Surah 18. Al-Kahf

I did not make them witnesses of the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor of the creation of their own selves;⁵⁶ and neither do I [have any need to] take as My helpers those [beings] that lead [men] astray.⁵⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "since they are but created beings, and not co-existent with Me, how can you take them for your masters?"-an allusion to the beings, real or imaginary, to which men ascribe divine qualities, either consciously or (as in the case of one's submission to the "whisperings of Satan") by subconscious implication.

Since God is almighty, all-knowing and self-sufficient, the belief that any being or power could have a "helping" share in His divinity, or could "mediate" between Him and man, causes the latter to go utterly astray.

I did not call them to witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor their own creation, nor do I take those who lead mankind astray as My supporters.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

I made them not to witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor their own creation; nor choose I misleaders for (My) helpers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Hence, [bear in mind] the Day on which He will say, "Call [now] unto those beings whom you imagined to have a share in My divinity!"⁵⁸ - whereupon they will invoke them, but those [beings] will not respond to them: for We shall have placed between them an unbridgeable gulf.⁵⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "those partners of Mine whom you supposed [to exist]": see note [15] on 6:22 .

Or: "a gulf [or "a barrier"] of perdition": an allusion to the wide gulf of unreality that separates those sinners from the blasphemous figments of their imagination or, more probably, the gulf that separates them from the saintly persons whom they were wont to worship despite the fact that the latter had never made any claim to divine status (Zamakhshari and Razi in one of their alternative interpretations, with specific mention of Jesus and Mary).

On the Day of Judgement Allah will say to them: "Call on those whom you thought to be My partners." They will call them but will receive no answer; and We shall cause animosity between them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (be mindful of) the Day when He will say: Call those partners of Mine whom ye pretended. Then they will cry unto them, but they will not hear their prayer, and We shall set a gulf of doom between them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And those who were lost in sin will behold the fire, and will know that they are bound to fall into it, and will find no way of escape therefrom.

  - Mohammad Asad

The criminals will see the fire and realize that they are going to fall into it; but will find no place to escape.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And the guilty behold the Fire and know that they are about to fall therein, and they find no way of escape thence:

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

THUS, INDEED, have We given in this Qur'an many facets to every kind of lesson [designed] for [the benefit of] mankind.⁶⁰ However, man is, above all else, always given to contention:

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. note [104] on {17: 89}, explaining my translation of mathal, in this context, as "lesson".

We have given all kinds of examples in this Qur'an to make the people understand this Message, but man is exceedingly contentious.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And verily We have displayed for mankind in this Qur'an all manner of similitudes, but man is more than anything contentious.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for, what is there to keep people from attaining to faith now that guidance has come unto them, and from asking their Sustainer to forgive them their sins - unless it be [their wish] that the fate of the [sinful] people of ancient times should befall them [as well], or that the [ultimate] suffering should befall them in the hereafter?⁶¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "face to face" or "in the future" (Zamakhshari) - both these meanings of qubulan being comprised in the concept of "the hereafter" or "the life to come".

Nothing can prevent men from believing and seeking the forgiveness of their Rabb now that Guidance has come to them, unless they are waiting for the fate of former peoples to overtake them or the scourge to be brought to them face to face.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And naught hindereth mankind from believing when the guidance cometh unto them, and from asking for forgiveness of their Lord, unless (it be that they wish) that the judgment of the men of old should come upon them or (that) they should be confronted with the Doom.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But We send [Our] message-bearers only as heralds of glad tidings and as warners - whereas those who are bent on denying the truth contend [against them] with fallacious arguments, so as to render void the truth thereby, and to make My messages and warnings a target of their mockery.

  - Mohammad Asad

We send the Rasools only to proclaim good news and to give warnings but with false arguments the unbelievers seek to defeat the Truth, through mocking at My revelations and My warnings.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We send not the messengers save as bearers of good news and warners. Those who disbelieve contend with falsehood in order to refute the Truth thereby. And they take Our revelations and that wherewith they are threatened as a jest.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And who could be more wicked than he to whom his Sustainer's messages are conveyed and who thereupon turns away from them, forgetting all [the evil] that his hands may have wrought?⁶² Behold, over their hearts have We laid veils which prevent them from grasping the truth, and into their ears, deafness; and though thou call them onto the right path,⁶³ they will never allow themselves to be guided.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., persevering in his unrighteous behaviour (Razi).

