According to tradition recorded in the collections of Bukhari, Muslim and Tirmidhi, the prophet Moses was rebuked by Allah for having once asserted that he was the wisest of all men. Allah subsequently revealed to Moses that a ‘servant of Allah’ who lived at the junction of the two seas was far superior to him in wisdom. When Moses expressed his eagerness to find that man, Allah commanded him to catch a fish, put it in a basket, and travel with it until the fish disappeared. Its disappearance would be a sign that the goal had been reached – the place where the ‘servant of Allah’ could be found.

Thence the Qur’anic story of Moses and Khidr begins, at the junction of the two seas of oral tradition and divine revelation.

In the course of his wanderings Moses said to his servant, ‘I will not give up until I reach the junction of the two seas, even if I have to spend years in my quest!’

But when they reached the junction of the two seas, the servant caught a fish, but then forgot about it. The fish then jumped back into the sea and disappeared from sight.

After the two had walked some distance, Moses said to his servant, ‘Bring us the mid-day meal; we have indeed suffered hardship on this day of our journey!’

But the servant said, ‘Can you believe this? When I sat down to rest on the rock back there, I forgot about the fish – it must have been Satan who made me forget! – and it jumped back into the sea! How strange!’

To this, Moses exclaimed, ‘That was the place which we were seeking!’

The two retraced their footsteps, and found one of Our servants, on whom We had bestowed grace from Ourselves, and unto whom We had imparted knowledge issuing from Ourselves.

Moses said to him, ‘May I follow you on the understanding that you will impart to me something of that consciousness of what is right which has been imparted to you?’

The man answered, ‘You will never be able to have patience with me – how could you be patient about things that you cannot comprehend within the compass of your experience?’

Moses replied, ‘You will find me patient, if Allah so wills; and I shall not disobey you in anything!’

Said the sage, ‘Well, then, if you are to follow me, do not question me about anything that I may do until I myself offer you an explanation!’

The two went on their way, till they reached the seashore. When they disembarked from the boat that had ferried them across, the sage made a hole in it – whereupon Moses exclaimed, ‘Have you made a hole in it in order to drown the people who may be traveling in it? Indeed, you have done a grievous thing!’

He replied, ‘Did I not tell you that you will never be able to have patience with me?’

Moses said, ‘Do not take me to task for having forgotten myself, and do not be hard on me on account of what I have done!’

And so the two went on, till they met a young man, and the sage slew him. At this Moses exclaimed, ‘Have you slain an innocent human being without his having taken another man’s life? Indeed, you have done a terrible thing!’

He replied, ‘Did I not tell you that you will never be able to have patience with me?’

Moses said, ‘If after this I should ever question you, dismiss me from your company; by now, you have heard enough excuses from me.’

And so the two went on, till they came upon a village. When they asked the people there for food, they were refused all hospitality. Soon they saw in the village a wall which was on the point of collapse, and the sage rebuilt it – whereupon Moses said, ‘If you had wished, you could have at least been paid for your work?’

The sage replied, ‘It is time for us to part ways. And now I shall let you know the real meaning of all those events that you were unable to bear with patience.’

‘As for that boat, it belonged to some needy people who toiled upon the sea – and I sought to damage it because I knew that close on their heels was a king who would have taken their boat by brute force.’

‘And as for that young man, his parents were true believers – whereas we had every reason to fear that he would bring bitter grief upon them by his overweening wickedness and denial of all truth; and so we desired that their Sustainer grant them in his place a child of greater purity than him, and closer to them in loving tenderness.’

‘And as for that wall, it belonged to two orphan boys living in the town, and beneath it was buried a treasure belonging to them by right. Their father had been a righteous man, and so the Sustainer willed that when they come of age, by the grace of the Sustainer, they should bring forth their treasure from beneath that wall.’

‘And I did not do any of this of my own accord. That is the real meaning of all those events that you were unable to bear with patience.’

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