Moses gave a speech to Israelites, where someone asked him "Who is the greatest person in knowledge?" Moses said it was him. So, Allah reprimanded him, as he did not relate his knowledge to Allah SWT. Allah said to him "I have a slave at the junction of the two seas who is more knowledgeable than you. Moses replied "My Lord! How I could find him?"

Allah told him to "Take a fish with you in a water-filled vessel, and wherever you find the fish disappeared, the man will be there." So, Moses took a fish and put it into a water-filled vessel, and went in his search. He took with him his attendant Joshua bin Nûn, and when they reached the rock, they lay down on it and fell to sleep. While they were sleeping, the fish somehow wriggled out from the vessel and disappeared in the sea. When they woke up, his attendant forgot to tell him about the disappearance of the fish, and they continued their journey for the rest of the day and that night.

And ˹remember˺ when Moses said to his young assistant, “I will never give up until I reach the junction of the two seas, even if I travel for ages.”18:60

But when they ˹finally˺ reached the point where the seas met, they forgot their ˹salted˺ fish, and it made its way into the sea, slipping away ˹wondrously˺.18:61

When it was later the next day, Moses said to his attendant:

When they had passed further, he said to his assistant, “Bring us our meal! We have certainly been exhausted by today’s journey.”18:62

He replied, “Do you remember when we rested by the rock? ˹That is when˺ I forgot the fish. None made me forget to mention this except Satan. And the fish made its way into the sea miraculously.”18:63

Moses responded, “That is ˹exactly˺ what we were looking for.” So they returned, retracing their footsteps.18:64

This is where Allah told them they would find Khidr.

They hurried back, retracing their footsteps, and when they reached the rock, they found a man wrapped in a cloth. Moses greeted him, and said "I am Moses" He said "Moses the prophet of the Children of Israel?" He said "Yes, and I have come to you so that I could learn wisdom from you which you have been given." He said "Surely, you will not be able to bear with me patiently. O Moses! I have knowledge from Allah which you do not have, and you have knowledge from Allah which I do not have."

There they found a servant of Ours, to whom We had granted mercy from Us and enlightened with knowledge of Our Own.18:65

Moses said to him, “May I follow you, provided that you teach me some of the right guidance you have been taught?”18:66

He said, “You certainly cannot be patient ˹enough˺ with me.18:67

And how can you be patient with what is beyond your ˹realm of˺ knowledge?”18:68

Moses assured ˹him˺, “You will find me patient, Allah willing, and I will not disobey any of your orders.”18:69

He responded, “Then if you follow me, do not question me about anything until I ˹myself˺ clarify it for you.”18:70

...whilst walking alongside the sea. Then a ship passed by them, and they asked them to take them aboard. The crew recognised Khidr, and took them on board with no fare. As they were aboard the ship, Khidr took an axe and tore out a plank of the ship. Moses said to him: "What did you do? They took us aboard with no charge, and you made a hole in it, so as to drown those in it? You have indeed done a grievous thing,"

So they set out, but after they had boarded a ship, the man made a hole in it. Moses protested, “Have you done this to drown its people? You have certainly done a terrible thing!”18:71

He replied, “Did I not say that you cannot have patience with me?”18:72

Moses pleaded, “Excuse me for forgetting, and do not be hard on me.”18:73

The Prophet Mohammad ﷺ, narrating this story in Bukhari, commented on it saying that this was Moses first interruption made as a result of his forgetfulness; Then a sparrow came and sat down on the edge of the ship, and dipped its beak in the sea. Khidr said to Moses "My knowledge and your knowledge in comparison to the knowledge of Allah are nothing but like that water which the sparrow has taken in its beak from the sea."

While they were talking, Khidr spotted a boy who was playing together with other children. Khidr approached him and killed him.

So they proceeded until they came across a boy, and the man killed him. Moses protested, “Have you killed an innocent soul, who killed no one? You have certainly done a horrible thing.”18:74

He answered, “Did I not tell you that you cannot have patience with me?”18:75

Moses replied, “If I ever question you about anything after this, then do not keep me in your company, for by then I would have given you enough of an excuse.”18:76

They continued on their journey.

So they moved on until they came to the people of a town. They asked them for food, but the people refused to give them hospitality. There they found a wall ready to collapse, so the man set it right. Moses protested, “If you wanted, you could have demanded a fee for this.”18:77

Moses, hungry now, said to these people we asked for food but they neither gave us food nor entertained us as guests, yet you repaired the wall for them? Recall it was their custom; the bear minimum being that, when a traveller passes by, you feed them. Khidr responded:

He replied, “This is the parting of our ways. I will explain to you what you could not bear patiently.18:78

“As for the ship, it belonged to some poor people, working at sea. So I intended to damage it, for there was a ˹tyrant˺ king ahead of them who seizes every ˹good˺ ship by force.18:79

Notice that the people who carried Khidr and Moses must have been angered that they had broken their ship, not knowing until the king came that this was in fact a blessing for them to keep it. In an instance, the same hole in their ship would have been seen as a blessing rather than a cause to be angry about. They did not have the patience and the foresight, to think Allah SWT has something else/better planned for them. Notice also that Allah blessed these fisherman through their generosity in letting them ride for free. Through their giving, they were able to preserve what they had.

“And as for the boy, his parents were ˹true˺ believers, and we feared that he would pressure them into defiance and disbelief.18:80

So we hoped that their Lord would give them another, more virtuous and caring in his place.18:81

In the second story, we think about the frustration of the parents of the killed child, however he was substituted for a more righteous child. From this story we learn that never does Allah take something away form us except that, if we are patient, He will give us better. Whoever leaves something for the sake of Allah, Allah will give him better.

“And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and under the wall was a treasure that belonged to them, and their father had been a righteous man. So your Lord willed that these children should come of age and retrieve their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do it ˹all˺ on my own. This is the explanation of what you could not bear patiently.” 18:82

The Prophet ﷺ said after narrating this story "We wish Moses could have remained patient, so that Allah may have told us more of their story"

The final story is about a widow with two (orphan) children, she makes dua to Allah saying she is struggling financially, and it seems like Allah is not answered her dua. Years go by and they are still struggling in poverty. However, the wall was built to protect their inheritance for when they were older. If the townspeople, who wouldn't even spare some food for the travellers, they wouldn't have rightfully given this treasure to the orphans it belonged to. When they were older, starting their own families etc, this is when they needed the money the most. Hence, why it was given to them then.

From these stories we learn that whatever happens to us, there is wisdom in it. Whether it is loss of finances, loss of a loved one or the persistence of a calamity, whatever it is, if you put your trust in Allah, any difficulty will become a blessing.