{"collection":"Islam","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/isl/pro/mos25.htm","path":"isl/pro/mos25.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/isl/pro/mos25.htm","text":"Al-Khidhr is the scholar and the faithful man that was appointed by Quran\n[please refer to the chapter of Al-Kahf:65] and the most famous saying\nis that his name was Elias (Elijah) ben Milk\u00e2n ben `\u00c2mir ben\nArfakhshad ben Shem ben Noah (PUH)[most probably this is the ancestry as\nin Torah: ben Joktan ben Eber ben Arpachshad ben Shem ben Noah, but the\nname Shelah is not mentioned in the Arabic version so it is not mentioned\nhere in this notation], this is the most famous ancestry as copied from\nour scholars, and some said his name is Khidhrawaih ben Q\u00e2bil (Cain)\nben Adam, and some said his name is Khadhrun, and there are other sayings,\nit is said that he was called Al-Khidhr because because whenever he used\nto sit on a plain ground then this piece of earth would shake and turn\ngreen [Arabic: Green = Akhdhar] as it was mentioned, and he was at the\nhead of the army of \u00d0ul-Qarnain when he entered into the darkness and\ndrank of the water of life, and \u00d0ul-Qarnain was seeking that spring,\nand when he knew that he drank of it he said to him: you are its owner\nand your life will span until the doomsday, and the speech about this is\nmentioned before in the chapter of \u00d0ul-Qarnain, and some say he is\none of the prophets, and some said that he is a prophet and a messanger,\nand others said that he is a viceroy but not a prophet, and the last opinion\nis the one mostly famous for the public, and about his father they said\nhe is Adam, and others said he is the son of the pharaoh, and the son of\nEsau ben Isaac, and the son of Kily\u00e2n, and the son of Milk\u00e2n\nand the last one is the most famous.\nAs it is mentioned by Al-Bukh\u00e2ri that he denies that he (Al-Khidhr)\nis still alive, and also by Muslim, and they brought the clue for his death\nfrom a prophetic narration (by the prophet PUH), and one scholar was asked\nabout this matter so he mentioned God's saying: We appointed immortality\nfor no mortal before thee(Al-Anbiy\u00e2':34), and as attributed to Ibn\nTaymiyah he said: if Al-Khidhr was alive then he should had come to the\nprophet (PUH) and fight under his command and learn from him.\nAnd as attributed to Ibr\u00e2him Al-Harbi about this matter, he had\na long talk that points out that it is impossible that he is still alive\nand that nothing did make the people believe in that except of the devil.\nLot of scholars of the public believe that he is dead and maybe this matter\nis not something to discuss with other muslims.\nBut as attributed to our Imam, Al-Ridh\u00e2 (PUH) that he said: when\nthe prophet (PUH) died, Al-Khidhr came and stood at the door of the house\nand there were `Ali and F\u00e2timah and Al-Hasan and Al-Husain (PUT)\nall are inside and the prophet was laid down with a cloth over him, and\nhe said: peace upon you O people of the house, every soul will taste the\ndeath and your rewards will be fulfilled at the doomsday, God had made\ndescendants for every dead and a sympathy for every adversity and a chance\nwith everything that passes by, so depend on Him and trust Him and I shall\nask for forgiveness from God for me and for you, so then the prince of\nbelievers (PUH) said: this is my brother Al-Khidhr came to have sympathy\nwith you for your prophet.\nThe pray of Kumail [a famous pray for Shiites, usually read every Thursday\nat night, and it is full of self-humiliation towards God] the well-known\nin the books of prays and it is the one that the prince of believers (PUH)\ntaught to Kumail ben Ziy\u00e2d is actually for Al-Khidhr (PUH), and in\nthe books of prays it is mentioned that this pray is originally was for\nAl-Khidhr, as it is one of natural things, although it is not necessary\nthat he was there at that time but they all do understand that from the\nsaying of the prince of believers (PUH): it is the pray of my brother Al-Khidhr,\nand it is well known for them that the pray of visiting the prince of believers\nat the day of his death, the twenty first of Ramadhan is also for Al-Khidhr.