Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:60
And [mention] when Moses said to his servant, "I will not cease [traveling] until I reach the junction of the two seas or continue for a long period."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the meaning of the words of Allah the Exalted: وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِفَتَاهُ لا أَبْرَحُ حَتَّى أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا (verse 60)
Allah the Exalted says to His Prophet ﷺ: And remember, O Muḥammad, when Mūsā ibn ʿImrān said to his young companion Yūshaʿ (Joshua): لا أَبْرَحُ — meaning: I will not cease traveling — حَتَّى أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ: the meeting-place of the two seas.
As Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning لا أَبْرَحُ: "I will not end." And it is said that by مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ is meant the meeting-place of the Persian Sea and the Byzantine Sea. Al-majmaʿ is a verbal noun from jamaʿa yajmaʿu.
The account of those who said this: Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said concerning حَتَّى أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ: "The two seas are the Persian Sea and the Byzantine Sea; the Byzantine Sea lies toward the west, and the Persian Sea toward the east."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said concerning مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ: "The Persian Sea and the Byzantine Sea."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said concerning مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ: "The Byzantine Sea and the Persian Sea; one toward the east, the other toward the west."
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ [the text is incomplete in the manuscript].
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḍurayys related to us, saying: Abū Maʿshar related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb, who said concerning لا أَبْرَحُ حَتَّى أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ: "Tangier."
His words أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا: meaning: or I shall travel an age and a long time — its singular and plural are alike in their reference to a long span of time; its plural is aḥqāb. The Arabs also say: "I was with him for a while (ḥuqba)" — and they form the plural as ḥuqab. A number of Arabic philologists explained لا أَبْرَحُ as "I will not cease," adducing as evidence for that the verse of al-Farazdaq: "They remained until the wives of their camels in the plain of Dhū Qār exchanged baggage of fine goods" — he means: they remained.
Some philologists mentioned that ḥuqb in the dialect of Qays means "a year." As for the exegetes, they discussed this as follows: they differed, and some said: it is eighty years.
The account of those who said this: It was related to me on the authority of Hushaym, who said: Abū Balj related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, who said: "Al-ḥuqb is eighty years."
Others said: it is seventy years.
The account of those who said this: Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said concerning أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا: "Seventy autumns."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us — and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — with the same import.
Others said concerning this verse in accordance with what we have said.
The account of those who said this: ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said concerning أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا: "An age (dahr)."
Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said concerning حُقُبًا: "Al-ḥuqb is a span of time (zamān)."
Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا: "Al-ḥuqb is a span of time (al-zamān)."
