Surah Al-Kahf 18:76
سُورَةُ الكَهۡفِ · Meccan · Verse 76 of 110
قَالَ إِن سَأَلْتُكَ عَن شَىْءٍۭ بَعْدَهَا فَلَا تُصَٰحِبْنِى ۖ قَدْ بَلَغْتَ مِن لَّدُنِّى عُذْرًۭا
Translation
Moses said, ‘From now on, if I query anything you do, banish me from your company- you have put up with enough from me.’
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'He said: If I ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me company. You have received from me an excuse.' al-Saadi and Ibn Kathir note Musa's fair, self-aware condition, he stakes the relationship on his own future restraint, acknowledging he has already been given every excuse and there can be no more. Ask yourself: Musa holds himself accountable, 'if I do it again, we part', a striking honesty about his own repeated failing. It models a mature response to a recurring weakness: to name it clearly, set a real boundary against it, and stop asking others (or God's process) to endlessly absorb it. There is dignity in owning my pattern rather than excusing it forever. Where do I keep asking for 'one more chance' on the same failing without ever holding myself to the honest line Musa draws, 'if I do it again, that's on me'?
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Ashur.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Kahf 18:76 is discussed in 5 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Al-Kahf 18:76 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.