Abdullah bin Abbas reported,

We were sitting with him when the people said, "Nawf al-Shami claims that the one who went seeking knowledge was not Musa of the Children of Israel."Ibn Abbas had been reclining, but he sat up straight and said, "Is that so, Saeed?"I replied, "Yes, I heard him say that."Ibn Abbas said, "Nawf has lied. Ubayy bin Kaab told me that he heard the Prophet ﷺ say, 'May Allah's mercy be upon us and upon Salih. May Allah's mercy be upon us and upon the brother of Aad.'Then he said, "While Musa was addressing his people one day, he said to them, 'There is no one on earth more knowledgeable than I.' So Allah revealed to him that there was indeed someone on earth more knowledgeable than him. The sign of that would be that he should take a salted fish as provision, and wherever he lost it, that is where he would find this man.So Musa took a salted fish as provision and set out with his servant. When they reached the place they had been directed to, they came to the rock. Musa went off in search, and his servant placed the fish on the rock. The fish stirred and made its way into the sea, taking a passage through it. The servant said to himself, 'When the Prophet of Allah ﷺ returns, I will tell him about it.' But Satan made him forget.They continued on, and the fatigue and exhaustion of travel afflicted them, though it had not afflicted them earlier, until they had passed beyond the place they had been commanded to reach. Then Musa said to his servant, 'Bring us our meal. We have certainly suffered fatigue from this journey of ours' [Kahf 18:62].His servant said to him, "Prophet of Allah, 'Did you see when we took refuge at the rock? Indeed, I forgot' to tell you about it, 'and none made me forget it but Satan' [Kahf 18:63], 'and it took its way through the sea, amazingly' [Kahf 18:63].Musa said, 'That is what we were seeking' [Kahf 18:64]. So they returned, retracing their steps, following the trail until they came back to the rock. There he was, wrapped in a garment. Musa greeted him, and the man raised his head and asked, "Who are you?"He said, "Musa."The man asked, "Which Musa?"He answered, "Musa of the Children of Israel."He said, "I have been told that you possess knowledge, and I wished to accompany you."The man said, "Indeed, you will not be able to have patience with me" [Kahf 18:67].Musa said, "You will find me, if Allah wills, patient, and I will not disobey you in any matter" [Kahf 18:69].He said, "How can you be patient about something you have no comprehensive knowledge of?"Musa said, "I have been commanded to do this."He said, "You will find me, if Allah wills, patient" [Kahf 18:69].The man said, "If you follow me, do not ask me about anything until I myself mention it to you. So they set out, until when they had embarked upon the ship" [Kahf 18:70–71], those who had been on it disembarked, and he stayed behind to make a hole in it.Musa said to him, "Are you making a hole in it to drown its people? 'You have certainly done a grave thing' [Kahf 18:71]."The man said, "Did I not tell you that you would not be able to have patience with me?"Musa said, "Do not blame me for what I forgot, and do not overburden me in my affair with difficulty" [Kahf 18:72–73].Then they continued on until they came upon some boys playing on the seashore. Among them was a boy more handsome than the others. He took him and killed him. Musa was alarmed at that and said, "Have you killed a pure soul who had killed no one? You have certainly done a terrible thing."He said, "Did I not tell you that you would not be able to have patience with me?" [Kahf 18:74–75].Musa felt embarrassed and ashamed before his companion and said, "If I ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me as a companion. You have already received from me an excuse. So they set out, until when they came to the people of a town" [Kahf 18:76–77], who were stingy people, "they asked its people for food" [Kahf 18:77]. Musa had been struck by hunger, but they refused to host them. "They found there a wall about to collapse, so he set it up straight" [Kahf 18:77].Musa, because of the hardship that had befallen them, said to him, "If you had wished, you could have taken payment for it."He said, "This is the parting between me and you" [Kahf 18:77–78].Musa grasped the edge of his garment and said, "Tell me." So he said, "As for the ship, it belonged to poor people working at sea" [Kahf 18:79], "and there was a king behind them who seized every ship by force" [Kahf 18:79]. Whenever he passed by a ship and saw it damaged, he would leave it alone. Its owners later patched it with a piece of wood and benefited from it.As for the boy, he was created a disbeliever on the day he was created. His parents had been given great love for him, and had he lived to be old enough, he would have driven them 'to transgression and disbelief' [Kahf 18:80]. 'So we wished that their Lord would substitute for them one better than him in purity and nearer to mercy' [Kahf 18:81]. So his father had relations with his mother, and she conceived and gave birth to one better than him in purity and nearer to mercy.'As for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and beneath it was a treasure for them. Their father had been a righteous man, so your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure as a mercy from your Lord. I did it not of my own accord. That is the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience' [Kahf 18:82]."

