Moses Meets the Wise Man (“AlKhidr”)

The Quran has some stories about Moses that are not mentioned in the Old Testament. In
one such story, in verses 60-82 of the 18th Surah, Alkahf (the Cave), the Quran revealed
what could be translated as:

[18:60] Behold, Moses said to his attendant, "I will not give up until I reach the junction
of the two seas or (until) I spend years and years in travel."
[18:61] But when they reached the Junction, they forgot (about) their Fish, which took its
course through the sea (straight) as in a tunnel.
[18:62] When they had passed on (some distance), Moses said to his attendant: "Bring us
our early meal; truly we have suffered much fatigue at this (stage of) our journey."
[18:63] He replied: "Sawest thou (what happened) when we betook ourselves to the rock?
I did indeed forget (about) the Fish: none but Satan made me forget to tell (you) about it:
it took its course through the sea in a marvelous way!”
[18:64] Moses said: "That was what we were seeking after:" So they went back on their
footsteps, following (the path they had come).
[18:65] So they found one of Our servants, on whom We had bestowed Mercy from
Ourselves and whom We had taught knowledge from Our own Presence.
[18:66] Moses said to him: "May I follow thee, on the footing that thou teach me
something of the (Higher) Truth which thou hast been taught?"
[18:67] (The other) said: "Verily thou wilt not be able to have patience with me!"
[18:68] "And how canst thou have patience about things about which thy understanding
is not complete?"
[18:69] Moses said: "Thou wilt find me, if Allah so will, (truly) patient: nor shall I
disobey thee in aught."
[18:70] The other said: "If then thou wouldst follow me, ask me no questions about
anything until I myself speak to thee concerning it."
[18:71] So they both proceeded: until, when they were in the boat, he scuttled it. Said
Moses: "Hast thou scuttled it in order to drown those in it? Truly a strange thing hast thou
done!"
[18:72] He answered: "Did I not tell thee that thou canst have no patience with me?"
[18:73] Moses said: "Rebuke me not for forgetting, nor grieve me by raising difficulties
in my case."
[18:74] Then they proceeded: until, when they met a young man, he slew him. Moses
said: "Hast thou slain an innocent person who had slain none? Truly a foul (unheard of)
thing hast thou done!"
[18:75] He answered: "Did I not tell thee that thou canst have no patience with me?"
[18:76] (Moses) said: "If ever I ask thee about anything after this, keep me not in thy
company: then wouldst thou have received (full) excuse from my side."
[18:77] Then they proceeded: until, when they came to the inhabitants of a town, they
asked them for food, but they refused them hospitality. They found there a wall on the
point of falling down, but he set it up straight. (Moses) said: "If thou hadst wished, surely
thou couldst have exacted some recompense for it!"
[18:78] He answered: "This is the parting between me and thee: now will I tell thee the
interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience.
[18:79] "As for the boat, it belonged to certain men in dire want: they plied on the water:
I but wished to render it unserviceable, for there was after them a certain king who seized
on every boat by force.
[18:80] "As for the youth, his parents were people of Faith, and we feared that he would
grieve them by obstinate rebellion and ingratitude (to Allah and man).
[18:81] "So we desired that their Lord would give them in exchange (a son) better in
purity (of conduct) and closer in affection.
[18:82] "As for the wall, it belonged to two youths, orphans, in the Town; there was,
beneath it, a buried treasure, to which they were entitled: their father had been a righteous
man: So thy Lord desired that they should attain their age of full strength and get out their
treasure - a mercy (and favour) from thy Lord. I did it not of my own accord. Such is the
interpretation of (those things) over which thou wast unable to hold patience."

Moses’ boy is said to be the prophet Joshua. The learnt man can be just any learnt man;
however, it is commonly accepted that he is a man that lived thousands of years and have
learnt a lot and gained substantial wisdom. He is often referred to as Alkhidr which
literally means the Green Man (Alkhidr).

Understanding this story can be on many levels. The first one is just purely linguistic.
The story is told in such a concise manner. This is so in all the Quran, it is a very
intriguing way to tell a story as it leaves a lot to your imagination and also makes it not
boring at all. Verse 18:71 tells a story whereby the Green (Alkhidr) Man had to make a
hole in a ship belonging to poor people who transported him and Moses because he knew
that there is a king further down the sea that would seize every intact ship. The story is
written in Arabic in sixteen words. Research would lead one to write lots trying to
explain the whole thing. The story had characters, a plot and a conclusion. It even told the
conclusion before it told the reason.

The second level is that of the details of the story. This can be found in many books that
interpret the Quran and there is no need to go over them here except to say the following
introduction. It is said that Moses whilst giving a talk to the Israelites was asked, “you are
so knowledgeable; are you the most knowledgeable on earth?” To which Moses
answered, “yes.” Gabriel came down to correct him that there is a man living that knows
more than him. Moses wanted to meet him. He was given directions to follow including
that the fish he was eating from will come back to life and swim away. The Quran picks
up from that point.

The third layer is an interesting one. Moses was anxious to learn the reasons for the
actions of the Wise Man that he did not notice that the three items he asked about had
transpired in his own life.
1. He wondered why the Wise Man made a hole in the ship thinking that
undoubtedly this will cause the ship to sink. He forgot that his mother put him in
the river Nile in a basket with lots of holes in it and he survived well.
 2. He then asked why the Wise Man killed a child forgetting that he had killed a man
once.
3. Finally, he wondered why the Wise Man did not ask for a reward for building the
wall when he himself did not ask for a reward for helping the daughters of the
good man in Madian to get water from a well when he desperately needed food
and shelter (another story the Quran reveals about Moses).

The fourth layer teaches us for our daily life.

1. When the Wise Man made the hole in the ship, undoubtedly, the poor people were
very saddened and upset why the kind stranger would do such a thing. They
probably have a parable somewhere in Sinai about not helping kind strangers.
However, the Wise Man was sparing them from a worse fate by his actions. This
is telling for all of us. The second story also covers this theme. The Wise Man
killed the son of the good people because he was going to grow up to be a bad son
and give them a hard time almost leading astray. Again, the parents must have
been very sad. Misfortunes, no matter how big they seem, which we cannot
attribute to punishment for some obvious sin, are generally to help us avoid bigger
misfortunes. We should be as thankful for these misfortunes as we are for
fortunate events, for had we known the unknown we would know that they are
less unfortunate than the worse that could have happened!.
2. Our biggest concern in life once we mature is about the well being of our
offspring. We often work hard to teach them to be good. The second story teaches
us that the Wise Man learnt that a young boy would grow up to be a bad man and
will influence his good parents negatively. He decided to kill the boy since his
parents were young and their next child would be a good one. We see that Allah
authorized such a severe measure to ensure that good parents get a good son. We
learn that being good is key to getting the results one desires.
3. Our other big concern about our children is their financial well being. The third
story teaches us that Allah wanted the children of a pious man to receive a
treasure as a reward for the piety of their father who apparently did not leave them
much. Again, we see that being good is the key to getting the desired results.

There are other layers of interpretation of the story that can dwell into the use of
pronouns (I, me, we and us) in the various actions. However, this is much longer
discussion and beyond the scope of the present work.