Volume 6, Book 60, Number 251:
Narrated Said bin Jubair:
I said to Ibn ‘Abbas, “Nauf-al-Bakali ” claims that Moses of Bani Israel was not Moses, the compan –
ion of Al-Khadir.” Ibn ‘Abbas said, “Allah’s enemy tells a lie! Ubai bin Ka’b narrated to us that Allah’s
Apostle 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 Nun, 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 be –
came 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 Nun 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
Volume 6 – 1039 / 1700
SAHIH BUKHARI VOLUME 6 > BOOK 60: PROPHETIC COMMENTARY ON THE QUR’AN (TAFSEER OF THE PROPHET (PBUH))
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 tun –
nel 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 ques –
tion about anything until I myself speak to you concerning it.’ (18.70). After that both of them pro –
ceeded along the seashore. There passed by them a boat whose crew recognized Al-Khadir and re –
ceived 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 Apostle 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. “