The Fish of Moses

Moses was to meet at 'the junction of the two seas' a servant of God whom God had given special knowledge (identified by hadith as al-Khidr). The agreed sign: the place where the fish they had prepared as provisions would return to life and disappear into the sea. The fish did indeed disappear, announcing the meeting place.

Moses had declared his firm resolve to his servant: 'I will not stop until I reach the junction of the two seas, even if I travel for ages.' They were carrying a fish as provisions.

When they arrived at the rock at the appointed place, the event occurred: the fish prepared as food took its way into the sea and left. But they forgot it and continued.

When Moses grew tired and asked for their meal, his servant remembered: 'Did you see when we rested at the rock? I forgot the fish — nothing made me forget it except Satan — and it took its course in the sea in a wondrous way.'

Moses immediately recognised the sign: 'That is what we were seeking.' They retraced their steps to the rock — where they found al-Khidr, whom Moses had come to learn from.

In this episode the fish is not the main subject: it is the sign directing Moses to the meeting with al-Khidr (which is followed by the story of the three situations in the surah). The Quran simply says the fish took its way into the sea; details some commentators add (the spring of life that revived it...) come from accounts, not the text. Not to be confused with the great whale that swallowed Yunus: that is a completely separate story. See the Yunus profile.

The fish of Moses teaches that God's signs guide those who sincerely seek knowledge: Moses the great prophet set out in humility to learn from another. The miraculous event of the fish recalls that God guides toward knowledge through means He chooses, however strange they may seem.

فَلَمَّا بَلَغَا مَجْمَعَ بَيْنِهِمَا نَسِيَا حُوتَهُمَا فَٱتَّخَذَ سَبِيلَهُۥ فِى ٱلْبَحْرِ سَرَبًا

Mais, parvenus à l'endroit indiqué, les deux hommes oublièrent leur poisson qui se fraya un passage dans la mer.

18:61

قَالَ ذَٰلِكَ مَا كُنَّا نَبْغِ ۚ فَٱرْتَدَّا عَلَىٰٓ ءَاثَارِهِمَا قَصَصًا

Moïse dit : « Voilà justement le signe que nous attendions. » Les deux hommes revinrent donc sur leurs pas.

18:64