His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿So when they reached the meeting place between them, they forgot their fish, and it took its path in the sea, a marvel.﴾ ﴿So when they had passed beyond, he said to his boy, 'Bring us our lunch; we have certainly encountered in this journey fatigue.'﴾ ﴿He said, 'Did you see when we sought refuge at the rock? Indeed, I forgot the fish, and none made me forget it except Satan that I should mention it. And it took its path in the sea, a marvel.'﴾ ﴿He said, 'That is what we were seeking.' So they returned following their footprints.﴾ ﴿And they found a servant from Our servants to whom We had given mercy from Us and had taught him from Us a knowledge.'﴾

The pronoun in His saying: 'between them' refers to the two seas. This was said by Mujahid, and it is said that it refers to Musa and Al-Khidr, but the first is more correct. And Ubaidullah ibn Muslim read: 'meeting place' with a kasra on the second meem. And he said: 'they forgot,' and indeed the forgetting was only from the boy alone. He forgot to inform Musa, peace be upon him, about what he saw regarding their provision, and it was due to him. Thus, he attributed the action of one to both of them. This is similar to saying: 'The sons of so-and-so did the matter,' when in fact it was done by some of them. It has been narrated in the hadith that Yusha saw the fish had been gathered from the basket to the sea, and he saw it had taken the path, while Musa, peace be upon him, was sleeping. He feared to wake him, and said: 'I will delay until he wakes up.' When he awoke, Yusha forgot to inform him, and they traveled until they passed beyond. And 'the path' is the way, and 'the marvel' is the way in the depths of the earth. He likened the fish's path in the water when the water did not close over it like a roof. This is what has been reported in the hadith from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and this is what the majority of the interpreters have said. Indeed, the fish remained in the place of its passage as stagnant water. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 'The place of its passage became a solid rock.' And Ibn Zayd said: 'It only took its path as a marvel on land until it reached the sea, then it swam as usual.'

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And these interpret 'marvel' to mean: movement and wandering, from their saying: 'A wandering male animal,' meaning it is neglected and grazes where it wishes. And from it is His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And a wanderer by day﴾ [Ar-Ra'd: 10], meaning a mover. And a group said: 'It took a marvel in the dust from the basket to the sea, and encountered a rock on its way and bored through it.'

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the apparent matter is that the marvel was indeed in the water. And it is strange what has been narrated in Al-Bukhari from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding the story of this verse that the fish only came to life because it was touched by the water of a spring there called the spring of life, which has never touched anything except that it came to life. And it is also strange that some of the interpreters mentioned that the place of the fish's passage became a rocky path, and that Musa, peace be upon him, walked on it following the fish until that path led to the island in the sea, where he found Al-Khidr, peace be upon him.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The apparent meaning of the Book and the narrations is that he found al-Khidr at the bank of the sea. This is indicated by His saying, the Most High: ﴿So they returned on their traces, following﴾. It has been narrated regarding His saying, the Most High: ﴿So when they had passed﴾ that Musa, peace be upon him, descended by a great tree at the bank of the sea, and Yusha forgot the fish there. Then Musa awoke and they traveled for the remainder of the night and the beginning of their day. Musa became hungry and the fatigue of the journey overtook him, so he called for lunch.

My father, may Allah be pleased with him, said to me: I heard Abu al-Fadl al-Jawhari say in his sermon: Musa walked to the place of conversation and remained for forty days without needing food. When he walked to a human, hunger overtook him on one of the days. And "an-nasb" means fatigue and hardship. Abdullah ibn Ubayd ibn Umayr read: "nasban" with a damm on the noon and the sad, and it seems that it could be a plural of "nasb," which is a lightening of "nasab."

His saying, the Most High: ﴿He said, 'Did you see when we sought refuge'﴾. Al-Tabari narrated from a group that they said: The rock (p-633). Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the mention of the disagreement regarding this story has preceded.

