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Khidr
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The figure later Islamic tradition names Khidr, the Green One, a servant of God whom the Quran describes Moses accompanying on condition of asking no questions; Khidr performs three apparently unjust acts, scuttling a boat, killing a young man, and repairing a wall for no payment, each explained afterward as concealing a hidden mercy Moses could not see, and he grew in later Sufi literature into an archetype of the hidden spiritual guide who appears to seekers outside ordinary time.
Facts
Identity
Canonical ReferenceIdentified by many commentators with the unnamed servant of God in Quran 18:60-82 who accompanies Moses and performs three seemingly unjust acts later revealed to carry hidden wisdom, though the Quran itself does not name him Khidr directly. 1 Prophetic RoleWhether Khidr holds prophetic status (nubuwwa) or is instead a righteous saint or angel possessed of special divinely granted knowledge (ilm ladunni) without formal prophethood is itself an unsettled question across the classical commentary tradition. 1 Status
Status Within the TraditionLater Sufi literature developed him into an archetype of the hidden spiritual guide who appears to seekers outside ordinary time, a role that grew well beyond the brief Quranic episode of his journey with Moses. 1 Attributions
Mythic AssociationIn Sufi literature Khidr develops well past his single Quranic episode into the archetype of the hidden guide who instructs seekers outside ordinary time, a figure some later tradition holds is still living rather than a historical companion of Moses who has died. 1 TraditionIslam, especially Sufi devotional and mystical practice, with folk veneration across much of the Muslim world 1 History
Historical NoteThe Quranic passage names its second traveler only as a servant among God's servants; it is the later tafsir tradition, not the Quran's own text, that supplies the name Khidr and develops him into a recurring figure of hidden spiritual guidance. 1 Origins
Origin of the NameHis name, al-Khidr, means the Green One in Arabic, traditionally explained as marking the ground he sat upon turning green beneath him. 1 Attestation
HistoricityScholars are divided on whether Khidr is a historical righteous servant of God, an angelic being, or a wholly literary and allegorical figure; the Quran itself names him only as a servant among God's servants, and the name Khidr is supplied by later tafsir. Traditions Revering This Figure Position Profile
Key TextQuran, Surah Al-Kahf 18:60-82 1 Life
Associated RelicPopular devotion across the Islamic world has attached his figure to numerous shrines and springs, particularly sites associated with water and sudden rescue, reflecting the Quranic episode the Study Quran's commentary reads as an encounter with a figure possessing knowledge granted directly by God rather than through prophetic revelation. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
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