Tafsir of As-Saffat 37:123

Al-Tabari said: He is Elias son of Yasin, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the brother of Moses—peace be upon them both. Thus, he is an Israelite from the tribe of Aaron. Al-Qutaybi narrated that he was from the tribe of Shu'ayb, and Al-Tabarsi narrated that he was the cousin of Elisha (al-Yasa') and that he was sent after Ezekiel. In Al-‘Aja’ib by Al-Kirmani, it is stated that he is Dhu al-Kifl. From Wahb, it is reported that he lives as long as Al-Khidr lives and will remain until the end of the world.

Ibn ‘Asakir recorded from Al-Hasan that he is entrusted with the wilderness, while Al-Khidr is entrusted with the seas and islands, and that they meet during the Hajj season every year. This is similar to his [Al-Khidr's] meeting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) during some of his travels, eating with him from a table that descended upon them both from the heavens—consisting of bread, fish, and celery—and their praying the Afternoon (Asr) prayer together. Al-Hakim recorded this from Anas and said: "This is a hadith with a sound chain of transmission." All of this is from the realm of myths, and what follows it cannot be relied upon. As for the hadith of Al-Hakim, Al-Bayhaqi declared it weak, and Al-Dhahabi said: "It is fabricated. May Allah Almighty punish the one who fabricated it." He then added: "I did not think, nor could I conceive, that ignorance would reach the level where Al-Hakim would declare this authentic."

‘Abd ibn Humayd, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Ibn ‘Asakir recorded from Ibn Mas‘ud that Elias is Idris, and it was reported from him that he recited: "And indeed, Idris was among the messengers." However, the well-known report from him is that he recited it like the majority. Yes, Ibn Wathab, Al-A‘mash, Al-Minhal ibn ‘Amr, and Al-Hakam ibn ‘Utaybah of Kufa recited it likewise. It was also recited as "Idrias," which is a dialectal variation of "Idris," just as "Ibraham" is for "Ibrahim."

If Elias is interpreted as Idris—assuming one is a name and the other an epithet—then if the intention for both is the one whose lineage you heard, there is no harm in it. But if the intention is the famous Idris, whom Allah raised to a high station—who is, as historians mentioned, Akhnukh ibn Yarid ibn Mahla'il ibn Qainan ibn Enosh ibn Seth ibn Adam, and who lived, according to them, before Noah—then the matter becomes problematic regarding the words of Allah Almighty: "...And that was Our argument which We gave to Abraham against his people. We raise in degrees whom We will. Indeed, your Lord is Wise and Knowing. And We gave him Isaac and Jacob—all [of them] We guided. And Noah, We guided before; and among his descendants, David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron... And [among] his descendants [were] Ishmael and Elisha and Jonah and Lot..." (Al-An'am: 83-86). This is because the pronoun in "his descendants" either refers to Abraham, as the context is about him, or it refers to Noah, because he is closer, and because Jonah and Lot are not from the descendants of Abraham. Under either estimation, it is not possible to include Elias—if intended as Idris, who lived before Noah as you heard—in the count of descendants. Furthermore, the claim of them being identical in an absolute sense contradicts the apparent meaning, so do not be heedless.

‘Ikrimah and Al-Hasan (in a differing report from them), Al-A‘raj, Abu Raja’, Ibn ‘Amir, and Ibn Muhaysin recited "Wa-in-nilyasa" (And indeed Elias) by connecting the hamza. It is possible that they treated the hamzat al-qat‘ (the broken hamza) as a hamzat al-wasl (a connective hamza), or it is possible that his name was "Yasa" and the definite article "al-" was prefixed to it, as was said regarding "Al-Yasa" (Elisha). In the codex of Ubayy and his manuscript, it is written as "An-nilyasa" with a kasra on the hamza, followed by a quiescent ya (at the end of the letters), then a lam with a kasra, followed by another quiescent ya, and then an undotted sin with a fatha.