Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:74
So they set out, until when they met a boy, al-Khidh r killed him. [Moses] said, "Have you killed a pure soul for other than [having killed] a soul? You have certainly done a deplorable thing."
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: فَانْطَلَقَا حَتَّى إِذَا لَقِيَا غُلامًا فَقَتَلَهُ قَالَ أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ لَقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئًا نُكْرًا (verse 74)
Allah the Exalted says: فَانْطَلَقَا حَتَّى إِذَا لَقِيَا غُلامًا فَقَتَلَهُ — the learned one killed him. Mūsā said to him: أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً.
The reciters differed over the reading of this. The general body of the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Basra read it as "aqatalta nafsan zākiyatan" — and they said: the meaning is the pure (al-muṭahhara) who has committed no sin and has never sinned on account of her young age. The general body of the reciters of Kufa read it as "nafsan zakiyyatan" — with the meaning: the repentant one whose sins have been forgiven.
The narration of those who said this: 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 concerning أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً: "The zakiyya is the one who repents."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said concerning قَالَ أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً: "Al-zakiyya is the one who repents."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us: "aqatalta nafsan zākiyatan" — he said: al-Ḥasan said: "repentant," thus in the narration of al-Ḥasan, and Shahr [read] zākiya.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً: "Repentant."
The narration of those who said that its meaning is "the Muslim who has committed no sin": Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Yaʿlā ibn Muslim informed me that he heard Saʿīd ibn Jubayr say: "Al-Khaḍir came upon a group of boys playing; he set apart a handsome, sharp-witted boy, laid him down, and slaughtered him with a knife." He said: "Wahb ibn Sulaymān informed me on the authority of Shuʿayb al-Jubaʾī that the name of the boy whom al-Khaḍir killed was Jaysūr. قَالَ أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَاكِيَةً — he said: a Muslim. Ibn ʿAbbās read it as: zakiyya — just as you say: zakiyyan."
Some of the grammarians of the Arabic language from Kufa said: zakiyya and zākiya have the same meaning, just as qāsiya and qasiyya; both of them mean: one who has committed nothing. And that, in my judgment, is the correct opinion, for I have found no distinction between them in any part of the Arabic language.
This being so, whoever reads it according to either of the two readings has read it correctly, for they are two widespread readings used in the regions with the same meaning.
His word بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ: that is to say: without legal retaliation (qiṣāṣ) on account of a slain soul that would have required killing in requital.
And His word لَقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئًا نُكْرًا: that is to say: "You have done something abominable and committed a deed that cannot be justified."
In accordance with what we have said, the exegetes have also said.
The narration 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 لَقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئًا نُكْرًا: "The nukr is graver than the imr."