حدثني أبو بكر عبد الله بن محمد بن أبي شيبة حدثنا عبيد الله بن موسى عن إسرائيل عن أبي إسحاق عن سعيد بن جبير

عن ابن عباس قال

كنا عنده فقال القوم إن نوفا الشامي يزعم أن الذي ذهب يطلب العلم ليس موسى بني إسرائيل وكان ابن عباس متكئا فاستوى جالسا فقال كذلك يا سعيد قلت نعم أنا سمعته يقول ذاك فقال ابن عباس كذب نوف حدثني أبي بن كعب أنه سمع النبي ﷺ يقول رحمة الله علينا وعلى صالح رحمة الله علينا وعلى أخي عاد ثم قال إن موسى عليه السلام بينا هو يخطب قومه ذات يوم إذ قال لهم ما في الأرض أحد أعلم مني وأوحى الله تبارك وتعالى إليه أن في الأرض من هو أعلم منك وآية ذلك أن تزود حوتا مالحا فإذا فقدته فهو حيث تفقده فتزود حوتا مالحا فانطلق هو وفتاه حتى إذا بلغ المكان الذي أمروا به فلما انتهوا إلى الصخرة انطلق موسى يطلب ووضع فتاه الحوت على الصخرة واضطرب فاتخذ سبيله في البحر سربا قال فتاه إذا جاء نبي الله ﷺ حدثته فأنساه الشيطان فانطلقا فأصابهم ما يصيب المسافر من النصب والكلال ولم يكن يصيبه ما يصيب المسافر من النصب والكلال حتى جاوز ما أمر به فقال موسى لفتاه {آتنا غداءنا لقد لقينا من سفرنا هذا نصبا} قال له فتاه يا نبي الله {أرأيت إذ أوينا إلى الصخرة فإني نسيت} أن أحدثك {وما أنسانيه إلا الشيطان} {فاتخذ سبيله في البحر سربا} {قال ذلك ما كنا نبغ} فرجعا على آثارهما قصصا يقصان الأثر حتى إذا انتهيا إلى الصخرة فأطاف بها فإذا هو مسجى بثوب له فسلم عليه فرفع رأسه فقال له من أنت قال موسى قال من موسى قال موسى بني إسرائيل قال أخبرت أن عندك علما فأردت أن أصحبك {قال إنك لن تستطيع معي صبرا} {قال ستجدني إن شاء الله صابرا ولا أعصي لك أمرا} قال فكيف تصبر على ما لم تحط به خبرا قال قد أمرت أن أفعله {قال ستجدني إن شاء الله صابرا} {قال فإن اتبعتني فلا تسألني عن شيء حتى أحدث لك منه ذكرا فانطلقا حتى إذا ركبا في السفينة} خرج من كان فيها وتخلف ليخرقها قال فقال له موسى تخرقها لتغرق أهلها {لقد جئت شيئا إمرا} {قال ألم أقل إنك لن تستطيع معي صبرا قال لا تؤاخذني بما نسيت ولا ترهقني من أمري عسرا} فانطلقا حتى إذا أتوا على غلمان يلعبون على ساحل البحر وفيهم غلام ليس في الغلمان غلام أنظف يعني منه فأخذه فقتله فنفر موسى عليه السلام عند ذلك وقال {أقتلت نفسا زكية بغير نفس لقد جئت شيئا نكرا قال ألم أقل لك إنك لن تستطيع معي صبرا} قال فأخذته ذمامة من صاحبه واستحى فقال {إن سألتك عن شيء بعدها فلا تصاحبني قد بلغت من لدني عذرا فانطلقا حتى إذا أتيا أهل قرية} لئاما {استطعما أهلها} وقد أصاب موسى عليه السلام جهد فلم يضيفوهما {فوجدا فيها جدارا يريد أن ينقض فأقامه} قال له موسى مما نزل بهم من الجهد {لو شئت لاتخذت عليه أجرا قال هذا فراق بيني وبينك} فأخذ موسى عليه السلام بطرف ثوبه فقال حدثني فقال {أما السفينة فكانت لمساكين يعملون في البحر} {وكان وراءهم ملك يأخذ كل سفينة غصبا} فإذا مر عليها فرآها منخرقة تركها ورقعها أهلها بقطعة خشبة فانتفعوا بها وأما الغلام فإنه كان طبع يوم طبع كافرا وكان قد ألقي عليه محبة من أبويه ولو أطاعاه لأرهقهما {طغيانا وكفرا} {فأردنا أن يبدلهما ربهما خيرا منه زكاة وأقرب رحما} ووقع أبوه على أمه فعلقت فولدت منه خيرا منه زكاة وأقرب رحما {وأما الجدار فكان لغلامين يتيمين في المدينة وكان تحته كنز لهما وكان أبوهما صالحا فأراد ربك أن يبلغا أشدهما ويستخرجا كنزهما رحمة من ربك وما فعلته عن أمري ذلك تأويل ما لم تسطع عليه صبرا}