ভূমিকা

“And (remember) when Moses said to his young companion: ‘I will not cease until I reach the Junction of the two Seas, though I go on for years. 61.

“Then when they reached the Junction, they forgot their fish, and it took its way into the sea, going away.” The appellation ‘Moses’ has been repeated in the Qur’an for 136 times all of which means the same prophet Moses, the possessor of determination /’ulul‘azm/.[^1] The application of the word /fata/ in this verse, which means ‘young’ and ‘gallant’, is used in the sense of ‘lad’ and ‘page’, and it is a sign of courtesy, kindness and ‘good name’.

The purpose of the Arabic word /fatah/, hear in this verse, is Joshua-ibn-Nun, who was the companion and attendant of Moses (as) in that journey.[^2] The verse says: “And (remember) when Moses said to his young companion: ‘I will not cease until I reach the Junction of the two Seas, though I go on for years.” The Arabic term /huqb/ means years and years, seventy to eighty years. The story of Moses and Khidr (as) has been recorded in commentary books and history sources.

For instance, in some Sahih-i-Bukhari, it has been narrated from Ibn-‘Abbas, from’Ubayy-ibn-Ka‘b that once the Prophet (S) said that one day, when Moses was orating, he was asked by one of the children of Israel that who the most learned person was. Moses (as) said: ‘I am’. Allah addressed Moses saying why he did not say that Allah knows best, and Khidr was more aware than Moses. Moses (as) asked where Khidr was.

Then he was addressed that Khidr was in the site of ‘Junction of the Seas’, and its sign and mystery was that he was to take a fish with him in a basket and he would go forth.

The place where Moses was to meet Khidr would be indicated by the fact that the fish would disappear when he got to that place.[^3] The holy verse says: “Then when they reached the Junction, they forgot their fish, and it took its way into the sea, going away.” Moses (as) put the fish in the basket and told his attendant that wherever he did not find the fish in the basket he would inform the matter to Moses.