Appearance

The End of Khiḍr’s Companionship with Moses ​

Previously, Moses had made a final promise to Khiḍr that if he questioned again, Khiḍr should not keep him as a companion, for Moses had exhausted his excuses: “He said, ‘If I ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me as a companion. You have obtained from me an excuse’”.(328) Therefore, when for the third time Moses said to Khiḍr that he could have taken payment for rebuilding the wall: “He said, ‘If you had wished, you could have taken payment for it,’” Khiḍr said that according to their final agreement, it was now time for them to part ways; he would soon inform him of the true meaning of what he could not bear with patience: “He said, ‘This is parting between me and you. I will inform you of the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience.’”

The teacher, ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī, has presented three possibilities regarding what “this” (hādhā) refers to, and apparently favored the first possibility:

  1. Moses’ statement: This statement of yours caused our separation.

  2. Time: Now the time has come for our separation.

  3. Parting: This parting between us has arrived; as if parting was an absent matter that arrived with Moses’ statement.(329)

The repetition of the word “between” (bayn)—which is a flexible preposition(330)—in the phrase “parting between me and you” (firāqu baynī wa-baynika) is for emphasis, which is why he did not say “this is parting between us” (hādhā firāqu baynanā).(331)

It should be noted that there are two possibilities regarding the addition of “parting” (firāq) to “between me” (baynī):

It is the addition of the described to the descriptor, and its origin was “firāqun baynīyun,” meaning “occurring between us.”

It is the addition of an active verbal noun to its adverbial object, just as a verbal noun is added to its direct object.(332)

According to some accounts, Moses said that he had experienced many hardships, but Khiḍr’s statement “This is parting between me and you” was among the most severe trials and difficulties of his life.(333)