Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:80
And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief.
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 words of Allah the Exalted: وَأَمَّا الْغُلامُ فَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤْمِنَيْنِ فَخَشِينَا أَنْ يُرْهِقَهُمَا طُغْيَانًا وَكُفْرًا (18:80)
Allah, exalted be His mention, says: as for the boy — he was an unbeliever (kāfir), and both his parents were believers (muʾminīn). We knew that he would cover them — that is to say: overwhelm them — with transgression (ṭughyān), namely the setting up of partners alongside Allah, and with unbelief (kufr) in Him. In agreement with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes spoke, and this is also recorded in some readings [of the Qurʾān] as such: "the boy was an unbeliever."
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us; he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَأَمَّا الغُلامُ فَكَانَ كَافِرًا — in the reading of Ubayy — and both his parents were believers — فَأَرَدْنَا أَنْ يُبْدِلَهُمَا رَبُّهُمَا خَيْرًا مِنْهُ زَكَاةً وَأَقْرَبَ رُحْمًا .
Bishr related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَأَمَّا الْغُلامُ فَكَانَ أَبَوَاهُ مُؤْمِنَيْنِ : "and he was an unbeliever in some readings." And فَخَشِينَا stands in the muṣḥaf of ʿAbd Allāh [ibn Masʿūd] as فَخَافَ رَبُّكَ أَنْ يُرْهَقَهُمَا طُغْيَانًا وَكُفْرًا (your Lord feared that he would overwhelm them both with transgression and unbelief).
ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us; he said: Abū Qutayba related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn ʿAbbās al-Hamdānī related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The boy whom al-Khaḍir killed was by nature an unbeliever on the day he came into the world."
As for "al-khashya" (fear) and "al-khawf" (dread) — the Arabs sometimes use these words in the sense of certainty (al-ẓann), and use these expressions in the sense of knowing about something that one does not know through the senses or through visible perception. We have already set this out elsewhere with its proofs in a manner that suffices.
Some Arabic linguists of Baṣra said: the meaning of "khashīnā" in this place is "we found it detestable" (karihnā), because Allah does not fear. In some readings it stands "khāfa rabbuka" (your Lord feared). He said: this resembles the expression "khiftu al-rajulayn an yaʿūlā" — in which the speaker does not truly harbor fear, but merely indicates that he finds this undesirable for them.
