Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:63
He said, "Did you see when we retired to the rock? Indeed, I forgot [there] the fish. And none made me forget it except Satan - that I should mention it. And it took its course into the sea amazingly".
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: قَالَ أَرَأَيْتَ إِذْ أَوَيْنَا إِلَى الصَّخْرَةِ فَإِنِّي نَسِيتُ الْحُوتَ وَمَا أَنْسَانِيهُ إِلا الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ أَذْكُرَهُ وَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ عَجَبًا (verse 63)
Allah the Exalted says: the young companion of Mūsā said to Mūsā, when the latter said to him "bring us our midday meal so that we may eat": "Did you see when we took refuge at the rock — for there I forgot the fish وَمَا أَنْسَانِيهُ إِلا الشَّيْطَانُ — that is to say: and none caused me to forget the fish except Satan — أَنْ أَذْكُرَهُ: the word an stands in the accusative as a referent back to the fish, for the meaning of the sentence is: and none caused me to forget to mention it — the fish — except Satan. The antecedent of أَنْ أَذْكُرَهُ is the fish, and referring back to this antecedent stands أَنْ أَذْكُرَهُ.
In the codex of ʿAbd Allāh [ibn Masʿūd] this is transmitted as: "wa-mā ansānīhi an adhkurahu illā al-shayṭān."
This was related to me by Bishr, who said: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda.
Al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Walīd related to me, saying: I heard Muḥammad ibn Maʿqil relate, on the authority of his father, that the rock at which Mūsā took refuge is the rock beyond the River of the Wolf (nahr al-dhiʾb) on the way [to the appointed point].
وَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ عَجَبًا: a wondrous thing.
As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, 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, who said concerning فِي الْبَحْرِ عَجَبًا: "Mūsā marvelled at the track of the fish in the sea and at its circling movements within which it had disappeared — and there he found al-Khaḍir."
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 — to the same effect.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words وَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ عَجَبًا: "Mūsā, when the fish had taken its way through the sea as a wondrous thing, was amazed at the burrowing of the fish."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning وَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ عَجَبًا: "By Allah, it is a wondrous thing — a fish of which one had eaten for years; what is more wondrous than a fish of which one had eaten for a long time and which then became alive until it was driven together in the sea."
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: "The fish did not touch anything in the sea but that it dried up and became a rock — and the Prophet of Allah ﷺ marvelled at this."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAṭiyya related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Thābit related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning وَاتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ عَجَبًا: "That is to say: the fish's burrowing through the sea was for Mūsā a wondrous thing."
