Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:85
So he followed a way
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: فَأَتْبَعَ سَبَبًا (18:85)
The reciters differed over the reading of this. The general reading of the reciters of Medina and Baṣra is فَاتَّبَعَ with waṣl (connection) of the alif and tashdīd (doubling) of the tāʾ — in the meaning of: he followed and moved onward, derived from the expression "ittabaʿtu athar fulān" (I followed someone's track), when one follows him and walks behind him. The general reading of the reciters of Kūfa is فَأَتْبَعَ with hamza on the alif and takhfīf (lightening) of the tāʾ — in the meaning of: he overtook.
The more correct of the two readings, in my view, is the reading فَاتَّبَعَ with waṣl of the alif and tashdīd of the tāʾ. The reason is that this is a report from Allah, exalted be His mention, about the journey of Dhū al-Qarnayn through the land which We had made subject to him — not about overtaking a road. The exegetes also interpreted it thus.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
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, concerning فَاتَّبَعَ سَبَبًا : "he means by 'sabab': the halting-places (al-manāzil)."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, 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 from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning سَبَبًا . He said: "A halting-place and a road between east and west."
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 — similar.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra al-Asadī related to me, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of Abū Yaḥyā, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning فَاتَّبَعَ سَبَبًا . He said: "A road upon the earth."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فَاتَّبَعَ سَبَبًا : "he followed the halting-places and the landmarks of the earth."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning فَاتَّبَعَ سَبَبًا : "These are the roads — as Pharaoh said: يَا هَامَانُ ابْنِ لِي صَرْحًا لَعَلِّي أَبْلُغُ الأَسْبَابَ * أَسْبَابَ السَّمَاوَاتِ (O Hāmān, build for me a lofty tower that I may reach the ways — the ways of the heavens). He said: the ways of the heavens."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فَاتَّبَعَ سَبَبًا . He said: "The halting-places of the earth."
It was related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning فَاتَّبَعَ سَبَبًا . He said: "The halting-places."