\nIt is mentioned that at the day that the prince of believers (PUH)\nhad died, a man with fine looks and a white beard came to the house of\nthe prince of believers in Kufa and got his head from the door looking\nat those who were sitting inside and the people were gathering around Al-Hasan\n(PUH) and he spoke these words as a sympathy for Al-Hasan and his brother\nAl-Husain (PUT) for the death of their father, so he said: may God has\nmercy upon you O father of Al-Hasan, you were the first to be a muslim\nand the purist in faith, and the most confident, and fearing God the most,\n... and it is a long talk that is used to visit the prince of believers\nin that day of each year, and some of it is that: you were his (the prophet)\nviceroy truely with no arguments and did not care about the claims of hypocrites\nand the anger of the disbelievers and the hate of enviers and the hate\nof the wrong-doers, and also from it: you were, by God, the bee of the\nreligion, you were for the disbelievers a torture and for the believers\na fort, and you went so far away, and made people after you so tired. All\nof that carry the clues that it is a speech of a holy person that knows\nbetter the value of the prince of believers, check it back in references\nsuch as those for Al-Kaf`umi and Al-Maz\u00e2r Al-Kabeer and so on, and\nthere is no need to discuss longer for what there is no doubt about, about\nthe existance of Al-Khidhr (PUH) until this very day, add to that that\nthere are many speeches and narrations that mention that Al-Khidhr will\nbe out one day with the last viceroy (Al-Mahdi) and be one of his soldiers,\nmay our souls be a ransom for him, and may peace be upon them and mercy\nof God and His blessings, so let us back to our subject may God make success\nfor us.\nGod did say: And when Moses said unto his servant: I will not give\nup until I reach the point where the two rivers meet, though I march on\nfor ages. And when they reached the point where the two met, they forgot\ntheir fish, and it took its way into the waters, being free. And when they\nhad gone further, he said unto his servant: Bring us our breakfast. Verily\nwe have found fatigue in this our journey. He said: Didst thou see, when\nwe took refuge on the rock, and I forgot the fish - and none but Satan\ncaused me to forget to mention it - it took its way into the waters by\na marvel. He said: This is that which we have been seeking. So they retraced\ntheir steps again. Then found they one of Our slaves, unto whom We had\ngiven mercy from Us, and had taught him knowledge from Our presence. Moses\nsaid unto him: May I follow thee, to the end that thou mayst teach me right\nconduct of that which thou hast been taught? He said: Lo! thou canst not\nbear with me..etc(Al-Kahf:60-67), so on with phrases from the chapter of\nAl-Kahf.\nAs it is mentioned by Al-B\u00e2qir (PUH): the servant is Joshua (Jeshua)\nben Nun, and it is said that he is Joshua ben Nun ben Ephraim ben Joseph\n(PUH), and he used to be with Moses all the time and never leave him and\nserve him and for this he was called his servant, and the point where the\ntwo rivers meet [notice that in Arabic the word used is two seas\nand not two rivers, but this is how Pickthall's translation goes] is most\napparently the point of meeting of the seas of Rum and F\u00e2ris (Romans\nand Persia) [this sea of Rum or the Romans is known to be the Midterranean\nand this is how ancient Arabs used to call it, but Sea of Persia is not\napparent, but seems it is more closer to be the Black Sea] and it is the\nplace that Moses was promised to meet Al-Khidhr in. [then comes phrases\nexplaining words in Arabic that were used in the previous mentioned phrases.\nNot included here for the style of translation].\nIn narrations it is told that when the prophet (PUH) told Quraysh [Quraysh\nis\nthe main tribe in Mecca] about the story of the people of the cave [people\nof the cave are the seven sleepers of Ephesus in the christian version\nof the story, and the chapter of the Al-Kahf in Quran was named mainly\nafter their story. Al-Kahf means The Cave], they asked him: tell us about\nthe scholar that Moses was ordered by God to follow him and what is his\nstory? He answered them: the reason for this is that when God talked to\nMoses and revealed the tablets for him and in them what God did say about:\nAnd We wrote for him, upon the tablets, the lesson to be drawn from all\nthings and the explanation of all things(Al-A`r\u00e2f:145), and then\nhe got back to his people, the Israelites, and told them that God revealed\nupon him the Torah and talked to him, then he said to himself: God did\nnot create someone that knows better than me, so then God inspired to Gabriel:\nrescue Moses he is to be doomed, and tell him that there where the two\nseas meet at the rock, there is a man that knows better than you so go\nto him and learn from him, so Gabriel came down to Moses and told him that\nso Moses then humiliated himself and knew that he was wrong and he got\nscared and said to