Surah al-Kahf (The Cave ) 18 : 60

Explanatory Note

This part of the sūrah begins by relating an episode in the life of the Prophet Moses which is not told or hinted at anywhere else in the Qur’ān. The sūrah does not give details of where this episode took place other than saying, ‘the place where the two seas meet.’ Nor does it define the period in Moses lifetime when the events took place. Thus, we do not know whether the events related took place when Moses was still in Egypt, before he led the Israelites on their way to Palestine, or after they had left it. If the latter, was it before he led them into the Holy Land, or when they stopped, refusing to enter because they did not wish to confront its powerful inhabitants? Was it after they had begun their forty years of wandering in the land, going to and fro, in total loss? The event involves a goodly servant of God’s whom Moses meets and accompanies for a period of time. But the sūrah does not give us any details of the identity of this person. It does not mention his name or status. Was he a prophet, a messenger, a scholar, or a person favoured by God for his strong faith and complete dedication to the service of His cause?
 
There are many reports attributed to Ibn `Abbās and others concerning the details of this story. One of them is related by al-Bukhārī who quotes Sa`īd ibn Jubayr, a scholar from the generation that followed the Prophet’s Companions as saying: “I said to `Abdullāh ibn `Abbās that Nawf al-Bakkālī claims that the person who accompanied al-Khađir [that is the name often given to the learned man in this story] was not Moses, God’s Messenger to the Children of Israel. He claims that he was a different person also named Moses. Ibn `Abbās replied: ‘That is a lie told by this enemy of God. Ubayy ibn Ka`b said to us that he heard God’s Messenger saying: Moses was making a speech to the Children of Israel when he was asked which person had been endowed with most knowledge. He replied that he himself was that person. God took issue with him for not having attributed knowledge to Him, so He sent him a message saying that there was at the point where the two seas meet a person who had been given greater knowledge than he had. Moses asked his Lord to tell him how he could meet this man. God told him to take a whole fish with him, keeping it in a container. Wherever he lost his fish, he would find that person.’
 
There are several reports that add details about this story. However, apart from a note on the probable location of the story, we prefer to limit ourselves to the Qur’ānic text without going into any further detail. This helps us to live ‘in the shade of the Qur’ān’. We believe that the way the story is told in the Qur’ān, without defining the time or place and without mentioning names, has a definite purpose. Therefore we will look at the Qur’ānic text and study it without additions.

Moses said to his servant: I shall journey on until I reach the point where the two seas meet, though I may march for ages. (Verse 60) Most probably, and God knows best, the place described here as the ‘point where the two seas meet’ refers to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and their meeting place is the area where the Bitter lakes and the Timsāh lake are found along the Suez Canal. It may also be a reference to the meeting point of the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of `Aqabah at the northern end of the Red Sea. This whole area witnessed the history of the Children of Israel after they left Egypt. Anyway, the Qur’ān only refers to it in passing without defining it further. There are several other reports suggesting where the area was that ‘the two seas meet, but we feel these are all unacceptable. We understand from the general drift of the story that Moses had a definite purpose behind his journey. He declares that he will travel as far as the meeting point of the two seas, no matter how troublesome the journey may prove, or how long it takes. He expresses his determination by the words quoted in the Qur’ān: “though I may march for ages.” There are differences as to the exact meaning of the Arabic word, ĥuqub, which is given in the translation as ‘ages’. Some scholars state that each such ĥuqbah, or age, denotes one year, while others say it denotes eighty years.