Al-Kahf: (77-78) So they set out until...

Know that this village is Antioch, and some say it is Ayla. Here are some inquiries:

The First Inquiry: Asking for food is not the custom of the noble. How then did Moses (peace be upon him) proceed to ask for it, given that the Exalted One narrated about Moses asking for food upon arriving at Madyan: {My Lord, indeed, to whatever You send down to me of good, I am in need} (Al-Qasas: 24)?

The Answer: The action of a hungry person asking for food is permissible in all divine laws. In fact, it might even become obligatory when there is a fear of severe harm.

The Second Inquiry: Why did the verse say: {until when they came to the people of a town, they asked them for food} (using Ahl Qaryah), when it was appropriate to say, "they asked from them" (minhum)?

The Answer: Repetition can be for emphasis, like the poet saying:

Would that the crow, in the morning when it caws constantly, The crow whose jugular veins are severed!

The Third Inquiry: Hospitality is a recommended act (mandub). Leaving it is leaving a recommended act, which is not blameworthy. How then is it permissible for Moses (peace be upon him), given his high station, to become intensely angry, leading him to break the covenant he made with that scholar in the verse: {If I ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me as a companion}? Moreover, such anger over the denial of food for a single night is unbecoming even of the lowest people, let alone the intimate of God (Kalim Allah).

The Answer: Regarding hospitality being recommended, we say: It can be recommended, or it can be obligatory if the guest has reached such a state of hunger that if he did not eat, he would perish. If we assume this latter case, then intense anger over the denial of food for one day is not inappropriate.

If they argue that his hunger did not reach the point of perishing, evidenced by his statement {If you wished, you could have taken for it a payment} (referring to repairing the wall), implying he could have sought wages for the work—if he were near death from hunger, he would not have been able to perform such labor, so how could he rightly ask for payment?

We say: Perhaps that hunger was severe, but it did not reach the point of perishing.

Then the Exalted One said: {So they refused to give them hospitality} (or "to host them"). There are two points of discussion here:

Discussion Point One: The word yudifūhumā (to give them hospitality/host them). It is said ḍāfahu if he was his guest. Its essence is when someone leans toward something, like an arrow leaning away from the target. Similar words are zārah (visited) from izwirār (leaning away), and aḍāfah or ḍāfah (to host/make him a guest). It is narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that they were the people of a wicked town.

Discussion Point Two: I have seen in storybooks that when the people of that town heard this verse revealed, they felt ashamed and came to the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) with a load of gold, saying: "O Messenger of God, we buy with this gold that you change the Bā’ to a Tā’ so that the reading becomes: Fa-atū an yuḍīfūhumā (So they came to host them)." They meant: Their coming was for the purpose of hospitality, and our goal is to repel this wickedness from ourselves. The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) refused, saying: "Changing this single dot necessitates introducing falsehood into the Word of God, which necessitates a defect in Divinity." Thus, we learn that changing one dot in the Qur'an necessitates the nullification of Lordship and servitude.

Then the Exalted One said: {And they found therein a wall about to collapse, so he repaired it}. This means they saw a leaning wall in the town.

If it is asked: How is it permissible to describe the wall with irādah (will/desire), since will is a characteristic of the living?

We say: This word is used metaphorically, and it has parallels in poetry, such as:

The spear desires the chest of Abu Barā’ And shuns the blood of Banu ‘Uqayl.

Al-Farrā’ narrated:

A time that gathers my scattered company with Jam'al, Is a time that intends kindness. In a desolate place, it split their skulls, Like axes splitting when they intend to strike.

Similar examples from the Qur'an include: {And when the anger subsided from Moses} and {to say to it, "Be," and it is} and {They both said, "We come willingly"} and {about to collapse}.

Inqadda (to collapse/fall quickly) is derived from the falling of a bird (inqidāḍ al-ṭā’ir), which is infa'ala following qadaḍtuhu (I broke it). Some say inqadda is a verb form like aḥmarra (to become red) from ḥumrah (redness). It is also read as an yanqaḍḍa (from naqḍ [breaking down]), and an yanqāḍa (from inqāḍat al-‘ayn [the eye splits lengthwise]).

As for {so he repaired it}, it is said he dismantled it and rebuilt it, or he set it upright with his hand, or he wiped it with his hand, and it stood straight. This was one of his miracles.

Know that when that scholar performed this action, and the situation was one of necessity and need for food, Moses (peace be upon him) forgot what he had said—{If I ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me as a companion}—due to that necessity. Thus, he said: {If you wished, you could have taken for it a payment}, meaning: you could have sought a wage for your work to use for obtaining food and other necessities.

It is also read: {latakhkhadhta ‘alayhi ajran} (with a Tā’), where takhdhata is the original form, like tabi‘a (to follow), and ittakhadha (to take) is derived from it, like ittaba‘a (to follow) from tabi‘a.

Know that when Moses (peace be upon him) said these words, the scholar said: {This is parting between me and you}. Here are some inquiries:

The First Inquiry: What does "This" (Hādhā) refer to?

The Answer: There are two views:

1. Moses (peace be upon him) had stipulated that if he asked another question after that, separation would occur, as he said: {If I ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me as a companion}. When he asked this question, the scholar separated from him and said: {This is parting between me and you}, meaning: this is the promised separation.
2. That "This" refers to the third question (the statement about the payment). Meaning: this objection is the cause of the separation.

The Second Inquiry: What is the meaning of {This is parting between me and you}?

The Answer: It means: This parting has occurred between me and you. The maṣdar (verbal noun) is added to the adverb of place (ẓarf). Al-Qaffāl narrated from some Arabists that bayn (parting) means connection (waṣl), based on the verse {Indeed, the bond between you has been severed} (Al-Kahf: 50). Thus, the meaning would be: This is the connection between us, like the saying: "May God disgrace the liar between me and you," meaning one of us. This is what Al-Zajjāj said.

Then the scholar said to Moses (peace be upon him): {I will inform you of the interpretation of that about which you could not remain patient}. The root of ta’wīl (interpretation) relates to the saying: "The matter has āla (come to) such-and-such," meaning it has resulted in that. So, if one asks, "What is its ta’wīl?" the meaning is, "What is its outcome?"

7 < { As for the ship, it belonged to poor people working at sea, and I intended to cause a defect in it as there was after them a king who seized every ship by force. * And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief. * So we intended that their Lord should substitute for them one better than him in purity and nearer in mercy. * And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and beneath it was a treasure belonging to them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. And I did not do it of my own accord. That is the interpretation of that about which you could not remain patient. And they ask you about Dhul-Qarnayn. Say, "I will recite to you an account of him." } > 7

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