مَجْمَعَ ٱلْبَحْرَيْنِ ( Where the two Oceans meet ) Part 3

It’s quite a spectacle, the moment where Musa AS and Khidr AS meet. Interestingly enough, the name Khidr AS is not mentioned anywhere in the Quran. This name comes from the narrations of the Prophet SAW. We had spoken before about how important it is to keep the Quran and Hadith hand in hand when one’s making sense of the Quran, and this is another example why.

We had briefly touched upon this excerpt’s ( S18V60-64 ) linguistic significance over the course of our last article. We had stopped at the point just before Musa AS and Khidr AS met. Now we’re going to briefly discuss this excerpt ( S18V65-72 ) in this article, keeping in mind its linguistics so have a quick look at its translation before reading on!

Allah SWT uses the word فَوَجَدَا to mention that they had found a slave from one of His slaves. On the contrary, He could have used the word اَلْفَیا but He did not. We have evidence in the Quran that the word اَلْفَى is used when talking about tangible things or when talking about the physical reality of things. An example of this is Allah SWT says وَأَلْفَيَا سَيِّدَهَا لَدَا ٱلْبَابِۚ ( S12V25 ) when He’s narrating the incident of Yusuf AS and Zulekha, alluding they had found her husband at the door. وَجَدَا on the other hand has been used in the Quran for finding both tangible and intangible things. Allah SWT quotes Musa AS when he says ءَاتِيكُم مِّنْهَا بِقَبَسٍ أَوْ أَجِدُ عَلَى ٱلنَّارِ هُدًى ( S20V10 ). Musa AS is telling his family about how he might find guidance in this fire he can see ( this was just before Allah SWT talked to Musa AS for the first time. ) In Surah Kahf فَوَجَدَا in theory could mean that he had found this man ( Khidr AS ) which was a tangible reality, however he might have also found the knowledge he was looking for, which is intangible.

Keeping this concept in mind, there is one more thing to note about the difference between وَجَدَا and اَلْفَى. Allah SWT says مَآ أَلْفَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ ءَابَآءَنَآ ۗ أَوَلَوْ كَانَ ءَابَآؤُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ شَيْـًۭٔا وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ ( S2V170 ) and He says مَا وَجَدْنَا عَلَيْهِ ءَابَآءَنَآ ۚ أَوَلَوْ كَانَ ءَابَآؤُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ شَيْـًۭٔا وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ ( S5V104 ). In the ayat from Surah Baqarah the disbelievers are arguing their forefathers’ case with the use of the word أَلْفَيْنَا and here, Allah SWT negates the عَقَلٌ their forefathers possessed which is why they did not listen to Allah SWT in the first place. On the other hand, in Surah Maidah’s ayat the disbelievers argue their forefathers’ case with the word وَجَدْنَا and it is here that Allah SWT negates the عِلْمٌ their forefathers possessed which is why they did not listen to the call of Allah SWT when it came to them. There is a stark difference between عَقَلٌ and عِلْمٌ. The former means to possess a certain kind of intellect and reasoning that exhibits a closer relationship to your instincts and نفس as opposed to your intelligence and knowledge. The latter means owning the capacity to make decisions based more on knowledge and intelligence than on that which you may desire or naturally react to. Also, anyone or thing with an عَقَلٌ has the capacity to access tangible reality and experience things firsthand. Even a cow has عَقَلٌ meaning it knows it has to keep away from a lion or it may become pray, however not every living thing has the capacity to bear عِلْمٌ. Having عِلْمٌ means the capacity to know for the cow the extent of danger it might be in when interacting with the lion, whether or not the cow can use it’s intellect to convince the lion not to eat it.

The word فَوَجَدَا had been used in this excerpt from Surah Kahf, meaning Hazrat Musa AS and Yousha bin Noon RA had found Khidr AS, not from his desire to become more knowledgeable for the sake of satisfying his نفس but the fact that he embarked on this journey was based on sound thinking and sincere intentions.

There is a تنوین on the word عَبْدًۭا and this could have a couple of implications. The تنوین could mean Allah SWT wanted to give a certain kind of respect (تعظیم ) to Khidr AS and He wanted to magnify him in status. It could have also meant He wanted to talk about Khidr AS in a very casual way, as if it were to mean, “ Oh, him, he’s just another slave of mine “. The first opinion sounds more applicable because of the sequence of the words. An alternative way of saying this without conveying this meaning would have been فَوَجَدَ عَبْدَناَ but He chose to say فَوَجَدَا عَبْدًۭا مِّنْ عِبَادِنَآ. The stretch at the of عِبَادِنَآ also alludes to a sense of special closeness Allah’s SWT slaves shared with Him. The fact that there was a تنوین on عَبْدًۭا and the عِبَادِنَآ is stretched is an interesting combination in itself. This could have meant that Allah SWT wanted to magnify and associate a special rank to all of His slaves and not just to Khidr AS meaning in Allah’s SWT eyes was not higher than Allah’s SWT other slaves.

