Surah Al-Kahf 18:13-17 - Quran Translation Commentary

(18:14) We strengthened their hearts when they stood up¹⁷ and proclaimed, ‘Our Lord - the Lord of the heavens and earth - We shall never invoke any god other than Him; if (we did) we would have spoken an outrage.

(18:15) These, our people, have taken gods besides Him. Why do they not bring forward a clear authority regarding them? Who can do greater wrong than he who fastened a lie on Allah?¹⁸

(18:16) So, when you have dissociated yourselves from them and what they worship other than Allah, then retreat to the cave.¹⁹ Your Lord will spread out for you of His mercy and prepare for your affair an easy disposal.’²⁰

(18:17) You would have seen the sun as it rose, veering away from their cave on the right, and, as it went down, cut itself across their left side,²¹ while they (lay) in its spacious (area).²² That was one of the signs of Allah.²³ He whom Allah guides, is the rightly guided, while he whom He left unguided, you will never find for him a friend guiding aright.

Commentary

15. Linguistically, the use of the term “fityatun” indicates that they were less than ten in number (Se`di).

16. We see the trend repeated. It were mostly young men who had initially believed in the Prophet while the older men of the Quraysh remained adamant, unmoved (Ibn Kathir).

17. Some misguided Sufis seek justification for their “standing” (in circles) from the words of Allah here, “They stood up and said..” But the two “standings” are entirely different. That of the youths was that of ‘taking a stand’ (a matter of resolve). What it has to do with the physical standing in circles, singing, dancing and whirling, as some of the Sufis do? In fact, many of the rightly guided Sufis have condemned the singing and dancing (based on Qurtubi).

18. Mawdudi writes in his introduction to the Surah, “It was pointed out (to the Makkans) that the people of the Cave believed in the same monotheism which was being expounded by the Qur’an. Also, the situation of the People of the Cave was no different from the Makkan Muslims who were then being subjected to severe persecution. Likewise, the attitude towards the People of the Cave by their own people was quite similar to the attitude displayed by the Quraysh unbelievers toward the Prophet (peace be on him) and his followers.”

Sayyid has a few other things in mind. He writes: “These, our people, have taken gods besides Him. Why do they not bring forward a clear authority regarding them?”: ‘This then is the way in matters of faith and beliefs: that a man should follow clear, dependable evidences. Evidences have their own grip on the mind. But, if there is no evidence, then it is a dirty lie; for, it is a lie against Allah: And who can do greater wrong that he who fastened a lie on Allah?

“We also recognize here the stand taken by the youths: a clear, definite stand that is not overshadowed or weakened by any amount of diffidence.

“It is also noteworthy that they are young men: strong of body, strong of faith, and courageous in rejecting what their people clung to.

“Two approaches, two different methods come to light, and the two do not meet, nor go in company with each other in life; (i.e., that of the youths and that of their people).

“There is no choice for them but to escape with their faith. For, they are not Messengers of Allah sent to their people, who can, therefore, face the consequences while they invite them to the right beliefs. These are merely a group of young men to whom true guidance became evident while they lived among the unbelieving oppressors. If they openly profess their faith, they would not be allowed to live in peace. Neither can they escape from (the eyes) of their people, nor their people can from their eyes. Nor yet it is possible for them to worship their nation’s deities outwardly and conceal their personal prayers to Allah. The text leads us to believe that they had already been discovered. Therefore, there was no choice for them but to escape with their belief, and choose to live in a cave against the ease and pleasures of town life.

“At this point, they appear as having already made that decision, and hence their words as they meet in secret, ‘So, when you have dissociated yourselves from them and what they worship other than Allah, retreat to the cave.’

“And their decision tells us something about the amazing state of a believer’s heart.”

19. Qurtubi has a long discourse here on retreat to the caves when fearing religious persecution, or threat to life, honor, wealth or property. The Prophet himself had, in his effort to escape persecution, sought retreat into cave. The escape thus, is a Sunnah of the Anbiya’ and Awliya’. However, seeking retreat need not necessarily be in caves. It can be on top of mountains, in the depth of valleys, on the borders, and even within one’s home; as the Prophet said,

إِذَا كَانَتِ الْفِتْنَةُ فَأَخْفِ مَكَانَكَ وَكُفَّ لِسَانَكَ

“When you fear tribulation, restrict yourselves to your homes and control your tongue.”

