Ubayy bin Kaab reported,

I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, "Musa stood up to address the Children of Israil, and he was asked, 'Who is the most knowledgeable of people?'He replied, 'I am the most knowledgeable.'So Allah reproached him for not referring the matter of knowledge back to Him, and Allah revealed to him that one of His servants, at the junction of the two seas, had more knowledge than he did.Musa said, 'My Lord, how can I reach him?'Allah said to him, 'Carry a fish in a basket, and where you lose the fish, there he will be.'So Musa set out, and his young companion, Yusha bin Nun, set out with him. Musa put a fish in a basket, and he and his companion walked on until they came to the rock. There Musa and his companion lay down to sleep, and the fish thrashed about in the basket until it slipped out and fell into the sea. Allah held back the flow of the water over it so that it became like an archway, and it was a passage for the fish, and a marvel for Musa and his companion. They journeyed on for the rest of that day and night, and Musa's companion forgot to tell him.When morning came, Musa said to his young companion, 'Bring us our morning meal, for we have suffered great fatigue from this journey of ours' [Kahf 18:62]. Now he had felt no fatigue until he had passed the place he had been directed to.His companion said, 'Do you recall when we took shelter by the rock? I forgot the fish, and none but Satan made me forget to mention it. It made its way into the sea in a marvellous fashion' [Kahf 18:63].Musa said, 'That is what we were seeking.' So they retraced their steps, following their tracks [Kahf 18:64], tracing the path they had come by."Sufyan said, "Some people claim that beside that rock is the spring of life, and its water touches nothing dead without bringing it back to life. The fish had been partly eaten, but when the water dripped onto it, it came alive."The Prophet continued, "So they retraced their steps until they came to the rock, and there Musa saw a man wrapped in a garment. Musa greeted him with peace.The man said, "How can there be peace in your land?"Musa said, "I am Musa."The man asked, "Musa of the Children of Israil?"He said, "Yes."The man said, "Musa, you possess a knowledge from Allah's knowledge that He taught you and that I do not know, and I possess a knowledge from Allah's knowledge that He taught me and that you do not know."Musa said, "May I follow you, that you may teach me some of the right guidance you have been taught?" He said, "You will not be able to bear with me patiently. And how can you be patient about something you have no knowledge of?" He said, "You will find me patient, if Allah wills, and I will not disobey you in anything" [Kahf 18:66–69].Khidr said to him, "If you follow me, then do not ask me about anything until I myself tell you about it" [Kahf 18:70].Musa said, "Agreed."So Khidr and Musa set out, walking along the seashore. A ship passed by them, and they asked the crew to carry them. The crew recognized Khidr, so they carried them without any fare. Then Khidr went over to one of the planks of the ship and pulled it out.Musa said to him, "These people carried us without any fare, and you have gone to their ship and made a hole in it 'to drown its people? You have surely done a dreadful thing.' He said, 'Did I not tell you that you would not be able to bear with me patiently?' He said, 'Do not hold me to account for what I forgot, and do not be hard on me' [Kahf 18:71–73]."Then they left the ship, and while they were walking along the shore they saw a boy playing with other boys. Khidr took hold of his head and tore it off with his hand, killing him.Musa said to him, "Have you killed an innocent soul who has killed no one? You have surely done a monstrous thing." He said, "Did I not tell you that you would not be able to bear with me patiently?" [Kahf 18:74–75].This one was more serious than the first. He said, "If I ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me in your company. You have had from me sufficient excuse." So they set out, and when they came to the people of a town they asked its people for food, but they refused to show them any hospitality. There they found a wall on the verge of collapse [Kahf 18:76–77], that is, leaning over. Khidr moved his hand like this, and he set it straight [Kahf 18:77].Musa said to him, "We came to these people and they showed us no hospitality and gave us no food. If you had wished, you could have taken payment for it." He said, "This is where you and I part company. I will tell you the meaning of that which you could not bear patiently" [Kahf 18:77–78].The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "May Allah have mercy on Musa. How we wish he had been patient, so that more of their story might have been related to us."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also said, "The first instance was mere forgetfulness on Musa's part."He said, "A sparrow came and landed on the edge of the ship, then dipped its beak into the sea, and Khidr said to Musa, 'My knowledge and yours diminish Allah's knowledge only as much as this sparrow has diminished the sea.'"Saeed bin Jubayr said that Ibn Abbas used to recite it as, "And ahead of them was a king who would seize by force every sound ship," and he used to recite, "As for the boy, he was a disbeliever."

