The Meaning of Damaging the Ship

The phrase “he made a hole in it” (kharaqahā) means breaking and removing some of the non-critical planks from the ship’s wall, not the planks from the ship’s floor which would cause water to gush into the ship and sink it. This is because al-Khiḍr’s goal was only to damage the ship, not to sink it. Therefore, he made a hole in a part of the ship that did not threaten it with sinking. Although some water would enter the ship when it encountered waves, the passengers could bail it out. Thus, al-Khiḍr’s action in breaking and damaging the ship’s wall was to make its external defect visible, so that those who were seizing sound ships would, upon seeing the damage to this ship, refrain from seizing it, and the ship, which was a means of livelihood for poor people, would remain with its owners.