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fa-nṭalaqā ḥattā ʾidhā rakibā fī s-safīnati kharaqahā qāla ʾa-kharaqtahā li-tughriqa ʾahlahā la-qad jiʾta shayʾan ʾimran
So they went on and when they boarded the boat, he made a hole in it. He said, ‘Did you make a hole in it to drown its people? You have certainly done a monstrous thing!’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Kahf – Verses 71 - 72
71. “So they twain departed; until, when they embarked upon the ship, he made a hole in it. He (Moses) said: ‘Have you made a hole therein to drown its inmates? You have indeed done a grievous thing’.”
72. “He said: ‘Did I not say that you could never bear with me patiently?’”
The Arabic term /xaraqa/ is used here, in this holy verse, with the meaning of ‘tearing something mischievously and without consideration.’ The Qur’anic word /’imr/ is applied for ‘an important and strange work, or a very indecent one’. Both of them (Moses and the godly learned man) proceeded and went on their way until when they embarked on a ship. Khidr made a hole in the ship. Since, on one side, Moses was a great prophet of Allah and he had to protect the lives and properties of people, and he had to enjoin right and forbid wrong; and on the other side, his conscious did not let him keep silence for such a wrong action, therefore, he neglected the promise he had with Khidr (as) and protested him.
The verse says:
At this time, that godly learned man (Khidr), with a special firmness, looked at Moses and spoke: