The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: 'Moses (peace be upon him) exhorted the people one day until their eyes overflowed with tears and their hearts softened, then he turned away. A man caught up with him and said: "O Messenger of Allah, is there anyone on earth more knowledgeable than you?" He said: "No." Allah blamed him for not referring the knowledge back to Allah Almighty. It was said: "Indeed there is." He said: "O my Lord, and where?" He said: "At the junction of the two seas." He said: "O my Lord, give me a sign so that I may know that." He said: "Take a dead fish, and where it has spirit breathed into it [you will find him]." So he took a fish and placed it in a basket. He said to his servant: "I will not burden you except that you inform me when the fish leaves you." He said: "You have not burdened me with much." He said: "While he was in the shade of a rock at a place where water flowed, the fish struck and Moses was sleeping, so his servant said: 'I will not wake him.' Until when he awoke, he forgot to inform him."

The fish continued until it entered the sea, and Allah held back the current of the sea from it, until its trace was upon a rock. Moses said: "We have certainly met with fatigue in this journey of ours." He said: "Allah has relieved you of the fatigue." So they returned and found al-Khidr on a green prayer rug in the middle of the sea, wrapped in his garment, having placed one end under his feet and the other under his head. Moses greeted him, so he uncovered his face and said: "Is there peace in this land...? Who are you?" He said: "I am Moses." He said: "Moses, the prophet of Israel?" He said: "Yes." He said: "What is your business?" He said: "I came so that you may teach me some of what you have been taught of guidance."

He said: "Is it not sufficient for you that the Torah is in your hands, and that revelation comes to you, O Moses? I possess knowledge that is not appropriate for you to know, and you possess knowledge that is not appropriate for me to know." He took a bird with his beak from the sea and said: "By Allah, my knowledge and your knowledge compared to the knowledge of Allah is only as much as what this bird took with its beak from the sea." When they boarded the ship, they found small ferries carrying the people of the shore to the people of the other shore. They recognized him and said: "The righteous servant of Allah, we will not charge him a fee." So he tore it and drove a peg into it. Moses said: "Have you torn it to drown its people? You have indeed done a grievous thing." He said: "Did I not say that you will not be able to have patience with me?" The first was out of forgetfulness, and the middle and third were intentional. He said: "Do not hold me accountable for what I forgot, and do not be hard upon me for my affair with difficulty." So they set off until they met a boy and he killed him. He found boys playing, and he took a disbelieving, witty boy and laid him down, then slaughtered him with a knife. He said:

"Have you killed a pure soul"—who has not committed sin. Ibn Abbas said: He recited it "Zakiyah" (pure), "Zakiyah" (innocent/Muslim), like your saying: "A pure boy." So they set off and found a wall that wanted to fall down, and he straightened it. He said: "With his hand, like this," and he raised his hand and it became straight. He said: "If you had wished, you could have taken a payment for it." He said: "Payment that you would eat." "And there was behind them a king"—Ibn Abbas read it as: "And there was before them a king." They claim he was Maddad ibn Nadad, and the killed boy is named—they claim—Jaysur, a king who takes every ship..."