accord. This is the meaning of that concerning which you were not able to be patient.'"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abd al-Rahman ibn Sayaba narrates: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "Musa (peace be upon him) went up on the pulpit, and his pulpit had three steps. He said to himself that Allah had not created anyone more knowledgeable than him. Jibra'il came to him and said: 'Allah intends to test you. Come down from the pulpit; there is someone on the earth who is more knowledgeable than you. Go in search of him.' Musa (peace be upon him) sent someone to Yusha (peace be upon him) and told him: 'I have been placed under a divine test, so take provisions and come with me.' Yusha (peace be upon him) bought a live fish and went to Adharbayjan, roasted it, and placed it in a basket. Then they set out together until they reached the seashore ... The two of them went on until they came upon an old man who was lying stretched out on the ground, with his staff placed beside him and a cloak thrown over him which was not the length of his body — if he covered his head with it his feet were left uncovered, and if he covered his feet, his head was left uncovered. Musa (peace be upon him) stood up to pray and said to Yusha (peace be upon him): 'Watch over me.' A drop of rain fell from the sky onto the fish inside the basket. The fish stirred and dragged the basket with it towards the sea, and this is the meaning of the verse: فَاتَّخَذَ سَبِیلَهُ فِی الْبَحْرِ سَرَباً [and it took its way into the sea, slipping away]. Then a bird came down from the sky, alighted on the edge of the sea, and dipped its beak into the water. It said to Musa (peace be upon him): 'O Musa (peace be upon him)! You have not taken from the knowledge of your Lord more than the amount of water that has gathered on my beak.' Then Musa (peace be upon him) rose and set off, and Yusha (peace be upon him) followed him. After a long while Musa (peace be upon him) grew tired and said to Yusha (peace be upon him): 'When they had passed by that place, [Musa] said to his companion: "Bring us our meal, for we have grown truly weary from this journey of ours"! ... in a wondrous manner it took its way into the sea!' (Al-Kahf/62-63). Musa (peace be upon him) went back and followed the trace of the fish until he reached that man, who was still lying stretched out. Musa (peace be upon him) said to him: 'Peace be upon you.' He replied: 'And upon you be peace, O scholar of the Children of Israel.' Then he rose up and took his staff in his hand. Musa (peace be upon him) said to him: 'I have been ordered to follow you, so that you may teach me of what you have been taught.' Just as the Qur'an has related, Khidr (peace be upon him) said to him: 'You will never be able to bear with me patiently.' They set out together until they came to a port where a boat was ready to depart. When the sailors caught sight of the two, they said: 'By Allah, we will take these two along with us and take no reward for it.' When the boat reached the middle of the sea, Khidr (peace be upon him) made a hole in its bottom, and Musa (peace be upon him) said the very thing that I have related to you. Khidr (peace be upon him) said to him: 'He said: "Did I not tell you that you would never be able to bear with me patiently"?! [Musa] said: "Do not take me to task for my forgetfulness, and do not be hard on me for what I have done"!' They went on together toward the shore, and there they saw a boy who was wearing a garment of green silk, with pearl earrings in his ears, playing with other children. Khidr (peace be upon him) put his foot on him and slew him. Musa (peace be upon him) said to him: 'Have you killed a pure person, without his having killed anyone?! Truly you have done an evil thing!' They again continued on their way until they came to the people of a village, and they asked them for food, but the villagers refused to give them hospitality. [Even so] they found there a wall on the verge of collapse, and [that learned man] set it upright. [Musa] said: '[At the least] you could have taken a wage in return for this work'! (Al-Kahf/77) — meaning: I wish you had taken some bread so that we could eat, for we have grown hungry. This land lay on the seashore and its name was Nasira, and the name of the Christians (Nasara) is taken from this place. The people of that land gave no food to Musa (peace be upon him) and Yusha, and until the Day of Resurrection they will never entertain anyone as a guest again. The parable of that boat, between us and you, is that Imam Husayn (peace be upon him) refused to pledge allegiance to Mu'awiya. And the parable of that boy, among you, is like the saying of Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba (peace be upon him) to Abdullah ibn Ali: 'May Allah curse you, for you are an evil disbeliever.' It was said to his holiness: 'O Aba Muhammad (peace be upon him)! You have killed him.' And the parable of that wall, among you, is Ali, Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon them)."

