THE "TWO ORPHANS" IN SURAT AL-KAHF REFER TO HAZRAT 'ISA (AS) AND HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)

	"As for the wall, IT BELONGED TO TWO YOUNG ORPHANS in the town and there was a treasure underneath it, belonging to them. THEIR FATHER WAS ONE OF THE RIGHTEOUS and your Lord wanted them to come of age and then to unearth their treasure as a mercy from Him. I did not do it of my own volition. That is the explanation of the things about which you were not able to restrain yourself..." (Surat al-Kahf, 82)

Surat al-Kahf refers to "two young orphans" in the story of Hazrat Khidr (as). The verse says that "their father was one of the righteous." With these expressions, the verse contains references to Hazrat 'Isa (as) and Hazrat Mahdi (as). The hadith tell us that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will lose his father and be orphaned at an early age:

	HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL BE AN ORPHAN. (Sheikh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Nomani, al-Ghaybah al-Nomani, p. 176)

Hazrat 'Isa (as) also has no father. He is therefore also an orphan. In addition, Hazrat 'Isa (as) and Hazrat Mahdi (as) share the same line of descent.  The Prophet Ibrahim (as) is thus the father of both. The words "their father was one of the righteous" refer to the Prophet Ibrahim (as). In another verse of the Qur'an this characteristic of the Prophet Ibrahim (as) is described as follows:

	We gave him good in this world and IN THE HEREAFTER HE WILL BE ONE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. (Surat an-Nahl, 122)