Musnad Ahmad 21114

Translation

✧ I said to Ibn Abbas: Nawf al-Shami claims or says that the Moses who was the companion of Khidr was not Moses of the Children of Israel. He said: Nawf, the enemy of Allah, has lied. Ubayy b. Ka'b narrated to me from the Prophet ﷺ: Moses ﷺ stood among the Children of Israel as a preacher, and they said to him: Who is the most knowledgeable of people? He said: I am. Allah (blessed and exalted is He) revealed to him that He had a servant who was more knowledgeable than he. He said: My Lord, show him to me. It was said: Take a fish and put it in a basket; wherever you lose it, he will be there. He took a fish and put it in a basket. He and his companion walked along the shore until they came to the rock. Moses ﷺ slept, and the fish flopped in the basket, then fell into the sea. Allah held back the flow of water for it, and the water became like an arch, and the fish made a tunnel. Moses woke up and said to his servant: Bring us our meal; we have certainly met with fatigue from this journey of ours. He had not felt fatigue until he had passed beyond the place Allah (blessed and exalted is He) had commanded him. He said: Did you see when we retired to the rock? Indeed I forgot the fish, and none made me forget it except Satan. So they retraced their footsteps, following their tracks, and it took its way into the sea in a tunnel. He said: Allah held back the flow of water from it, and it became like an arch, and it was a tunnel for the fish and a wonder for Moses ﷺ. When they reached the rock, they found a man covered with a garment. Moses greeted him, and he said: How can there be peace in your land? He said: I am Moses. He said: Moses of the Children of Israel? He said: Yes. He said: May I follow you so that you teach me of what you have been taught, right guidance? He said: O Moses, I have knowledge from Allah (blessed and exalted is He) that you do not know, and you have knowledge from Allah that He taught you. They set off walking along the shore. A ship passed by, and they recognized Khidr, so they carried him without fare. He did not like it. He looked in the ship and took an axe, intending to break a plank from it. He said: They carried us 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. A sparrow came and pecked in the sea. Khidr said: My knowledge and your knowledge do not diminish from the knowledge of Allah (exalted is He) except as this sparrow has diminished from this sea. They set off until they came to the people of a town and asked its people for food, but they refused to offer them hospitality. He saw a boy and took hold of his head and pulled it off. He said: Have you killed an innocent soul without a soul? You have certainly done a terrible thing. He said: Did I not say that you would never be able to have patience with me?—Sufyan said: Amr said: And this is more severe than the first. He said: They set off, and there was a wall about to collapse, so he set it straight. Sufyan showed us with his hands, raising them like this, placing his palms, and raising them with the palms upward. He said: If you wished, you could have taken a payment for it. He said: This is the parting between me and you. Ibn Abbas said: The first was forgetfulness. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: May Allah have mercy on Moses; if he had been patient, we would have been told more of his story.

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