Next, Allah SWT uses the word اتَيْنَـٰهُ meaning He had endowed this knowledge upon Khidr AS as a responsibility. On the contrary, Allah SWT says إِنَّآ أَعْطَيْنَـٰكَ ٱلْكَوْثَرَ ( S108V1 ) when He’s speaking directly to His Messenger SAW and in this case He has used the word أَعْطَيْنَ to specifically mention that He has given this abundance to him as a gift, not as a responsibility.

Coherence is a theme of the Surah. If we were to travel back to the beginnings of Surah Kahf we would find the People of the cave making the dua رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةًۭ وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًۭا ( S18V10 ). The People of the cave are asking for a special mercy from Allah SWT, a kind of mercy that was personal and close to Allah SWT. In this excerpt we would find Allah SWT saying رَحْمَةًۭ مِّنْ عِندِنَا وَعَلَّمْنَـٰهُ مِن لَّدُنَّا عِلْمًۭا. Now, if we were to look at the linguistics, we would find that the special mercy the People of the cave had asked for came from an exclusive vault of Allah SWT because they use the words رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةًۭ and Allah SWT uses a similar pattern of words to describe the knowledge that He had given Khidar AS which was مِن لَّدُنَّا عِلْمًۭا. This meant that the knowledge Khidr AS had been given came from a very special vault. Khidr AS was in no apparent need for the kind of mercy the People of the cave were in need of, when they embarked on their journey to seek refuge away from their village, yet Allah SWT opened His treasures for Khidr AS in the form of knowledge. This goes to say that Allah SWT gives whom He pleases to give, and His knowledge ( the knowledge we get a glimpse of as Musa’s AS and Khidr’s AS journey progresses ) knows no bounds.

The People of the cave had asked for رَشَدًۭا which was the kind of knowledge that would establish itself as a source of mature guidance for them in the near future. They asked for رَشَدًۭا because they were in a situation where they could see no way out, and only with the mercy of Allah SWT and with His guidance could a way out be paved for them Musa AS on the other hand, asked Khidr AS to teach him رُشْدًۭا which is the kind of knowledge that has already established itself as mature guidance.This meant that Musa AS was not looking to learn all the things that Khidr AS knew, just the knowledge that qualified as رُشْدًۭا رَشَدًۭا has more حرکات on it then رُشْدًۭا meaning it’s more of an active kind of guidance. Again, Musa’s AS position was not like the position the People of the cave were in, at least during this period, so he was not in dire need of mercy and guidance as if his life depended on it, hence رُشْدًۭا.

Musa AS does not stretch the ی in تُعَلِّمَنِ because he might have been, as we had observed in the previous article, enthusiastic. Previously, he had been enthusiastic about meeting the man ( Khidr AS ) and now he is eager to learn what Khidr AS knows. It could also not have been stretched because Musa AS wanted to practice humility and he wanted to keep the knowledge that he was so eager to learn above himself. However, he stretches the ىٓ in سَتَجِدُنِىٓ. In the context of سَتَجِدُنِىٓ we could argue that Musa AS was giving a job interview for a job he really wanted, and Khidr AS was his interviewer. Musa AS felt he had to prove himself to Khidr AS and advocate his case in front of him, so that he was given this job he had been searching for, for such a long time.

Patience is a good quality, about it Allah SWT says يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ ( S2V153 ) meaning Allah SWT is with the ones that are patient. Musa AS being a Prophet must have been a patient man, we could argue this because it’s very difficult to have تقوی without patience and Prophets have to have تقوی. This is why he says صَابِرًۭا when he describes himself in the ayat because he genuinely believes he is a patient person. The fact that he used a noun just amplifies the level of patience he thought he had because nouns are not bound to time like verbs, they are timeless. He did not say وَلاَ تَجِدُنِيْ عَاصِيْاً when it came to follow the instructions, instead he said وَلَآ أَعْصِى لَكَ أَمْرًۭا which meant he was ready to foillow all the commands Khidr AS was going to give him one by one and actively. عَاصِيْاً would have been in the nominal form and this would have resembled the noun صَابِرًۭا in it’s implications but it would not have suited this occasion because it would have meant that the orders Khidr AS would be giving him would be nonstop and one after the other. The fact that he used أَعْصِى meant Khidr AS would give him orders to follow after definitive breaks and one by one he would listen to them.