his viceroy Joshua: God had ordered me to follow a man\nat the point where the two seas meet and to learn from him, so Joshua took\na salted whale (fish) and they went out and when they reached that point\nthey saw a man lying down on his back but they did not know him, so Moses'\nviceroy took out the whale and wahsed it with water and put it on the rock\nand they went along and forgot about it, and that water was the water of\nlife so the whale got alive again and went into the water, and Moses with\nJoshua walked on until they got tired and Moses then said to Joshua: prepare\nour lunch [in Pickthall's translation it is mentioned to be a breakfast,\nbut yet in Arabic the word used is the one used for \"lunch\"] we got tired\nof this travelling, so Joshua remembered the fish and what happened to\nit so he said to Moses: I've forgot the fish at that rock, so Moses then\nsaid: that man we saw at that rock, he is the one we desire, so they traced\nback their traces and found the man busy with praying, so Moses sat down\nuntil he finished his praying and greeted him.\nIn a speech attributed to Al-Ridh\u00e2 (PUH) he said: Moses came\nto the scholar in an island while he was sitting there, so Moses greeted\nhim and he said to him: who are you? He answered: I am Moses ben Amram\nthat God spoke to, he replied: and what is your need? He answered: I came\nto you to teach me some of what you know, then the man said: I was appointed\nfor something that you cannot bear, and then the scholar started to tell\nhim about the adversities of the Household of Muhammad (PUT) until they\nboth cried loudly, and then he talked to him about the virtues of the Household\nof Muhammad (PUT) which made Moses say: wish if I was one of the Household\nof Muhammad (PUT), and he mentioned to him some of the adversities and\nwrong that will strike them after the death of the prophet (PUH), and he\nmentioned for him what the prophet will face from his people, until he\ninterpreted for him the meaning of the holy phrase: We confound their hearts\nand their eyes. As they believed not therein at the first(Al-An`\u00e2m:110)\n[some words come after but I did not understand or translate them!].\nIn that same speech it is mentioned that Moses said: May I follow thee,\nto the end that thou mayst teach me right conduct of that which thou hast\nbeen taught? So Al-Khidhr answered: Lo! thou canst not bear with me, How\ncanst thou bear with that whereof thou canst not compass any knowledge?\nMoses then answered: God willing, thou shalt find me patient and I shall\nnot in aught gainsay thee, then Al-Khidhr said: Well, if thou go with me,\nask me not concerning aught till I myself make mention of it unto thee,\nmeaning do not ask me about anything until I explain it to you, and Moses\nsaid: yes, so then the three of them went to the seashore, and a ship that\nwas there was ready to leave, so the masters of the ship said: we shall\ncarry those faithful people, and so they did, and when the ship was into\nthe sea, Al-Khidhr went to the side of the ship and broke some of it and\nput on it some mud and clothes, and then Moses came so angry and said to\nAl-Khidhr: Hast thou made a hole therein to drown the folk thereof? Thou\nverily hast done a dreadful thing, so Al-Khidhr then said: Did I not tell\nthee that thou couldst not bear with me? Then Moses said: Be not wroth\nwith me that I forgot, and be not hard upon me for my fault, and then they\nwent out of the ship and Al-Khidhr saw a kid that was playing with other\nkids and he was of a fine face like a moon, so Al-Khidhr meditated a while\nat him and then he took him and killed him, and then Moses changed and\nbeen angry and said to him: What! Hast thou slain an innocent soul who\nhath slain no man? Verily thou hast done a horrid thing, and Al-Khidhr\nsaid: Did I not tell thee that thou couldst not bear with me? Moses then\nsaid: If I ask thee after this concerning aught, keep not company with\nme. Thou hast received an excuse from me, so they went along until they\nreached a village called Al-N\u00e2sirah (Nazareth) for which the christians\nare named after [Arabic: Nas\u00e2r\u00e2 = Christians, an adjective\nin plural form for N\u00e2srani meaning \"one of Nazareth\" or Christian\nin general], but they did not welcome them and did not apply hospitality\ntowards them, so then Al-Khidhr looked at a wall that was inclined and\nmoved from his position and almost ruined, so then Al-Khidhr put his hand\non it and said to it: get up by God's permission, so he fixed it, and then\nMoses said: if you want you can take a reward for this, you shouldn't have\nfixed this