The above hadith is on the authority of Qurtubi and could not be traced in any major collection (Au.).

Another hadith of Bukhari says,

يَأْتِي عَلَى النَّاسِ زَمَانٌ خَيْرُ مَالِ الرَّجُلِ الْمُسْلِمِ الْغَنَمُ يَتْبَعُ بِهَا شَعَفَ الْجِبَالِ وَمَوَاقِعَ الْقَطْرِ يَفِرُّ بِدِينِهِ مِنَ الْفِتَنِ

“A time will come on the people when the best wealth of a Muslim would be a few goats following them from one hill top to another, and to places of rain, fleeing (the towns) from religious persecution.”

Another of Hasan’s report (one of his Marasil: Au.) says,

يَأْتِي عَلَى النَّاسِ زَمَانٌ لَا يَسْلَمُ لِذِي دِينٍ دِينُهُ إِلَّا مَنْ فَرَّ بِدِينِهِ مِنْ شَاهِقٍ إِلَى شَاهِقٍ أَوْ حَجَرٍ إِلَى حَجَرٍ فَإِذَا كَانَ ذَلِكَ لَمْ تُنَلِ الْمَعِيشَةُ إِلا بِمَعْصِيَةِ اللَّهِ فَإِذَا كَانَ ذَلِكَ حَلَّتِ الْعُزْبَةُ". قَالُوا: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، كَيْفَ تَحِلُّ الْعُزْبَةُ وَأَنْتَ تَأْمُرُنَا بِالتَّزْوِيجِ؟ قَالَ: " إِذَا كَانَ ذَلِكَ كَانَ فَسَادُ الرَّجُلِ عَلَى يَدَيْ أَبَوَيْهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ أَبَوَانِ كَانَ هَلاكُهُ عَلَى يَدَيْ زَوْجَتِهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ لَهُ زَوْجَةٌ كَانَ هَلَاكُهُ عَلَى يَدَيْ وَلَدِهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ وَلَدٌ كَانَ هَلَاكُهُ عَلَى يَدَيِ الْقَرَابَاتِ وَالْجِيرَانِ". قَالُوا: وَكَيْفَ ذَلِكَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ؟ قَالَ: " يُعَيِّرُونَهُ بِضِيقِ الْمَعِيشَةِ وَيُكَلِّفُونَهُ مَا لا يُطِيقُ فَعِنْدَ ذَلِكَ يُورِدُ نَفْسَهُ الْمَوَارِدَ الَّتِي يَهْلِكُ فِيهَا".

“A time will come upon the people when no one will be safe in his religion except he who moved from mountain to mountain, one place of refuge to another. He will encounter a situation in which he will not be able to earn his livelihood but in Allah’s disobedience. When that is the situation, then fleeing away is allowed to him.” They asked, “How can fleeing (into wilderness) be allowed when you recommend that we marry women (and settle down)?” He replied, “In the situation (I am speaking of) a man’s problems will be because of his parents. If he has no parents then his destruction will be at the hands of his wife. If he has no wife, it will be at the hands of his children. If he has no children, it will be at the hands of his friends and neighbors.” They asked, “How will that be, Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “They will rebuke him for his poor financial status and make demands on him greater than what he will be able to bear. In that situation a man will do things that will destroy him.”

The above report is in Bayhaqi and few other minor collections. It is primarily on Qurtubi’s authority (Au.).

The minimum, the scholars have said, in terms of seclusion and isolation is to isolate oneself from other people’s evils. That is, a man remains with the people, but accepting their company in good affairs alone, away from them in evil matters. This is following the Prophet’s words declared authentic,

الْمُؤْمِنُ الَّذِي يُخَالِطُ النَّاسَ وَيَصْبِرُ عَلَى أَذَاهُمْ أَعْظَمُ أَجْرًا مِنْ الَّذِي لَا يُخَالِطُهُمْ وَلَا يَصْبِرُ عَلَى أَذَاهُمْ

“A believer who mixes and interacts with the people, in patience, is better than he who does not mix, does not observe patience.”

Accordingly, Badri Companions retreated to their homes after the murder of ‘Uthman, leaving the houses only for their graves.

