Quran Universe
18:76

قَالَ إِن سَأَلۡتُكَ عَن شَيۡءِۭ بَعۡدَهَا فَلَا تُصَٰحِبۡنِيۖ قَدۡ بَلَغۡتَ مِن لَّدُنِّي عُذۡرٗا

Qala in saaltuka AAan shayin baAAdaha fala tusahibnee qad balaghta min ladunnee AAuthran

[Moses] said, "If I should ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me as a companion. You have obtained from me an excuse."

Word by word
  1. قَالَHe said
  2. إِنIf
  3. سَأَلۡتُكَI ask you
  4. عَنabout
  5. شَيۡءِۭanything
  6. بَعۡدَهَاafter it
  7. فَلَاthen (do) not
  8. تُصَٰحِبۡنِيۖkeep me as a companion
  9. قَدۡVerily
  10. بَلَغۡتَyou have reached
  11. مِنfrom me
  12. لَّدُنِّيfrom me
  13. عُذۡرٗاan excuse
Al-Kahf · 18:76Makkah

If I ask again, part ways with me.

Musa sets his own limit

Musa's terms
one more questionafter this
then
do not keep meas a companion
you have my excuseaccepted twice
What it cost
losing an argumentsmall
missing wondershe would have seen more

Musa said that if he objected again, keep me not in your company, for you have accepted my apology twice. The Prophet ﷺ said: may the mercy of Allah be upon us and upon Musa. If he had stayed with his companion he would have seen wonders.

You quit the class, the halaqa, the friendship one complaint too early. A little more patience might have shown you wonders.

If it is frustrating, I should walk away.

Patience a little longer can open a door to things I would never see otherwise.

Try this

Give one thing you were about to quit one more honest try this week.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 18:74)

Then they both proceeded till they met a boy, and he (Khidr) killed him. Musa said: "Have you killed an innocent person without Nafs? Verily, you have committed a thing Nukr! (74)He said: "Did I not tell you that you can have no patience with me? (75)He said: "If I ask you anything after this, keep me not in your company, you have received an excuse from me. (76)

The Story of killing the Boy

فَانطَلَقَا

(Then they both proceeded,) means, after the first incident,

حَتَّىٰ إِذَا لَقِيَا غُلَامًا 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 him

بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ

(without Nafs) with no reason for killing him.

 لَّقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئًا نُّكْرًا

(Verily, you have committed a thing Nukr!) meaning, something that is clearly evil.

قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِيَ صَبْرًا

(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 شَيْءٍ بَعْدَهَا

(If I ask you anything after this,) meaning, 'if I object to anything else you do after this,'

فَلَا تُصَاحِبْنِي ۖ قَدْ بَلَغْتَ مِن لَّدُنِّي عُذْرًا

(keep me not in your company, you have received an excuse from me.) 'you have accepted my apology twice.' Ibn Jarir narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that Ubayy bin Ka'b said: "Whenever the Prophet ﷺ mentioned anyone, he would pray for himself first. One day he said:

رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى مُوسَى لَوْ لَبِثَ مَعَ صَاحِبِهِ لَأَبْصَرَ الْعَجَبَ، وَلَكِنَّهُ قَالَ:

إِن سَأَلْتُكَ عَن شَيْءٍ بَعْدَهَا فَلَا تُصَاحِبْنِي ۖ قَدْ بَلَغْتَ مِن لَّدُنِّي عُذْرًا

(May the mercy of Allah be upon us and upon Musa. If he had stayed with his companion he would have seen wonders, but he said, ('If I ask you anything after this, keep me not in your company, you have received an excuse from me.'))"