Imam Baqir and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon them): Zurara, Humran and Muhammad ibn Muslim narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): A basket was given to Musa (peace be upon him) in which there was a salted fish, and he was told: "This will guide you to your companion, who is beside the spring at the junction of the two seas; any dead thing that falls into that spring comes back to life. It is called the Water of Life." Then they set out until they reached that rock, and the young man who was with Musa (peace be upon him) was washing the fish in the spring when it slipped from his hand, scratched him, escaped from his hand, and the young man forgot about it. When they had passed the appointed time, Musa (peace be upon him) grew tired and said to his companion: "آتِنَا غَدَاءنَا لَقَدْ لَقِینَا مِن سَفَرِنَا هَذَا نَصَبًا* قَالَ أَرَأَیْتَ إِذْ أَوَیْنَا إِلَی الصَّخْرَةِ فَإِنِّی نَسِیتُ الْحُوتَ وَمَا أَنسَانِیهُ إِلَّا الشَّیْطَانُ أَنْ أَذْکُرَهُ وَاتَّخَذَ سَبِیلَهُ فِی الْبَحْرِ عَجَبًا* قَالَ ذَلِکَ مَا کُنَّا نَبْغِ فَارْتَدَّا عَلَی آثَارِهِمَا قَصَصًا [Bring us our morning meal; we have indeed suffered fatigue from this journey of ours. He said: Did you see, when we took refuge at the rock, that indeed I forgot the fish, and none but Satan made me forget to mention it, and it took its way into the sea in a wondrous manner. He said: That is what we were seeking. So they turned back on their footsteps, retracing them]." When they returned to that rock, they saw the fish sinking into the water. They followed their footprints until they reached that man on one of the islands of the sea, who was either reclining or seated on his cloak. Musa (peace be upon him) greeted him with salam, and he was astonished at the salam, since he was in a land where salam was not customary. He said: "Who are you?" He said: "I am Musa." He said: "Are you that Musa son of Imran with whom Allah spoke directly?" He said: "Yes." He asked: "What is your need?" He said: "May I follow you, so that you may teach me some of what you have been taught of guidance and rectitude?" He said: "I have been entrusted with matters that you cannot endure, and you have been entrusted with a matter that I cannot endure." He said to him: "You will never be able to have patience with me! And how can you be patient with something whose secrets you are not acquainted with?" [Musa] said: "Allah willing, you will find me patient." Then that learned one spoke with Musa (peace be upon him) about the excellence and greatness of the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and about what would befall them, until they both wept aloud. Then he spoke about the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and about Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and about the children of Fatima (peace be upon her), and about their excellence and what has been bestowed upon them, until Musa (peace be upon him) said: "Would that I too were among the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)." He also spoke about the return of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) to his people when he was raised as a Prophet, about their treatment of him and their accusations of falsehood against him. And he recited this verse to him: "And We shall turn their hearts and their eyes upside down [indeed they will not believe] just as they did not believe in it the first time!" (al-An'am/110) — for indeed He had taken a covenant from them.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): When Musa (peace be upon him) had mastered the Torah and knew all that is in it, he said to himself: "There is no one on earth more knowledgeable than me," and he did not say this to anyone. He saw in a dream that Allah sent water upon water until everything between the east and the west was drowned, and he saw that upon the sea there was something, and on it was an owl that came and took with its beak the waters that had drowned the earth and poured them into the sea. When Musa (peace be upon him) awoke, he was terrified, and Jibril came and said: "O Musa (peace be upon him), why do I see you sorrowful?" He told him the dream, and he answered him: "You suppose that you have absorbed all knowledge and that there is no one on earth more knowledgeable than you, but Allah has another servant such that your knowledge in relation to his knowledge is like the water which the owl carries in its beak and pours into the sea." He said: "O Jibril, who is this servant of Allah?" He said: "al-Khidr ibn Amil, from the descendants of a pure man, namely Ibrahim al-Khalil (peace be upon him)." He said: "Where shall I seek him?" He said: "Beyond this sea." He said: "Who will guide me to him?" He said: "A portion of your provision." Musa (peace be upon him), in his eagerness for [what he had seen in] his dream, did not appoint a successor over himself among his people, and set out on his affair. He said to his young companion Yusha (peace be upon him): "Will you support me?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Then go and take some provision for us." Yusha (peace be upon him) went and took some loaves of bread and an old salted fish, and they set out into the sea until they sank into mud and clay and endured much toil and weariness, until they reached that rock which projected from the sea behind the sea of Arminiyah, and that rock was called "[the fortress of] the guards." They came up to it and Musa (peace be upon him) went and made ablution and entered a place, and he found a spring of paradise in the sea.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Musa (peace be upon him) was more knowledgeable than al-Khidr (peace be upon him).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Sulayman (peace be upon him) was more knowledgeable than Asif, and Musa (peace be upon him) was more knowledgeable than the one who followed him (al-Khidr (peace be upon him)).