The Exegetes’ Views on the City (madīna) and Town (qarya)

The exegetes differ regarding whether the city (madīna) and town (qarya) mentioned in the verses of this story are the same or different places.(423) According to ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī he considers it likely that from the context of the verse under discussion, the “city” in the verse “And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city” is different from the town in the verse “So they proceeded until they came to the people of a town.”(424) This is because if this city was the same as that town, there would have been little need to specify that these two boys were in that city.(425) However, Ṭabarsī considers the “city” (madīna) to be the same as the “town” (qarya)(426), and some Sunni exegeses also state that a town can be called a city, therefore the city is the same as the town.(427)

The justification for this view and establishing the sameness of the city and town is that possibly, due to the transformation that occurred there—namely the presence of al-Khiḍr and Moses in the town and their protection of the deprived and performance of good deeds there—the town was transformed into a city. This means that the term “town” refers to before the transformation while the term “city” takes into account that transformation.

Of course, such points are merely subtle possibilities. Another example is in Sūrah Yāsīn, where when speaking of the rejection of the messengers, the term “town” is used, but from the moment when a man from the farthest part of that place arose and called people to accept those who were firstly guided and secondly asked for no reward, it gained the title of “the city”: “And present to them an example: the companions of the town when the messengers came to it… And there came from the farthest end of the city a man, running. He said, ‘O my people, follow the messengers. Follow those who ask of you no reward while they are guided’.”(428)