Lit., "to guidance".

Who is more unjust than the one who, when reminded of the revelations of his Rabb, turns away from them and forgets what his own hands have done? In regards to such people, We have cast veils over their hearts, so they do not understand this Qur'an, and have become hard of hearing. Call them as you may towards the guidance, they will never be guided.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And who doth greater wrong than he who hath been reminded of the revelations of his Lord, yet turneth away from them and forgetteth what his hands send forward (to the Judgment)? Lo! on their hearts We have placed coverings so that they understand not, and in their ears a deafness. And though thou call them to the guidance, in that case they can never be led aright.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Yet, [withal,] thy Sustainer is the Truly-Forgiving One, limitless in His grace. Were He to take them [at once] to task for whatever [wrong] they commit, He would indeed bring about their speedy punishment [then and there]:⁶⁴ but nay, they have a time-limit beyond which they shall find no redemption⁶⁵ -

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "He would indeed hasten the punishment for them"-the implication being that He invariably allows them time to repent and mend their ways.

Cf. somewhat similar passages in 16:61 and 35:45 . The "time-limit" (maw'id) signifies, in this context, the end of the sinners' life on earth or - as in the next verse - the "point of no return" beyond which God does not allow them to sin with impunity.

Your Rabb is Most Forgiving, the Lord of Mercy. Had it been His Will to seize them for their sins, He would have hastened their punishment, but for that there is an appointed time, after which they will not find any refuge.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Thy Lord is the Forgiver, Full of Mercy. If He took them to task (now) for what they earn, He would hasten on the doom for them; but their is an appointed term from which they will find no escape.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

as [was the case with all] those communities that We destroyed when they went on and on doing wrong:⁶⁶ for We had set a time-limit for their destruction.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "when [or "after"] they had been doing wrong" - i.e., persistently and for a long time.

All those nations whom We destroyed for their wrong doings were given respite and an appointed time for their destruction.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And (all) those townships! We destroyed them when they did wrong, and We appointed a fixed time for their destruction.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND LO!⁶⁷ [In the course of his wanderings,] Moses said to his servant:⁶⁸ "I shall not give up until I reach the junction of the two seas, even I [have to] spend untold years [in my quest]!"

  - Mohammad Asad

The particle idh (which usually signifies "when", but is, I believe, properly rendered here as "lo!") often serves in the Qur'an to draw attention to a sudden turn in the discourse, without, however, involving a break in the continuity of thought. In this instance, it evidently marks a connection with verse {54} above ("many facets have We given in this Qur'an to every kind of lesson [designed] for [the benefit of] mankind"), and introduces an allegory meant to illustrate the fact that knowledge, and particularly spiritual knowledge, is inexhaustible, so that no human being- not even a prophet- can ever claim to possess answers to all the questions that perplex man throughout his life. (This idea is brought out fully in the last two verses of this surah.) The subsequent parable of Moses and his quest for knowledge (verses {60-82}) has become, in the course of time, the nucleus of innumerable legends with which we are not concerned here. We have, however, a Tradition on the authority of Ubayy ibn Ka'b (recorded in several versions by Bukhari, Muslim and Tirmidhi), according to which Moses was rebuked by God for having once asserted that he was the wisest of all men, and was subsequently told through revelation that a "servant of God" who lived at the "junction of the two seas" was far superior to him in wisdom. When Moses expressed his eagerness to find that man, God commanded him to "take a fish in a basket" and to go on and on until the fish would disappear: and its disappearance was to be a sign that the goal had been reached. - There is no doubt that this Tradition is a kind of allegorical introduction to our Qur'anic parable. The "fish" mentioned in the latter as well as in the above-mentioned hadith is an ancient religious symbol, possibly signifying divine knowledge or life eternal. As for the "junction of the two seas", which many of the early commentators endeavoured to "identify" in geographical terms (ranging from the meeting of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean at the Bab al-Mandab to that of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean at the Straits of Gibraltar), Baydawi offers, in his commentary on verse {60}, a purely allegorical explanation: the "two seas" represent the two sources or streams of knowledge - the one obtainable through the observation and intellectual coordination of outward phenomena ('ilm az-zahir), and the other through intuitive, mystic insight ('ilm al-batin) - the meeting of which is the real goal of Moses' quest.