wall until they do us hospitality, and then Al-Khidhr said:\nThis is the parting between thee and me! I will announce unto thee the\ninterpretation of that thou couldst not bear with patience, as for the\nship that I did break some of it it was for poor people that make a living\nby it so I wanted to make some damage in it because there is a king that\ntakes every ship by force, but if the ship had some damages he does not\nwill to take it, and as for the kid, his parents were faithful people and\nwe are afraid that he will make them tired with his tyranny so we desired\nthat God give them instead a faithful offspring, and as for the wall it\nbelongs to two orphans in the town and there is a treasure that was buried\nunder that wall that belongs to them, and their father was a faithful man\nso your Lord wanted them to be adult and get that treasure out for themselves,\nthis is the interpretation of what you could not bear.\nThey say that Moses asked his Lord: who of Your servants knows best?\nHe said: the one who seeks the wisdom of people to add to his wisdom so\nthat he may find a word of guidance or a word that prevents his doom, then\nhe said: if there are one of Your servants that knows better than I do\nguide me to him, then God answered: A-Khidhr knows better than you, he\nasked: how can I find him? God answered: on the seashore at the rock, he\nasked: how shall I find him? God answered: take a fish with you and wherever\nyou lose it then there you will find him, so then Moses said to his servant:\nif you lost the fish tell me then, so they went on walking and when they\nreached the point of meeting of the two seas they forgot their fish and\nMoses forgot to ask about it and Joshua forgot to talk about it and tell\nMoses how the fish turned alive again..etc, and others say that Moses was\nasked: is there someone that knows better than you? He answered: no, so\nthen God inspired to him: We do have someone that knows better than you,\nthen he asked: who is he? Then God said to him: Al-Khidhr, and he is at\nthe point of meeting of the two seas. It is mentioned that Joshua washed\nout from the spring of life and when he did so the water went out gushing\ntowards him and the fish jumped off and took its way to the sea, and when\nthey crossed the two seas he (Moses) said to his servant: prepare our lunch...etc\nand so on.\nAs for Moses being a prophet that does not mean that he needs not to\nbe taught by someone else, even though he is a man of a religion that was\nrevealed upon him and this is so as long it is not a condition assigned\nin religion, for the prophet must know better in the religion and the regulations\nof the religion more than his people and not to necessarily to have the\nultimate wisdom as it is mentioned in interpretations, and the knowledge\nof crafts and industries are not proposed for the prophet and he is not\nasked to know them the best, notice. It is possible to be said: Al-Khidhr\nwas a prophet among the prophets and the prophets differ in the degree\nof their wisdom and this is not a shame and not a curse for his value.\nAbout God's saying: and there was beneath it a treasure belonging to them..etc(Al-Kahf:82),\nit is mentioned that the treasure mentioned here is not made of gold nor\nsilver but it was made of a tablet of gold and this was written on it:\nStrange how happy could he be who was sure of death Strange how sad could he be who believed in destiny Strange how wrong could he be who knew that resurrection is true Strange how safe could he feel who see how life changes with its\npeople\nAnd they say there are another four lines and they are:\nI Am Allah no other god save but Me and Muhammad is My prophet Surprised I Am for who has joy of heart and yet he is sure of death Surprised I Am for who laughs and yet he is sure of the judgement\nday Surprised I Am for who seeks not his fortune and yet he believed\nin destiny Surprised I Am for who sees the first resurrection how shall yet\nhe denies the last resurrection\n[those are five though and not four but this is what is mentioned].\nAs attrbitued to Al-S\u00e2diq (PUH): when Moses ben Amram wanted\nto leave Al-Khidhr he said to him: advise me, so of what he advised him\nwas this: becareful of being into importunity or to walk without a need,\nor to laugh without wondering, and remember your sins and do not talk about\npeople's sins..etc, and we talked a lot about them so far and left so much\nof their conditions fearing the boredom and missing the most important\nfacts, and God brings success.","title":"The Prophets, Their Lives and Their Stories: Moses: Al-Kh...","type":"page"}