And His saying, the Most High: ﴿I forgot the fish﴾ means: I forgot to mention what happened with it to you. As for al-Kisai alone, he said: "an-sanihi." Ibn Kathir read in the connection: "an-sanihi" with a ya after the ha. In the mushaf of Abdullah, it says: "And none made me forget to mention it except the devil." And His saying, the Most High: ﴿to mention it﴾ is a substitute for the fish, a substitute of inclusion. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿And he took his path in the sea as a wonder﴾ could be that it is from the words of Yusha to Musa, peace be upon him, meaning: The fish took its path as a wonder for the people. It could also be that His saying: ﴿And he took his path in the sea﴾ is the completion of the news, and he began the wonder by saying - from himself -: "A wonder" regarding this matter. The place of wonder is that the fish had died and its left side was eaten, then it lived after that. Abu Shuja said in the book of al-Tabari: I saw it; it was brought to me and if it is its left side, it is a fish with one eye, and the other side has nothing in it.

Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And I saw it, and the side that has something in it has a thin skin that reveals its thorns underneath, and its other side.

It is possible that His saying: ﴿And he took his path in the sea as a wonder﴾ is a report from Allah, the Most High, and that is in two ways: Either He informs about Musa that he took the path of the fish from the sea as a wonder, meaning: he was amazed by it, or He informs about the fish that it took its path as a wonder for the people. Abu Haywah read: "And the taking of its path," so this is a source attached to the pronoun in "to mention it."

'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿He said, 'That is what we were seeking'﴾. The meaning is: Musa said to his servant: The matter of the fish and its loss is what we were seeking. For the man we came to, then they returned, recounting their trace so that they would not miss their path. The majority read: 'Nabghi' with the 'ya' being present. And Aasim and a group read: 'Nabgha' without the 'ya'. Al-Hasan used to affirm it when connected and omit it when stopping. And 'Qass al-athar' means to follow it and seek it in a place of concealment. (p-634) And 'the servant' is Al-Khidr according to the majority based on the hadiths. Those who do not consider his saying disagree and say: The companion of Musa is not Al-Khidr, rather he is another scholar. And Al-Khidr is a prophet according to the majority, and it is said he is a righteous servant who is not a prophet. The verse bears witness to his prophethood; for were not the inner aspects of his actions only by revelation from Allah? It has been narrated in the hadith that Musa found Al-Khidr, peace be upon him, covered in his garment, lying on the ground. He said to him: Peace be upon you. Al-Khidr raised his head and said: And how can there be peace in your land? Then he said to him: Who are you? He said: I am Musa. He said: Musa of Bani Israel? He said: Yes. He said to him: Was there not enough for you among Bani Israel that would occupy you from traveling here? He said: Yes, but I loved to meet you and to learn from you. He said to him: Indeed, I have knowledge from the knowledge of Allah that He has taught me and you do not know it, and you have knowledge from the knowledge of Allah that Allah has taught you which I do not know. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The knowledge of Al-Khidr was the knowledge of inner realities that were revealed to him, which do not give the apparent rulings of his actions based solely on them. And the knowledge of Musa, peace be upon him, was the knowledge of rulings and fatwas based on the apparent sayings and actions of the people. It has been narrated that Musa found Al-Khidr sitting on the shore of the sea. Al-Khidr was called 'Al-Khidr' because he sat on a dry hide and it shook beneath him green. This has been narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. And 'the mercy' in this verse is prophethood. We have mentioned the included hadith that the reason for this story is that it was said to Musa, peace be upon him: Do you know anyone more knowledgeable than you? He said: No. Al-Tabari narrated another hadith, which includes that Musa, peace be upon him, said to himself: O Lord, who among Your servants is the most knowledgeable? He said: The one who seeks knowledge from the people to his knowledge, perhaps he may attain a word of goodness that guides him. He said: O Lord, is there anyone on earth? He said: Yes, so ask for the way to meet him. (p-635) The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And the first hadith is in Sahih al-Bukhari. The majority read: 'Min ladunna' with the 'nun' being emphasized. And Abu Amr read: 'Min laduna' with the 'dal' being pronounced and the 'nun' being softened. Abu Hatim said: They are two languages.