Tafsir of Al-Kahf 18:61

"So when they reached" — the Fa (So) is fasiha (an explanatory particle), meaning: so they went walking until they reached "the junction of the two seas."

"When they reached their junction" — meaning the junction of the two. The grammatical root in "between them" (baynahuma) is the accusative based on adverbial use of place (zarfiyya). It has been avoided by placing it in the genitive case by annexation (idafa) as a matter of breadth in language. The intended meaning is the point where they converge. It is also said that it is a junction in the middle of the two, acting as a detailed description of the junction of the two seas. It is mentioned that this fits the interpretation of the junction as being Tangier or Africa, as the junction refers to the branching of the Persian and Roman seas from the Ocean, which is located there. It is said that "between" (bayn) is a noun meaning connection; this has been challenged on the grounds that it is weak (rakaka), for there is no elegance in saying "the junction of their connection." Others say it holds a sense of added emphasis, like the Arabs saying "the grandfather of his grandfather" (jadd juddihi). It is also permitted that it means separation, i.e., the place where the two seas, which are separated, meet. The apparent meaning is that the pronoun of duality refers to the two seas under both possibilities.

Al-Khafaji stated that on the possibility of it meaning separation, the pronoun could refer back to Moses and Al-Khidr (peace be upon them both)—meaning they reached the place where their reunion was promised. The same applies if it means connection. This is a claim, the state of which is not hidden. On all other possibilities, "junction" (majma') is a noun of place, and the possibility of it being a verbal noun here is like those that preceded.

"They forgot their fish" — the fish whose loss was made a sign for finding the one sought. It has been authenticated that when Allah, the Exalted, said to Moses (peace be upon him), "I have one at the junction of the two seas who is more knowledgeable than you," Moses said, "O Lord, how can I find him?" He said, "Take a fish with you and place it in a basket; wherever you lose the fish, he is there." He took a fish, put it in a basket, and set out, and his attendant set out with him, until they reached a rock at the junction of the two seas. They laid down their heads and slept. The fish struggled in the basket, escaped from it, and fell into the sea. The apparent meaning is that the attribution of forgetfulness belongs to both of them, and this is the view of the majority. The speech is based on the suppression of an added term (mudaf), meaning: they forgot the condition of their fish. However, the condition each of them forgot is different: the condition Moses (peace be upon him) forgot was whether it remained in the basket or was lost, and the condition Joshua (peace be upon him) forgot was what he saw of its coming to life and falling into the sea. This is a claim that Joshua witnessed its life, and there is a sound report regarding this. In a hadith narrated by the two Sheikhs (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) and others, it is stated that Allah, the Exalted, said to Moses, "Take a dead fish, and it is where the spirit is breathed into it." He took it, put it in a basket, and said to his attendant, "I charge you only to tell me when the fish parts from you." He said, "You have not charged me with much." While they were in the shade of a rock, the fish struggled until it entered the sea while Moses was asleep. His attendant said, "I will not wake him." When he awoke, he forgot to inform him.

In a hadith narrated by Muslim and others, it is stated that Allah, the Exalted, said to him, "The sign of that is that you provision yourself with a salted fish, and it is where you miss it." He did so, and when they reached the rock, Moses went to search, and his attendant placed the fish on the rock. It struggled and entered the sea. His attendant said, "When the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) comes, I will tell him," but Satan caused him to forget. Some claim that the one who forgot was the attendant alone—he forgot to inform Moses (peace be upon him) about the affair of the fish. The attribution of forgetfulness to both is explained by saying that an act may be attributed to a group even if the one who performed it was only one of them. What is mentioned here is similar to the saying, "The people forgot their provisions," when the one entrusted with their affairs forgets. It is also said the speech has an elided term, meaning "one of them forgot," referring to the attendant, which is as you see. The cause of this fish's life, according to some reports from Ibn Abbas, is that there was the Water of Life near the rock; whoever drinks from it lives forever, and no dead thing comes near it without coming to life. Something of it touched the fish, and it came to life. It is reported that Joshua (peace be upon him) performed ablution with that water, and some of it splashed onto the fish, so it lived. It is also said that it did not touch it except for the spirit of the water and its coolness, so it lived by the permission of Allah, the Exalted. The mention of this water and that nothing touched it without coming to life, and that the fish touched it, appears in Sahih al-Bukhari as well regarding Surah Al-Kahf, but it does not contain the detail that whoever drinks from it lives forever as in some of the previous reports. This is challenged by the fact that it is reported that Joshua drank from it as well, yet he did not live forever, unless it is said that this is not authentic; and Allah knows best.

