Al-Kahf (The Cave)

77. “So they twain departed; until, when they reached the people of a town. They asked its people for food, but they refused to make them guests. Then they found in it a wall about to fall, and he (Khidr) set it up. He (Moses) said: ‘If you had wished you could have taken a wage for it!’”

78. “He (Khidr) said: ‘This is the separation between me and you. Now I will inform you of the interpretation of what you could not bear patiently’.”

Allah’s saints are not malicious and revengeful. Khidr (as) served the people of the town, although they did not make the twain guests.

The verse says:

“So they twain departed; until, when they reached the people of a town. They asked its people for food, but they refused to make them guests...”

The objective meaning of the Arabic term /qaryah/ here is Nasirriyah, a city, or’Ilah, a harbour.

However, what happened upon Moses and his Teacher in that town leads us to comprehend that the people of it were miserly and of inferior quality.

The holy Prophet (S) in a tradition concerning them said:

“They had been some mean and of low quality.”

Then, the Qur’an continues speaking about the twain who mended a wall there in order not to fall.

The verse says:

“…Then they found in it a wall about to fall, and he (Khidr) set it up...”

When Moses (as) saw that, in spite of the disgrace of those people, Khidr mended the wall that was going to fall, as if Khidr wanted to give the recompense of their disgrace to them, Moses thought it had better the teacher did that work for a wage so that they could provide a food by it.

Then Moses utterly forgot his promise once more, and began objecting to it, but this time with a protest milder than before.

The verse, in this regard, says:

“…He (Moses) said: ‘If you had wished you could have taken a wage for it!’”

In fact, Moses (as) thought that the action of Khidr was far from justice that a person might sacrifice like that for a group of people who were so mean.

It was at that time that the learned man said his last word to Moses, since, from the total events which happened, he was convinced that Moses could not patiently bear the deeds he accomplished. Therefore, he announced their separation.

The verse says:

“He (Khidr) said: ‘This is the separation between me and you. Now I will inform you of the interpretation of what you could not bear patiently’.”

The announcement of that separation seemed as a sledge stricken over the heart of Moses (as) - a separation from a teacher who had with him a great amount of secrets! Yes, it was very painful for Moses to separate from such a leader, but it was a bitter reality that Moses had to tolerate.