Lit., "young man" (fata) - a term applied, in early Arabic usage, to one's servant (irrespective of his age). According to tradition, it was Joshua, who was to become the leader of the Israelites after the death of Moses.

Now tell them about the story of Khizr to whom Allah has given special knowledge. The Prophet Musa (Moses) was asked to go to him and learn from him. When Musa set out to meet him at an appointed place, he said to his young servant: "I will not give up my journey until I reach the junction of the two rivers, even if I have to spend ages in travel."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when Moses said unto his servant: I will not give up until I reach the point where the two rivers meet, though I march on for ages.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But when they reached the junction between the two [seas], they forgot all about their fish, and it took its way into the sea and disappeared from sight.⁶⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "burrowing [into it]". Their forgetting the symbolic "fish" (see last third of note [67]) is perhaps an allusion to man's frequently forgetting that God is the ultimate source of all knowledge and life.

It so happened that when at last they reached the junction of the two rivers they forgot about the fish they were carrying, which made its way into the river, and disappeared.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when they reached the point where the two met, they forgot their fish, and it took its way into the waters, being free.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And after the two had walked some distance, [Moses] said to his servant: "Bring us our mid-day meal; we have indeed suffered hardship on this [day of] our journey!"

  - Mohammad Asad

When they had passed on some distance, Musa asked his young servant: "Let us have our breakfast, really we are worn out with this travelling."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And when they had gone further, he said unto his servant: Bring us our breakfast. Verily we have found fatigue in this our journey.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Said [the servant]: "Wouldst thou believe it?⁷⁰ When we betook ourselves to that rock for a rest, behold, I forgot about the fish - and none but Satan made me thus forget it!⁷¹ and it took its way into the sea! How strange!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "Didst thou see?" Although formulated as a question, this idiomatic phrase often expresses-as does its modern equivalent, "Would you believe it?"-no more than a sudden remembrance of, or surprise at, an unusual or absurd happening.

Lit., "made me forget it lest I remember it".

He replied: "You know! I forgot to tell you about the fish, which made its way miraculously into the river, when we were resting beside that rock. It was Shaitan who made me forget to mention this incident to you."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Didst thou see, when we took refuge on the rock, and I forgot the fish and none but Satan caused me to forget to mention it, it took its way into the waters by a marvel.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[Moses] exclaimed: "That [was the place] which we were seeking!"⁷² And the two turned back, retracing their footsteps,

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the disappearance of the fish indicated the point at which their quest was to end (see note [67]).

Musa said: "That is the place we were looking for," so they went back retracing their footsteps.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: This is that which we have been seeking. So they retraced their steps again.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and found one of Our servants, on whom We had bestowed grace from Ourselves and unto whom We had imparted knowledge [issuing] from Ourselves.⁷³

  - Mohammad Asad

In the Tradition on the authority of Ubayy ibn Ka'b (referred to in note [67]) this mysterious sage is spoken of as Al-Khadir or Al-Khidr, meaning "the Green One". Apparently this is an epithet rather than a name, implying (according to popular legend) that his wisdom was ever-fresh ("green") and imperishable: a notion which bears out the assumption that we have here an allegoric figure symbolizing the utmost depth of mystic insight accessible to man.

There they found one of Our servants (Khizr) whom We had blessed with special favor from Ourselves and whom We had given special knowledge of Our own.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then found they one of Our slaves, unto whom We had given mercy from Us, and had taught him knowledge from Our presence.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall