Surah Al-Kahf Ayat 71 in Arabic Text
English Translation
Here you can read various translations of verse 71
So they set out, until when they had embarked on the ship, al-Khidh r tore it open. [Moses] said, “Have you torn it open to drown its people? You have certainly done a grave thing.”
So they both proceeded: until, when they were in the boat, he scuttled it. Said Moses: “Hast thou scuttled it in order to drown those in it? Truly a strange thing hast thou done!”
Then the two went forth until, when they embarked on the boat, he made a hole in it, whereupon Moses exclaimed: “Have you made a hole in it so as to drown the people in the boat? You have certainly done an awful thing.”
So they both proceeded, till, when they embarked the ship, he (Khidr) scuttled it. Musa (Moses) said: “Have you scuttled it in order to drown its people? Verily, you have committed a thing “Imra” (a Munkar – evil, bad, dreadful thing).”
So they twain set out till, when they were in the ship, he made a hole therein. (Moses) said: Hast thou made a hole therein to drown the folk thereof? Thou verily hast done a dreadful thing.
So they (both) went off until, when they embarked in the ship, he pierced it. He said, “Have you pierced it so as to drown its population (i.e., a passengers). Indeed you have already come with a grave thing.”
They travelled on. Later, when they got into a boat, and the man made a hole in it, Moses said, ‘How could you make a hole in it? Do you want to drown its passengers? What a strange thing to do!’
پھر وه دونوں چلے، یہاں تک کہ ایک کشتی میں سوار ہوئے، تو اس نے کشتی کے تختے توڑ دیئے، موسیٰ نے کہا کیا آپ اسے توڑ رہے ہیں تاکہ کشتی والوں کو ڈبو دیں، یہ تو آپ نے بڑی (خطرناک) بات کردی
Quran 18 Verse 71 Explanation
For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Kahf ayat 71, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.
Ala-Maududi
(18:71) Then the two went forth until, when they embarked on the boat, he made a hole in it, whereupon Moses exclaimed: “Have you made a hole in it so as to drown the people in the boat? You have certainly done an awful thing.”
There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.
Ibn-Kathir
71. So they both proceeded, till, when they boarded the boat, he (Khidr) damaged it. Musa said: “Have you damaged it wherein its people will drown Verily, you have committed a thing Imr.” 72. He said: “Did I not tell you, that you would not be able to have patience with me” 73. He said: “Call me not to account for what I forgot, and be not hard upon me for my affair (with you).”
Allah tells us that Musa and his companion Al-Khidr set out having come to an agreement and reached an understanding. Al-Khidr had made the condition that Musa should not ask him about anything he found distasteful until he himself initiated the discussion and offered an explanation. So they went on board the ship, as described in the Hadith quoted above — the crew recognized Al-Khidr and let them ride on board free of charge, as an honor to Al-Khidr. When the boat took them out to sea and they were far from the shore, Al-Khidr got up and damaged the boat, pulling out one of its planks and then patching it up again. Musa, peace be upon him, could not restrain himself from denouncing him, so he said:
(Have you damaged it wherein its people will drown) The grammatical structure of the sentence in Arabic implies that this was the consequence, not the purpose, of his action.
(Verily, you have committed a thing Imr.) About `Imr’, Mujahid said: “An evil thing.” Qatadah said, “An astounding thing.” At this point, reminding him of the previously-agreed condition, Al-Khidr said:
(Did I not tell you, that you would not be able to have patience with me) meaning, `this thing that I did deliberately is one of the things I told you not to denounce me for, because you do not know the full story, and there is a reason and purpose for it that you do not know about.’
(He said), meaning, Musa said:
(Call me not to account for what I forgot, and be not hard upon me for my affair (with you).) meaning, `do not be harsh with me.’ Hence it says in the Hadith quoted above from the Messenger of Allah :
(In the first instance, Musa asked Al-Khidr because he had forgotten his promise.)
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