Satan ( ابلیس ) had disobeyed Allah SWT when he was asked to do a prostration ( سجدہ تعظیم ) in front of Adam AS. About the way he disobeyed, Allah SWT says كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ ( S18V50 ) in the same Surah. He uses the word فَفَسَقَ coming from the root letters ف س ق and this is a certain kind of disobeyment. This means to not do something that you have been told to do. ف س ق also means that when someone who is practising obedience chooses to disobey the one that they are in obedience to, as did ابلیس. Adam AS had disobeyed Allah SWT when it came to eating the fruit from a tree. About the way he disobeyed, Allah SWT says وَعَصَىٰٓ ءَادَمُ رَبَّهُۥ فَغَوَىٰ ( S20V121 ). This is another kind of disobeyment where one is told not to do something and they still end up doing it. Musa AS says وَلَآ أَعْصِى لَكَ أَمْرًۭا. His statement resembled that of Adam’s AS disobeyment because he used the word أَعْصِى which meant he said he would not do anything Khidr AS tells him not to do. Alternatively, he could have said وَلاَ اَفْسُقُ عَنْ اَمْرِكَا which would have meant he would not do something that he has been told to do. Ironically, when he is given his orders from Khidr AS he ends up doing something Khidr AS had told him not to do.

Khidr AS uses the word فَإِنِ ٱتَّبَعْتَنِى which has a special implication. Let’s go back to the example of a job interview. Khidr AS is interviewing Musa AS and he says فَإِنِ ٱتَّبَعْتَنِى and not فَاِذَا ٱتَّبَعْتَنِى. The difference is the former implies that “ if you are to follow me “ meaning Khidr AS was giving Musa AS a chance to reconsider his request for this job. It also means Khidr AS is rechecking his application and that he has not yet made a final decision about giving this job to Musa AS. Khidr AS goes on to say ٱتَّبَعْتَنِى فَلَا تَسْـَٔلْنِى عَن شَىْءٍ حَتَّىٰٓ أُحْدِثَ لَكَ مِنْهُ ذِكْرًۭا meaning “ if you choose to follow me then you will have to do this and this.” It's almost as if Khidr AS knows at this point that this job will be overburdening on Musa AS because he knows the extent of how tricky it's going to be for him. The other thing is the fact that Khidr AS held back and said “ if “, this may have given Musa AS reassurance that this job is definitely going to be worth it and that it is packed with challenges and opportunities to learn.

Following this, Khidr AS uses the word أُحْدِثَ coming from its root letters ح د ث which also form the word حدیث. The Quran says ٱللَّهُ نَزَّلَ أَحْسَنَ ٱلْحَدِيثِ كِتَـٰبً ( S39V23 ) calling itself a حدیث and this is because it is timeless and it will always be new knowledge for the reader. ح د ث also means to create something so it’s interesting for Khidr AS to use that particular word in this context. It’s interesting because the knowledge is not being created, its just being witnessed but this may have been a subtle hint to Musa AS that the events he was about to witness in Khidr’s AS company would be so strange that it’s almost as if Khidr AS was giving him new knowledge, conjured out of thin air.

Khidr AS accepts Musa AS and they both darted off on their journey. I used the word darted because Allah SWT uses فَٱنطَلَقَا which means to dart off. He did not say فَذهَبَ which would have meant they went on their journey. This might have been because of how eager both of them were to see how this exchange plays out. Both of them were certainly going to learn something from this journey. The root letters are ط ل ق and from the same root letters we find the word طَلَاقٌ which means to file a divorce. Reading into طَلَاقٌ we can say that according to Islam, after a divorce, the wife is released back into freedom, meaning the couple no longer has certain obligations towards one another. It’s almost as if you have loaded an arrow on a crossbow and you are just about to release it. This gives us the kind of sense of urgency and excitement the both of them felt before going on a journey together.

They entered inside a ship. Allah SWT says رَكِبَا فِى ٱلسَّفِينَةِ meaning they were literally inside the ship. He did not say رَكِبَا ٱلسَّفِينَةَ which would have meant they were on a ship but they were not inside it. We can assume that the ship may have had certain levels on it and they were on a level that categorised them as being inside. Similarly the ٱلسَّفِينَةِ is a definite noun and we had discussed in the previous article that this means it was not just any ship, it had a certain connection to Khidr AS. They had not randomly selected a ship to travel on, instead they knew exactly where to go and which ship to travel on or more accurately, in. Immediately after getting on the ship, Allah SWT says خَرَقَهَا. There was no delay. We can assume that the first thing he did on the ship was make a hole in it and this left Musa AS stunned. He used the words شَيْـًٔا إِمْرًۭا to describe what he had just witnessed which mean he thought Khidr AS did something very obnoxious and big.

Khidr AS uses the word لَنْ to negate the fact that Musa AS would be patient even in the future. This is a very strong form of negation and this meant that Khidr AS already might have known that Musa AS would not be able to bear the test of patience with him, no matter what.

I had said before that this entire incident is quite the spectacle. There’s more to come about their journey insha’Allah in our next article. جزاک اللہ خیر