English Translation

Abu Uthman Amr ibn Muhammad ibn Bukayr al-Naqid told me, Sufyan ibn Uyayna told us, from Amr — meaning Ibn Dinar — from Sa'id ibn Jubayr, who said: I said to Ibn Abbas, "Nawf al-Shami claims," or says, "that the Musa who was the companion of Khidr is not the Musa of the Children of Israel." He said: "Nawf, the enemy of Allah, has lied. Ubayy ibn Ka'b told me, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that Musa, peace be upon him, stood up among the Children of Israel delivering a sermon, and they said to him: 'Who is the most knowledgeable of people?' He said: 'I am.' So Allah, blessed and exalted is He, revealed to him: 'I have a servant more knowledgeable than you.' He said: 'My Lord, show him to me.' It was said to him: 'Take a fish and place it in a basket; wherever you lose it, he is there.' So he took a fish and placed it in a basket, and he and his companion went walking along the shore until they reached the rock. Musa, peace be upon him, slept, and the fish stirred in the basket and fell into the sea. Allah held back the flow of the water over it, and the water became disturbed, and Musa awoke. He said to his young companion: 'Bring us our morning meal; we have certainly suffered exhaustion from this journey of ours' — and he had not felt exhaustion until he had passed beyond the place Allah, blessed and exalted, had commanded him to reach. He said: The young man said: 'Do you see, when we took refuge at the rock, I indeed forgot the fish — and none made me forget it except Satan.' 'So they returned, retracing their footsteps' — they began retracing their tracks, for it had taken its way into the sea, tunnelling through. He said: The flow of water had been held back from it, so it became like an archway over it, forming a tunnel for the fish and a wonder for Musa, peace be upon him, until they reached the rock, and there was a man wrapped in a garment. Musa greeted him with peace, and he said: 'How is there peace in your land? Who are you?' He said: 'I am Musa.' He said: 'The Musa of the Children of Israel?' He said: 'Yes. I would like to follow you so that you may teach me from what you have been taught of right guidance.' He said: 'O Musa, I have knowledge from Allah, blessed and exalted, that you do not know, and you have knowledge from Allah that Allah has taught you.' So they set off walking along the shore, and a ship passed by; its people recognized al-Khidr, so he was carried without fare. This did not please him, and he looked over the ship and took an adze intending to break a plank from it. Musa said: 'We were carried without fare, and you want to make a hole in it to drown its people?' He said: 'Did I not say that you would never be able to have patience with me?' He said: 'I forgot.' Then a sparrow came and pecked at the sea, and al-Khidr said: 'My knowledge and your knowledge do not diminish the knowledge of Allah Almighty except as much as this sparrow diminishes this sea.' Then they went on until they came to the people of a village; they asked its people for food, but they refused to host them. Then he saw a boy, and he took hold of his head and pulled it off. Musa said: 'Have you killed a pure soul for no other soul? You have certainly done a deplorable thing.' He said: 'Did I not tell you that you would never be able to have patience with me?'" Sufyan said: Amr said: "And this was harsher than the first." He said: "Then they went on until they found a wall about to collapse, so he set it upright" — and Sufyan showed us with his hands, raising them up like this, placing his palms and lifting them, palms upward — "and he said: 'If you had wished, you could have taken payment for it.' He said: 'This is the parting between me and you.'" Ibn Abbas said: "The first was due to forgetfulness." Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "May Allah have mercy on Musa; had he been patient, he would have related more of his story to us." Amr al-Naqid told us, Sufyan told us, from Amr, from Sa'id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas, from Ubayy ibn Ka'b, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: "He said: 'If you had wished, you could have taken payment for it.'" Amr al-Naqid told us, Sufyan told us, from Amr, from Sa'id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas, from Ubayy ibn Ka'b, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: "There was a wall about to collapse, so he set it upright" — he said, with his hand, raising it up. Bahz ibn Asad told us, Sufyan ibn Uyayna told me, dictating to me, from Amr, from Sa'id ibn Jubayr, who said: I said to Ibn Abbas — my father said: I wrote this down from Bahz and Ibn Uyayna — "that Nawf claims that Musa is not the companion of al-Khidr." He said: "The enemy of Allah has lied. Ubayy ibn Ka'b told us, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: Musa, peace be upon him, stood delivering a sermon among the Children of Israel, and he was asked: 'Who among the people is most knowledgeable?' He said: 'I am.' So Allah reproached him for not attributing knowledge back to Him. He said: 'Rather, a servant of Mine at the junction of the two seas is more knowledgeable than you.' He said: 'My Lord, how can I reach him?' He said: 'Take a fish and place it in a basket, then set off; wherever you lose it, he is there.' So Musa set off, with his young companion walking, until they reached the rock. Musa, peace be upon him, slept, and the fish stirred in the basket and got out and fell into the sea. Allah held back the flow of the water over it like an archway, and it became a tunnel for the fish." Sufyan said: He formed a circle with his thumb and forefinger and parted them. He said: "Then they went on until, the next day, Musa said to his young companion: 'Bring us our morning meal; we have certainly suffered exhaustion from this journey of ours.'" He said: "He did not feel exhaustion until he had passed beyond where he had been commanded. He said: 'That is what we were seeking.' So they returned, retracing their footsteps" — retracing their tracks. He said: "And Musa's following of the fish's track was a wonder, and for the fish it was a tunnel." Then he mentioned the rest of the hadith.