سورة الکهف
Surah Al-Kahf 18:82
The Place of Refuge · Verse 82 of 110
وَأَمَّا الْجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلَامَيْنِ يَتِيمَيْنِ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَنْ يَبْلُغَا أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا كَنْزَهُمَا رَحْمَةً مِنْ رَبِّكَ ۚ وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَأْوِيلُ مَا لَمْ تَسْطِعْ عَلَيْهِ صَبْرًا
Abdul Mannan Omar
`As for the wall it belonged to two orphan boys of the town and under this (wall there) was a treasure belonging to them and their father had been a righteous man. So your Lord desired that they should attain their (age of) full strength and then take out their treasure; a mercy from your Lord, and I did not do it of my own accord, (whatever I did was the will of the Lord). This is the significance of that which you were not able to bear with patience.´
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
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.
Ahmed Ali
As for that wall, it belonged to two orphan boys of the city, and their treasure was buried under it. Their father was an upright man. So your Lord willed that on reaching the age of maturity they should dig out their treasure as a favour from their Lord. So, I did not do that of my own accord. This is the explanation of things you could not bear with patience."
12 more translations
Ali Unal
"And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and beneath it was a treasure belonging to them. Their father had been a righteous man. So your Lord willed that they should come of age and bring forth their treasure as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do this (any of the actions that you witnessed) of my own accord. This is the meaning of all (those events) with which you were unable to have patience."
Daryabadi
And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town and underneath it was a treasure belonging to them and their father had been righteous. So thy Lord intended that the twain should attain their maturity and bring forth for themselves their treasure as a mercy from thy Lord. And I did it not of mine own command; that is the interpretation of that wherewith thou wast not able to have patience.
Faridul Haque
"And in respect of the wall - it belonged to two orphan boys of the city, and beneath it was their treasure, and their father was a virtuous man; therefore your Lord willed that they should reach their maturity and remove their treasure; by the mercy of your Lord; and I have not done this at my own command; this is the interpretation of the matters you could not patiently bear." (* Hazrat Khidr was given the knowledge of the hidden - as in all three explanations he gave).
Maulana Muhammad Ali
And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure belonging to them, and their father had been a righteous man. So thy Lord intended that they should attain their maturity and take out their treasure -- a mercy from thy Lord -- and I did not do it of my own accord. This is the significance of that with which thou couldst not have patience.
Maulvi Sher Ali
`And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town, and beneath it was a treasure belonging to them, and their father had been a righteous man, so thy Lord desired that they should reach their age of full strength and take out their treasure, as a mercy from thy Lord and I did it not of my own accord. This is the explanation of that which thou could not bear with patience.'
Muhammad Asad
"And as for that wall, it belonged to two orphan boys [living] in the town, and beneath it was [buried] a treasure belonging to them [by right]. Now their father had been a righteous man, and so thy Sustainer willed it that when they come of age they should bring forth their treasure by thy Sustainer's grace.
Muhammad Musin Khan
And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town; and there was under it a treasure belonging to them; and their father was a righteous man, and your Lord intended that they should attain their age of full strength and take out their treasure as a mercy from your Lord. And I did it not of my own accord. That is the interpretation of those (things) over which you could not hold patience.
Muhammad Pickthall
And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure belonging to them, and their father had been righteous, and thy Lord intended that they should come to their full strength and should bring forth their treasure as a mercy from their Lord; and I did it not upon my own command. Such is the interpretation of that wherewith thou couldst not bear.
Muhammad Sarwar
The tumbling wall belonged to two orphans in the town whose father was a righteous person. Underneath the wall there was a treasure that belonged to them. Your Lord wanted the orphans to find the treasure through the mercy of your Lord when they mature. I did not repair the wall out of my own desire. These were the explanations of my deeds about which you could not remain patient.
Muhammed ali Shakir
And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure belonging to them, and their father was a righteous man; so your Lord desired that they should attain their maturity and take out their treasure, a mercy from your Lord, and I did not do it of my own accord. This is the significance of that with which you could not have patience.
Rashad Khalifa
As for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city. Under it, there was a treasure that belonged to them. Because their father was a righteous man, your Lord wanted them to grow up and attain full strength, then extract their treasure. Such is mercy from your Lord. I did none of that of my own volition. This is the explanation of the things you could not stand.
Shabbir Ahmed
As for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town. And there was a treasure for them, beneath the wall. Their late father was a righteous man, and your Lord wanted them to grow up to full maturity and then extract their treasure as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do it of my own accord (but by Divine Command). This is the explanation of things you could not stand.”
Commentary 18:82 The incidents described are Prophetic allegories of Moses own lifes work. In the narration, Moses voices concerns towards “his teacher” three times:
وَأَمَّا الْجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلَامَيْنِ يَتِيمَيْنِ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنزٌ لَّهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَن يَبْلُغَا أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا كَنزَهُمَا رَحْمَةً مِّن رَّبِّكَ ۚ وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَأْوِيلُ مَا لَمْ تَسْطِع عَّلَيْهِ صَبْرًا
18:82 The incidents described are Prophetic allegories of Moses own lifes work. In the narration, Moses voices concerns towards “his teacher” three times:
1) Moses feared that the poor people and their families might drown because of the damage done to the boat.
2) The killing of a young man was not justified.
3) Working without recompense is a senseless act.
In all these three situations, we find similarities in the life incidents of Moses.
A) The boat symbolizes the source of livelihood for the poor Israelites at the time of Moses, and the brutal king was the Pharaoh who seized all resources and earnings from the people of Moses so as to keep them slaves and dependent (cf. 2:49). Moses feared that the poor family (the Israelites) might be drowned, but it was the brutal king (Pharaoh) who was drowned (cf. 2:50: 44:23).
B) “The killing of a young man” refers to the Copt killed by Moses (cf. 20:40; 28:15).
C) Moses worked for many years in Midian without recompense (cf. 28:27-28). The repair of the wall finds its parallel in 10:26. Moses was given wisdom and knowledge (cf. 28:14). He exhorted the Israelites for patience just as in the narration, Moses is expected to show patience (cf. 7:178).
The interpretation of these three incidents of the vision shows a manifestation of Divine Wisdom, implying that whatever the great man had done was an impulse brought on by a higher Truth. The mystic insight that was revealed to the “wise man” is the Reality beyond the physical world. This Reality is always working in nature and is always directing humanity to goals of great Good, though that Good may be reached with apparent loss.
In the first occasion, when the boat was damaged, there was no real loss and the apparent loss turned out to have brought much benefit to the needy. In the second instance, there is a real loss of the life of a potentially wicked person, but it is for the good of his pious parents and also for humanity at large and perhaps even for the person himself to have died at an age before he could cause more harm. The third episode illustrates that for the good of others, deeds must be done that bring no immediate reward (cf. 10:26).
The Qur’ânic verses do not support the idea claimed by some, who say that the fish mentioned in this narration was dead and fried, and then came to life and slipped away. No word in these verses gives support to this view nor does it make any sense.