ONE AYAT A DAY
فَانْطَلَقَا ۗحَتّٰٓى اِذَا لَقِيَا غُلٰمًا فَقَتَلَهٗ ۙقَالَ اَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً ۢبِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍۗ لَقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْـًٔا نُّكْرًا ۔
Fanṭalaqā, ḥattā iżā laqiyā gulāman fa qatalah(ū), qāla aqatalta nafsan zakiyyatam bigairi nafs(in), laqad ji'ta syai'an nukrā(n).
So they set out, until when they met a boy, he [i.e., al-Khiḍr] killed him. [Moses] said, "Have you killed a pure soul for other than [having killed] a soul? You have certainly done a deplorable thing."
The Story of killing the Boyفَانطَلَقَا(Then they both proceeded,) means, after the first incident,حَتَّى إِذَا لَقِيَا غُلاَمًا فَقَتَلَهُ(till they met a boy, and he (Khidr) killed him.) It has been stated previously that this boy was playing with other boys in one of the towns, and that Al-Khidr deliberately singled him out. He was the finest and most handsome of them all, and Al-Khidr killed him. When Musa, peace be upon him, saw that he denounced him even more fervently than in the first case, and said hastily:أَقَتَلْتَ نَفْسًا زَكِيَّةً(Have you killed an innocent person) meaning, a young person who had not yet committed any sin or done anything wrong, yet you killed himبِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ(without Nafs) with no reason for killing him.لَّقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئاً نُّكْراً(Verily, you have committed a thing Nukr!) meaning, something that is clearly evil.قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَّكَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِىَ صَبْراً (He said: "Did I not tell you that you can have no patience with me") Once again, Al-Khidr reiterates the condition set in the first place, so Musa says to him:إِن سَأَلْتُكَ عَن شَىْءٍ بَعْدَهَا(If I ask you anything after this,) meaning, `if I object to anything else you do after this,'فَلاَ تُصَاحِبْنِى قَدْ بَلَغْتَ مِن لَّدُنِّى عُذْراً(keep me not in your company, you have received an excuse from me.) `you have accepted my apology twice.' Ibn Jarir narrated from…