Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:82
And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. And I did it not of my own accord. That is the interpretation of that about which you could not 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 words of Allah the Exalted: وَأَمَّا الْجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلامَيْنِ يَتِيمَيْنِ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَنْ يَبْلُغَا أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا كَنْزَهُمَا رَحْمَةً مِنْ رَبِّكَ وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي ذَلِكَ تَأْوِيلُ مَا لَمْ تَسْطِعْ عَلَيْهِ صَبْرًا (18:82)
Allah the Exalted informs — narrating the words of the companion of Mūsā: "As for the wall which I set up — it belonged to two orphans in the city; beneath it lay a treasure that was theirs."
The exegetes differed concerning that treasure. Some said: it was writings containing knowledge, buried.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me; he said: my father related to me; he said: my uncle related to me; he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا . He said: "Beneath it lay a treasure of knowledge."
Yaʿqūb related to us; he said: Hushaym related to us; he said: Ḥuṣayn informed us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا . He said: "It was a treasure of knowledge."
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us; he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abī Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا . He said: "Knowledge."
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us; he said: Abū Dāwūd related to us; he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abī Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا . He said: "Knowledge."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me; he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us; he said: ʿĪsā related to us. And al-Ḥārith related to me; he said: al-Ḥasan related to us; he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا . He said: "Writings for two boys containing knowledge."
Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid. He said: "Writings containing knowledge."
Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim al-Ghifārī related to me; he said: Hunāda bint Mālik al-Shaybāniyya related to us. She said: "I heard my husband Ḥammād ibn al-Walīd al-Thaqafī say: I heard Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad say concerning وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا : 'Two and a half lines, of which the third was not complete: "It amazes me concerning the one who is certain about his provision how he wears himself out; it amazes me concerning the one who is certain about the Reckoning how he is heedless; and it amazes me concerning the one who is certain about death how he is cheerful" — and Allah has said: وَإِنْ كَانَ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ أَتَيْنَا بِهَا وَكَفَى بِنَا حَاسِبِينَ .'" She mentioned that both of them were preserved on account of the righteousness of their father, without any righteousness of their own being mentioned; and between them and the ancestor through whose righteousness they were preserved lay seven fathers — and he was a weaver.
Yaʿqūb related to me; he said: Ibn Ḥabīb ibn Nadba related to us; he said: Salama ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Nuʿaym al-ʿAnbarī — who was one of the sitting-companions of al-Ḥasan. He said: I heard al-Ḥasan say concerning وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا : "A tablet of gold upon which was written: 'In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate: it amazes me concerning whoever believes how he grieves; it amazes me concerning whoever is certain about death how he is cheerful; it amazes me concerning whoever knows the world and its turning over with its inhabitants how he is at ease with it. There is no god but Allah, Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah.'"
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us; he said: Salama related to us; he said: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUmāra, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — that he used to say: "The treasure was nothing but knowledge."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us; he said: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا . He said: "Writings of knowledge."
Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAyyāsh informed me, on the authority of ʿUmar mawlā Ghufra. He said: "The treasure of which Allah spoke in the sūra in which the people of the cave are mentioned وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا was a tablet of solid gold, upon which was written: 'In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate: it is wondrous concerning whoever knows death that he then laughs; it is wondrous concerning whoever affirms the Decree that he then exerts himself; it is wondrous concerning whoever is certain about death that he then deems himself secure. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger.'"
Others said: it was hoarded money.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Yaʿqūb related to me; he said: Hushaym related to us; he said: Ḥuṣayn informed us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا . He said: "A treasure of money."
Ibn Bashshār related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us; he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abī Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of ʿIkrima — the same.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us; he said: Abū Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba. He said: Abū Ḥuṣayn informed me, on the authority of ʿIkrima — the same. Shuʿba said: "We did not hear it directly from him."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us; he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا . He said: "Money that belonged to them." Qatāda said: "The hoarding of treasures was permitted for those who were before us, and is forbidden to us; for Allah makes permissible of His affair what He wills and forbids — these are the ordinances and obligations. He makes it permissible for one community and forbids it for another; but Allah accepts from no one who has passed away except purity and monotheism."
The most correct of the two views of exegesis concerning this is, in my opinion, the view of ʿIkrima — for what is well known in Arabic usage is that "al-kanz" is a name for what is hoarded of money, and everything that is hoarded bears the name "kanz." Exegesis ought to be directed toward the most common usage among those to whom the Revelation came down — unless a proof necessitates directing it toward another meaning, for reasons which we have already set forth elsewhere.
His word وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَنْ يَبْلُغَا أَشُدَّهُمَا : your Lord willed that they should grow up and reach their strength and maturity, and then dig out their treasure that lay buried beneath the wall — رَحْمَةً مِنْ رَبِّكَ : as a mercy from your Lord toward them; He says: "I did this with the wall — as a mercy from your Lord toward the two orphans."
Ibn ʿAbbās said — as Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me; he said: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Misʿar, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Maysara, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr. He said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا : "They were preserved on account of the righteousness of their father, while no righteousness of their own was mentioned."
Abū Kurayb related to us; he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Misʿar, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Maysara, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — the same.
His word وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي : he says: "Everything you saw me do, I did not do on my own authority and of myself; I did it only by Allah's command to me."
As Bishr related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي : "He was a servant who was commanded; he acted in accordance with Allah's command."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us; he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, concerning وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي : "What I did, I did not do according to my own judgment."
His word ذَلِكَ تَأْوِيلُ مَا لَمْ تَسْطِعْ عَلَيْهِ صَبْرًا : "This which I have communicated to you of the reasons for which I did the acts that you condemned of me, is the taʾwīl" — that is to say: the final outcome to which the acts lead, concerning which you could not refrain from questioning me and disapproving of them.
These accounts which Allah, Mighty and Exalted, informs His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ concerning Mūsā and his companion, serve as instruction for him and as an admonition to wait before hastening the punishment of the polytheists who belied him and mocked him and his Book. And as a notification to him that His dealings with them — even though they outwardly proceed in a manner that sometimes also occurs with His friends — will in their final outcome end up at the condition of His enemies therein. Just as the acts of the companion of Mūsā outwardly diverged from justice in the view of Mūsā — because he did not know their ends — but in reality were upon the right course and led to a good conclusion. This confirms His word: وَرَبُّكَ الْغَفُورُ ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ لَوْ يُؤَاخِذُهُمْ بِمَا كَسَبُوا لَعَجَّلَ لَهُمُ الْعَذَابَ بَلْ لَهُمْ مَوْعِدٌ لَنْ يَجِدُوا مِنْ دُونِهِ مَوْئِلا . Then Allah followed it with the account of Mūsā and his companion — in order to teach His Prophet that His, exalted be His splendor, refraining from hastening the punishment for these polytheists is no proof of His benevolence toward them — even though whoever has no knowledge of what Allah is devising for them reckons it benevolence; for the final outcome of it is their ruin and destruction by the sword in the world, and the earning of everlasting disgrace before Allah in the Hereafter.
