Al-Kahf 18:77
The Cave · ayah 77 of 110
Fantalaqa hattaitha ataya ahla qaryatin istatAAamaahlaha faabaw an yudayyifoohuma fawajadafeeha jidaran yureedu an yanqadda faaqamahuqala law shi/ta lattakhathta AAalayhi ajra
Saheeh International translation
Other English translations
Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+
"And so they travelled on. Then, when they came to a town and asked the inhabitants for food but were refused hospitality, they saw a wall there that was on the point of falling down and the man repaired it. Moses said, ‘But if you had wished you could have taken payment for doing that.’"
Pickthall (classic)+
"So they twain journeyed on till, when they came unto the folk of a certain township, they asked its folk for food, but they refused to make them guests. And they found therein a wall upon the point of falling into ruin, and he repaired it. (Moses) said: If thou hadst wished, thou couldst have taken payment for it."
Yusuf Ali (classic)+
"Then they proceeded: until, when they came to the inhabitants of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused them hospitality. They found there a wall on the point of falling down, but he set it up straight. (Moses) said: "If thou hadst wished, surely thou couldst have exacted some recompense for it!""
Tafsīr · classical commentary
Ibn Kathir
Abridged English, public domain
+
Ibn Kathir
Abridged English, public domain
The Story of repairing the Wall Allah tells us that
(they both proceeded) after the first two instances,
(till when they came to the people of a town,) Ibn Jarir narrated from Ibn Sirin that this was Al-Aylah. According to the Hadith;
(When they came there, the people of the town were mean.) i.e., miserly
(they asked them for food, but they refused to entertain them. Then they found therein a wall about to collapse and he (Khidr) set it up straight.) means, he fixed it so it was standing upright properly. We have already seen in the Hadith quoted above that he set it up with his own hands, supporting it until it was standing straight again, which is something extraordinary. At this point Musa said to him:
(If you had wished, surely you could have taken wages for it!) meaning, because they did not entertain us as guests, you should not have worked for them for free.
(He said: "This is the parting between you and I) meaning, because you said after the boy was killed that if you asked me anything after that, you would not accompany me any further. So this is the parting of the ways between me and you.
(I will tell you the interpretation) meaning explanation,
(of (those) things over which you were not able to be patient.)
Tafsir Saʿdi
English translation, public domain
+
Tafsir Saʿdi
English translation, public domain