The story of Moses (Musa عليه السلام)’ travel in search of higher knowledge is mentioned in The Quran, Surah al-Kahf, Ayaat 60-82. There are many lessons in these ayaat…
Moses (Musa عليه السلام)’ search for higher knowledge
Moses (Musa عليه السلام) was a messenger of Allah ﷻ with whom Allah ﷻ spoke and empowered with great miracles. Yet, Moses (Musa عليه السلام) was mortal & human, and as such limited by human knowledge and perspective. Ayat 62 speaks of Moses (Musa عليه السلام)’ yearning for higher knowledge and how eager and determined he was, as he is quoted as saying:
[Al-Quran 18:60, Translator: Yusuf Ali] Behold, Moses said to his attendant, "I will not give up until I reach the junction of the two seas or (until) I spend years and years in travel."
[Al-Quran 18:60, Translator: Pickthall] And when Moses said unto his servant: I will not give up until I reach the point where the two rivers meet, though I march on for ages.
Miraculous subterranean escape of the Fish
The next few ayaat go on to describe the miracle which identifies the location where Moses (Musa عليه السلام) is to meet the person with higher knowledge. It also identifies the role of Satan as how he deceives us in to missing opportunities, as well as how strong Allah ﷻ ’s plan is that, in spite of Satan, what is destined doesn’t miss us.
[Al-Quran 18:63, Translator: Yusuf Ali] He replied: "Sawest thou (what happened) when we betook ourselves to the rock? I did indeed forget (about) the Fish: none but Satan made me forget to tell (you) about it: it took its course through the sea in a marvellous way!"
[Al-Quran 18:63, Translator: Pickthall] He said: Didst thou see, when we took refuge on the rock, and I forgot the fish - and none but Satan caused me to forget to mention it - it took its way into the waters by a marvel.
When Moses (Musa عليه السلام) and his attendant crossed the confluence of the two water bodies, and retired to the rock, the fish for their meal miraculously found its way back into the water. The servant saw it but attributes to Satan that he forgot to mention it. However, the question that arises is why was it such a casual thing to happen that he just forgot to mention it? Was the fish alive when it happened? Did they just catch it and it managed to escape instead of dying when removed from the water? Can fish breathe outside water? Can fish find their way back into water from land? Can fish dig or burrow?
The word used in 18:61:11 to explain the action of the fish is ‘saraban’ which has been variously translated as slipping away [Sahih International], being free [Pickthall], going away [Shakir], found its way [Muhammad Sarwar], as in a tunnel [Yusuf Ali and Mohsin Khan], burrowing [Arberry]. Looking up the meanings of the root of this word in Lane’s Lexicon [Page 1341, second paragraph middle], it also means by the way which it had come, also a subterranean excavation: searching the internet for any discoveries about fish being capable of any such thing reveals forums and web pages dedicated to African cichlids digging holes. Mudskippers have specialised breathing abilities, due to which they can spend a lot of time on land. Tile fish have been found to be shaping the ocean floor!
The following are some links:
Burrow Construction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goby#Burrow_construction
A video of a male African Chiclid digging under a rock: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUFmgTMj0Ak
A video of a Pearly Jawfish making a burrow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-LDLQrJM_M
A mudskipper video: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/weirdest-mudskipper
African Cichlid: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/cichlid_movingyoung
Good one madam. Keep it up. May God bless you !!!
ReplyDelete