حدثنا ابن أبي عمر حدثنا سفيان عن عمرو بن دينار عن سعيد بن جبير قال قلت لابن عباس إن نوفا البكالي يزعم أن موسى صاحب بني إسرائيل ليس بموسى صاحب الخضر قال كذب عدو الله سمعت

أبي بن كعب يقول

سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول قام موسى خطيبا في بني إسرائيل فسئل أي الناس أعلم فقال أنا أعلم فعتب الله عليه إذ لم يرد العلم إليه فأوحى الله إليه أن عبدا من عبادي بمجمع البحرين هو أعلم منك قال أي رب فكيف لي به فقال له احمل حوتا في مكتل فحيث تفقد الحوت فهو ثم فانطلق وانطلق معه فتاه وهو يوشع بن نون فجعل موسى حوتا في مكتل فانطلق هو وفتاه يمشيان حتى أتيا الصخرة فرقد موسى وفتاه فاضطرب الحوت في المكتل حتى خرج من المكتل فسقط في البحر قال وأمسك الله عنه جرية الماء حتى كان مثل الطاق وكان للحوت سربا وكان لموسى ولفتاه عجبا فانطلقا بقية يومهما وليلتهما ونسي صاحب موسى أن يخبره فلما أصبح موسى قال لفتاه {آتنا غداءنا لقد لقينا من سفرنا هذا نصبا} قال ولم ينصب حتى جاوز المكان الذي أمر به قال {أرأيت إذ أوينا إلى الصخرة فإني نسيت الحوت وما أنسانيه إلا الشيطان أن أذكره واتخذ سبيله في البحر عجبا} قال موسى {ذلك ما كنا نبغ فارتدا على آثارهما قصصا} قال يقصان آثارهما قال سفيان يزعم ناس أن تلك الصخرة عندها عين الحياة ولا يصيب ماؤها ميتا إلا عاش قال وكان الحوت قد أكل منه فلما قطر عليه الماء عاش قال فقصا آثارهما حتى أتيا الصخرة فرأى رجلا مسجى عليه بثوب فسلم عليه موسى فقال أنى بأرضك السلام قال أنا موسى قال موسى بني إسرائيل قال نعم قال يا موسى إنك على علم من علم الله علمكه لا أعلمه وأنا على علم من علم الله علمنيه لا تعلمه فقال موسى {هل أتبعك على أن تعلمن مما علمت رشدا قال إنك لن تستطيع معي صبرا وكيف تصبر على ما لم تحط به خبرا قال ستجدني إن شاء الله صابرا ولا أعصي لك أمرا} قال له الخضر {فإن اتبعتني فلا تسألني عن شيء حتى أحدث لك منه ذكرا} قال نعم فانطلق الخضر وموسى يمشيان على ساحل البحر فمرت بهما سفينة فكلماهم أن يحملوهما فعرفوا الخضر فحملوهما بغير نول فعمد الخضر إلى لوح من ألواح السفينة فنزعه فقال له موسى قوم حملونا بغير نول عمدت إلى سفينتهم فخرقتها {لتغرق أهلها لقد جئت شيئا إمرا قال ألم أقل إنك لن تستطيع معي صبرا قال لا تؤاخذني بما نسيت ولا ترهقني من أمري عسرا} ثم خرجا من السفينة فبينما هما يمشيان على الساحل وإذا غلام يلعب مع الغلمان فأخذ الخضر برأسه فاقتلعه بيده فقتله قال له موسى {أقتلت نفسا زكية بغير نفس لقد جئت شيئا نكرا قال ألم أقل لك إنك لن تستطيع معي صبرا} قال وهذه أشد من الأولى {قال إن سألتك عن شيء بعدها فلا تصاحبني قد بلغت من لدني عذرا فانطلقا حتى إذا أتيا أهل قرية استطعما أهلها فأبوا أن يضيفوهما فوجدا فيها جدارا يريد أن ينقض} يقول مائل فقال الخضر بيده هكذا {فأقامه} فقال له موسى قوم أتيناهم فلم يضيفونا ولم يطعمونا {لو شئت لاتخذت عليه أجرا قال هذا فراق بيني وبينك سأنبئك بتأويل ما لم تستطع عليه صبرا} قال رسول الله ﷺ يرحم الله موسى لوددنا أنه كان صبر حتى يقص علينا من أخبارهما قال وقال رسول الله ﷺ الأولى كانت من موسى نسيان قال وجاء عصفور حتى وقع على حرف السفينة ثم نقر في البحر فقال له الخضر ما نقص علمي وعلمك من علم الله إلا مثل ما نقص هذا العصفور من البحر قال سعيد بن جبير وكان يعني ابن عباس يقرأ وكان أمامهم ملك يأخذ كل سفينة صالحة غصبا وكان يقرأ وأما الغلام فكان كافرا