Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:72
[Al-Khidh r] said, "Did I not say that with me you would never be able to have patience?"
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 أَلَمْ أَقُلْ إِنَّكَ لَنْ تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِيَ صَبْرًا (verse 72)
Allah the Majestic says: The learned one said to Mūsā, after the latter had said to him what he had said: أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكَ إِنَّكَ لَنْ تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِيَ صَبْرًا — concerning what you see of my actions, for you see what you do not fully encompass in knowledge.
Mūsā said to him: لا تُؤَاخِذْنِي بِمَا نَسِيتُ. The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of this. Some said: these words of Mūsā ﷺ to the learned one were a means of objection (muʿāraḍa), not that he had truly forgotten his promise and that which had been established earlier when he took him as a companion, namely his words: فَإِنِ اتَّبَعْتَنِي فَلا تَسْأَلْنِي عَنْ شَيْءٍ حَتَّى أُحْدِثَ لَكَ مِنْهُ ذِكْرًا.
The narration of those who said this: It was related to me on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Ziyād, who said: Yaḥyā ibn al-Muhallab related to me, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb al-Anṣārī, who said concerning لا تُؤَاخِذْنِي بِمَا نَسِيتُ: "He did not forget, but rather these were words intended indirectly (muʿāriḍ al-kalām)."
Others said: the meaning is rather: "Do not hold me responsible for abandoning your covenant" — whereby the meaning of "forgetting" is: "abandoning."
The narration of those who said this: [the text continues in the following verse]