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Sayf al-Tammar said: We were sitting with Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) along with a group of the Shia in the Hijr, when he said: "A spying eye is watching us." We looked to our right and left but did not see anyone. We said: "No one is watching us." He said three times: "By the Lord of the Ka'ba, by the Lord of that House, if I had been between Musa and al-Khidr (peace be upon them), I would have informed them that I am more knowledgeable than they, and I would have told them of what was not in their hands. For the knowledge of what has happened was given to them, but the knowledge of future events and of what will happen until the Day of Resurrection was not given to them, and we, the Ahl al-Bayt, have inherited this knowledge from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ishaq ibn Ammar narrates: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "The likeness of Ali (peace be upon him) and of us Imams after him in this ummah is the likeness of Musa and Khidr (peace be upon them) when Musa (peace be upon him) met Khidr and spoke with him and asked him for permission to accompany him. Allah has recounted the story of this meeting and this companionship in His Book for the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). In this account it is stated that Allah said to Musa (peace be upon him): 'I have chosen you and preferred you above the people with My messages and by My speaking [to you], so take what I have given you and be of the grateful.' (al-A'raf/144) Then He said: 'And We wrote for him on the Tablets an admonition concerning every matter and an explanation of everything.' (al-A'raf/145) Khidr (peace be upon him) possessed a knowledge that had not been written for Musa (peace be upon him) on the Tablets. Musa (peace be upon him) supposed that everything he needed was in his ark and that all knowledge had been written for him on the Tablets — just like those who claim knowledge and jurisprudence and suppose that they have established all the knowledge and jurisprudence which the ummah needs, and that they have learned the sound hadiths narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and have memorised them. But it is not so: they have neither inherited all the knowledge of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), nor has the knowledge of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) reached them, nor have they learned the knowledge of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). For if they are asked about the lawful and the unlawful and about rulings, and they have no hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) on the matter, they fear that the people will consider them ignorant. They dislike that anyone should ask them a question they cannot answer, resulting in the people going to the true source of knowledge instead. For this reason they interpret by their own opinion and use analogy in the religion of Allah, and set aside the [authoritative] text and introduce innovations — although the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Every innovation is misguidance.' Yet if a religious question is put to them and they have no word from the noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) about it, then were they to refer it to the Prophet and to the leaders who have the sufficient discernment [i.e. refer it to the family of Muhammad], they would come to know the roots of the matters. But what prevents them from seeking knowledge from us is their enmity and envy towards us. By Allah, Musa (peace be upon him) did not envy Khidr (peace be upon him). Musa (peace be upon him) was the Prophet of Allah and the recipient of His revelation, yet he went to meet Khidr (peace be upon him) and spoke with him and acknowledged his knowledge. Musa (peace be upon him) did not envy Khidr (peace be upon him) the way the ummah of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), after his passing, envies us on account of the knowledge and inheritance we have inherited from the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). And just as Musa (peace be upon him) was eager to acquire the knowledge of Khidr (peace be upon him) and wished to accompany him in order to learn from him and be guided, this ummah has no desire to learn from us or to accompany us. When Musa (peace be upon him) asked Khidr (peace be upon him) to permit him to accompany him, Khidr (peace be upon him) knew that Musa (peace be upon him) did not have the capacity to accompany him and would not be able to bear his knowledge, and said to Musa (peace be upon him): 'And how will you be patient over that of whose inner meaning you have no awareness?' Musa (peace be upon him), being submissive to him and requesting that he accept his company, said: 'If Allah wills, you will find me patient, and I will not disobey you in any matter.' But Khidr (peace be upon him) knew that Musa (peace be upon him) would not be patient with his knowledge. O Ishaq ibn Ammar! By Allah, the state of these jurists and scholars of theirs and the common people is exactly the same. By Allah, they do not have the capacity for our knowledge and cannot accept it or endure it or follow it or persevere in it — just as Musa (peace be upon him), when he was accompanying Khidr (peace be upon him) and witnessed the manifestations of his knowledge, was unable to endure, and the actions of Khidr (peace be upon him) appeared displeasing in his eyes, even though Khidr was performing all those actions in accordance with the divine command. Our knowledge is likewise: the ignorant find it displeasing, but with Allah it is pleasing and accepted."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Burayd ibn Muawiya said: I asked Imam Baqir or Imam Sadiq (peace be upon them): "Among those who have passed, whom do you most resemble?" He said: "Khidr and Dhul-Qarnayn, who were learned but were not prophets."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Humran ibn A'yan said: I said to Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): "What is the standing of the scholars?" He said: "Like Dhul-Qarnayn, and the companion of Sulayman (peace be upon him), and the friend of Musa (peace be upon him)."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Humran ibn A'yan said: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "Indeed Ali (peace be upon him) was one who was spoken to (muhaddath)." I reported this to my companions, and they said: "You have done nothing unless you ask him who used to speak to him." I returned to the Imam (peace be upon him) and reported what they said. He said to me: "An angel used to speak to him." I said: "Are you saying that Ali (peace be upon him) was a prophet?" He said: "No. Rather, like the companion of Sulayman (peace be upon him) — that is, Asaf ibn Barkhiya — and the companion of Musa (peace be upon him), or like Dhul-Qarnayn. Has it not reached you that [the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)] said: 'Among you there is one like him (Dhul-Qarnayn)'?"