What is the wisdom behind Allah’s statement, narrating al-Khidr’s words (so I intended to defect it), using the singular form?
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Question:
The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, asks: What is the wisdom in what Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said on the tongue of al-Khidr in Surat al-Kahf regarding the story of the ship, where he said, “So I intended to defect it,” using the singular form? Then, in the story of the boy, he used the plural form, saying, “So We intended to replace them.” Finally, in the story of the wall, he attributed the action to Allah, saying, “Your Lord intended.”
Answer:
All of this returns to the will of Allah, but the servant also has a will. So Allah willed, and al-Khidr willed; each has a will appropriate to him. Yes. “I intended” and “We intended”—this is a linguistic style where the plural pronoun is used even when the intended referent is singular, because this is a form of magnification. Yes.
The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, asks: What is the wisdom in what Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said on the tongue of al-Khidr in Surat al-Kahf regarding the story of the ship, where he said, “So I intended to defect it,” using the singular form? Then, in the story of the boy, he used the plural form, saying, “So We intended to replace them.” Finally, in the story of the wall, he attributed the action to Allah, saying, “Your Lord intended.”
Answer:
All of this returns to the will of Allah, but the servant also has a will. So Allah willed, and al-Khidr willed; each has a will appropriate to him. Yes. “I intended” and “We intended”—this is a linguistic style where the plural pronoun is used even when the intended referent is singular, because this is a form of magnification. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [94 /641] ما الحكمة في قول الله حكاية عن الخضر(فأردت أن أعيبها) بصغية الإفراد..؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.