85وَإِسماعيلَ وَإِدريسَ وَذَا الكِفلِ ۖ كُلٌّ مِنَ الصّابِرينَMuhammad AsadAND [remember] Ishmael and Idris,1 and every one who [like them] has pledged himself [unto God]:2 they all were among those who are patient in adversity,See surah 19, note 41.Lit., "and him of the pledge". The expression dhu 'l-kifl is derived from the verb kafala and especially the form takaffala - which signifies "he became responsible [for something or someone)" or "pledged himself [to do something]". Although the classical commentators consider dhu 'l-kifl to be the epithet or the proper name of a particular prophet - whom they variously, more or less at random, identify with Elijah or Joshua or Zachariah or Ezekiel - I fail to see any reason whatever for such attempts at "identification", the more so since we have not a single authentic hadlth which would mention, or even distantly allude to, a prophet by this name. I am, therefore, of the opinion that we have here (as in the identical expression in 38 : 48) a generic term applying to every one of the prophets, inasmuch as each of them pledged himself unreservedly to God and accepted the responsibility for delivering His message to man.