وَرَبُّكَ الغَفورُ ذُو الرَّحمَةِ ۖ لَو يُؤاخِذُهُم بِما كَسَبوا لَعَجَّلَ لَهُمُ العَذابَ ۚ بَل لَهُم مَوعِدٌ لَن يَجِدوا مِن دونِهِ مَوئِلًا

Your Lord is All-Forgiving, Full of Mercy. If He were to call them to account for what they’ve earned, He would accelerate their punishment. But they have an appointed time from which they will find no escape.

وَتِلكَ القُرىٰ أَهلَكناهُم لَمّا ظَلَموا وَجَعَلنا لِمَهلِكِهِم مَوعِدًا

And those cities—We destroyed them when they wronged, and We set a fixed time for their destruction.

وَإِذ قالَ موسىٰ لِفَتاهُ لا أَبرَحُ حَتّىٰ أَبلُغَ مَجمَعَ البَحرَينِ أَو أَمضِيَ حُقُبًا

When Moses said to his young servant, “I won’t give up until I reach the junction of the two seas, even if it takes me a long time.”

فَلَمّا بَلَغا مَجمَعَ بَينِهِما نَسِيا حوتَهُما فَاتَّخَذَ سَبيلَهُ فِي البَحرِ سَرَبًا

But when they reached the junction between them, they forgot their fish, which took its course into the sea, slipping away.

فَلَمّا جاوَزا قالَ لِفَتاهُ آتِنا غَداءَنا لَقَد لَقينا مِن سَفَرِنا هـٰذا نَصَبًا

As they journeyed, he told his companion, “Bring us our lunch; we’ve experienced hardship on this journey.”

قالَ ذٰلِكَ ما كُنّا نَبغِ ۚ فَارتَدّا عَلىٰ آثارِهِما قَصَصًا

He said, “That’s what we were seeking!” So they returned following their footsteps.

فَوَجَدا عَبدًا مِن عِبادِنا آتَيناهُ رَحمَةً مِن عِندِنا وَعَلَّمناهُ مِن لَدُنّا عِلمًا

Then they came across one of Our servants, to whom We had given mercy from Us and taught knowledge from Us.

قالَ لَهُ موسىٰ هَل أَتَّبِعُكَ عَلىٰ أَن تُعَلِّمَنِ مِمّا عُلِّمتَ رُشدًا

Moses asked him, “May I follow you, so that you may teach me some of the righteousness you were taught?”

قالَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَستَطيعَ مَعِيَ صَبرًا

He answered, “You won’t be able to endure with me patiently.

وَكَيفَ تَصبِرُ عَلىٰ ما لَم تُحِط بِهِ خُبرًا

How could you endure things that you don’t understand?”