Al-Khidr

al-Khiḍr
17th-century Mughal painting of al Khidr
Mystic, Green One, The Verdant One, Teacher of the Prophets "Sayyidina"
Venerated in	Islamic and Islamicate area
Major shrine	Countless Shrines across the Muslim World
Influenced	Countless future Sufi saints and mystics

Khidr or al-Khidr (Arabic: الخضر‎‎ al-Khiḍr; also transcribed as al Khadir, Khader/Khadr, Khidr, Khizr, Khyzer, Qeezr, Qhezr, Qhizyer, Qhezar, Khizar, Xızır, Hızır) is a figure described in the Quran as a righteous servant of God possessing great wisdom or mystic knowledge. In various Islamic and non-Islamic traditions, Khidr is described as a messenger, prophet, wali. The figure of al-Khidr has been syncretized over time with various other figures including but not limited to Vishnu in India, Sorūsh in Iran,Saint Sarkis the Warrior,Saint George in Asia Minor and the Levant, and John the Baptist in Armenia.

Because of the linguistic similarities and shared etymology between the name "al-Khiḍr" and the Arabic word for green ("al-akhḍar" or "al-khaḍra" as in Qubbat al-khaḍra or the Green Dome), and the fact that the name "al-Khiḍr" shares exactly the same triliteral root as the word "al-khaḍra" - a root found in multiple Semitic languages meaning "green" or "verdant", the meaning of the name has traditionally usually been taken colloquially and academically to be "the Green One" or "the Verdant One." Some contemporary scholars have disagreed with this assessment, however some others point to a possible reference to the Mesopotamian figure Utnapishtum from the Epic of Gilgamesh through the Arabization of his nickname, "Hasisatra". According to one recent view the name Khidr is not an Arabic variant or an abbreviation of Hasisatra, it directly comes from the name of the Canaanite god Kothar-wa-Khasis and it may be later assimilated to Arabic term "al-akhḍar".

In Sura 18, ayat (verses) 65–82, Moses meets the Servant of God, referred in the Quran as "one of our slaves whom We had granted mercy from Us and whom We had taught knowledge from Ourselves". Muslim scholars identify him as Nabi Khadra, although he is not explicitly named in the Quran and there is no reference to him being immortal or being especially associated with esoteric knowledge or fertility. These associations come in later scholarship on al-Khiḍr.