"So it took its path in the sea as a tunnel" — a passage like a sarab, which is a tunnel. It is authenticated in the hadith of the two Sheikhs, Al-Tirmidhi, Al-Nasa'i, and others that Allah, the Exalted, held the flow of water from the fish, so it became like an archway over it. The intended meaning is a vaulted structure like a bridge.

Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from the way of Al-Awfi from the Habr (Ibn Abbas) that the fish would not touch any part of the sea except that it dried up until it became like rock. This, as well as what preceded, are among the extraordinary matters that He, the Exalted, manifests to whom He wills from among His Prophets and saints. Al-Damiri recounted the persistence of the trace of this first miracle. He said: Abu Hamid al-Andalusi said, "I saw a fish near the city of Ceuta, of the lineage of the fish that Moses and his attendant (peace be upon them) took with them and ate from. It is a fish more than a cubit long and a span wide; on its sides are thorns and bones, and a thin skin over its entrails. It has one eye, and its head is half the head of those who see it from that side; one finds it repulsive and thinks it is a eaten, dead thing, while its other half is sound. People seek blessings from it and gift it to far-off places."

Abu Shuja' said in the book of Al-Tabari, "I was brought to it and saw it, and it was a half-fish, having only one eye." Ibn Atiyyah said, "I also saw it, and on its side was a thin crust under which there was no thorn," which contradicts what is in the words of Abu Hamid. I have asked many who travel the seas and follow the wonders of antiquity, and they did not mention that they saw that, nor was it gifted to them in any of the kingdoms. Perhaps its affair, if both the affirmation and the negation are true, has become today like the Phoenix—it existed and then ceased to be. And Allah knows the reality of the matter best.

The Fa (so), based on what their speech demands, is fasiha, meaning: so it came to life and fell into the sea, so it took. Some estimated the conjoined term, which the Fa makes clear, to be with a Waw contrary to the norm, to defend against the objection regarding the condition Joshua forgot being what he saw of its life and falling into the sea—that the Fa signals that his (peace be upon him) forgetfulness was before its life and falling into the sea and its taking a tunnel, so it is not valid to consider that as the forgotten condition. The answer given is that what is considered in the condition is the life and the falling into the sea themselves, without considering another matter. The events that occurred after them, in terms of the taking of the tunnel being consequential to them, mean that in terms of themselves, they preceded the forgetfulness, and in terms of the consequence of the taking, they are later. From this perspective, they are joined to "they forgot" with the Fa of succession. It is not hidden that there will come in the answer, if Allah wills, what rejects this response unless one adheres to something contrary to what is famous among the companions; so contemplate. The accusative of saraban (a tunnel) is as a second object of "took," and "in the sea" is a circumstantial qualifier (hal) from it. If it were delayed, it would be an adjective, or it relates to the path. It is also permissible for it to relate to "took," and "in" in all of that is a marker of container (zarfiyya).

One might be misled by the words of Ibn Zayd, who said it only took its path on land until it reached the sea, then swam according to habit, claiming that it is explanatory (ta'liliyya), like the "in" in "A woman entered the Fire because of a cat," as if it were said: "So it took its path on land as a tunnel for the sake of reaching the sea." A group agreed with him regarding the taking of the tunnel being on land, and they claimed it happened upon a rock in its path on land and it pierced it. It is not hidden that saying this is contrary to what is narrated in the Sahih reports as you heard, and the verse hardly supports it. It is permitted that the object of "took" is "its path," and "in the sea" and "as a tunnel" are circumstantial qualifiers of the path, but that is not strong. It is said it is a circumstantial qualifier from the subject of "took," meaning acting and wandering, from their saying "a camel is sarib," meaning left to graze wherever it wishes, from which is the saying of the Exalted: "And going by night," which is an interpretation of the description, i.e., it took that in the sea while wandering. It is not hidden that this is like its predecessor.