قَالَ ذَٰلِكَ مَا كُنَّا نَبْغِ ۚ فَٱرْتَدَّا عَلَىٰٓ ءَاثَارِهِمَا قَصَصًا Qur’an Al-Kahf (18:64)Q a la tha lika m a kunn a nabghi fa i rtadd a AAal a a th a rihim a qa s a sa n
I.e., the disappearance of the fish indicated the point at which their quest was to end (see note [67]).
Moses was given a sign: when he and his assistant Joshua (or Yûsha’ ibn Nûn) lost their food (a salted fish), this would be the place where they would find the man of knowledge.