20. The textual word “mirfaq” is, ‘literally a thing by which one profits, or gains advantage or benefit’ (LL) - Majid.

Companions of the Cave

We do not have any trustworthy report directly from the Prophet (saws) detailing this story. Those narrated by the Companions seem to originate from Jewish and Christian sources. Their version of the story can be traced back to the first century after Jesus Christ, involving a few youths, of the elitist class, who embraced the new Christian religion and were persecuted. But, Ibn Kathir is rightly skeptic about the youths being early Christians. For, it were the Jews who sent across the inquiry through the Quraysh to the Prophet about the young men. They were of course not interested in any story involving Christ, whom they cursed, and the Christians whom they persecuted, whenever possible. Asad is in agreement with Ibn Kathir. He writes, “It seems, however, that the Christian formulation of this theme is a later development of a much older oral tradition - a tradition which, in fact, goes back to pre-Christian, Jewish sources. This is evident from several well-authenticated ahadith (mentioned by all classical commentators), according to which it was the Jewish rabbis (ahbar) of Medina who induced the Meccan opponents of Muhammad to ‘test his veracity’ by asking him to explain, among other problems, the story of the Men of the Cave.”

Yusuf Ali, Majid, Mawdudi and Asad point out (in the words of Mawdudi), “the earliest reference to the story is found in the Sermons of the Christian priest James of Sarug, a work which is in Syriac. He was born in .. 452 C.E. .. and the youths had woken up in 447 C.E. in the time of the emperor Theodosius the Second..”

But, an event so amazing that took place so close in time and space (just 200 years earlier) could not have remained unknown to the Arabs, the collectors of stories and anecdotes. Further, the two accounts, the Qur’anic and of the Christian sources differ in so many respects that it led Gibbon (who reproduced the story entitled “The Seven Sleepers” in his “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”) to “dub the Prophet,” in Mawdudi’s words, “ignorant” – which of course Gibbon stated out of his own ignorance.

The Christian account dates the story as in the time of King Decius, a persecutor of the Christian faith, who died in 251 C.E. If the event truly happened during his reign, then, according to Qur’anic estimates the youths perhaps woke up in 551 C.E, 19 years before the birth of the Prophet in 570 C.E.! Could an event of such close occurrence be unknown to the Prophet, that he should be tested to unravel? Orientalists, the honest tribe, which is respected for its erudition, are inclined to believe in the Syriac account, although, it is common knowledge that there is not a single account in the Bible which is trustworthy for its dates or, for that matter, its contents. But it is a curious habit of the Orientalists to accept any Biblical account as true, if it can discredit the Prophet in any way.

In any case, the story goes that somewhere, sometime in the ancient world, a few young men of a kingdom had embraced the true religion of the time. But the king was on the old time-honored pagan religion. He had sanctioned the worship of such idols alone as he approved: the great, venerable national gods. The people were to also slaughter their animals in their names. But, saying, ‘Our Lord - the Lord of the heavens and earth - We shall never invoke any god other than He; if (we did) we would have spoken an outrage,’ the youths refused, and broke away from the multitude. When faced with persecution (they must have been called unpatriotic) at the king’s command who soon came to know about them, and who had given them 24 hours to think about it or face the gallows, they left town for mountains seeking retreat in a cave. They were followed by a dog which belonged to one of them. In the cave, Allah put them and their dog to sleep; and aroused them after several centuries. When they arose, they felt that they had slept for a day or a night. Hungry, they sent one of them to purchase food. As he entered the town, he observed that everything had changed: the people, their attire, language, culture, buildings, and everything. He tried to buy some food anyway. But when he thrust forward a coin, the trader recognized that it was ancient money – and the boy no less ancient, or his language. He suspected the lad had found a treasure. The lad insisted he had it on him since yesterday. A crowd gathered. Finally, they took him to the king. This man was a Muslim. After hearing the boy’s story, he ordered old records checked and found that yes, at one time a few young men had been persecuted and had left the town. He asked the boy to lead them to his cave. He agreed. But as he entered, he and his companions died. Some people suggested, “Let us build a mosque here” (Au.).

Mawdudi throws light on the purpose - or one of many - of the narration in the Qur’an: “The story also dispels a serious misconception. At times people are led to the false belief that the apparent complex of causal relationships, which they call the laws of nature, are absolutely inalterable. What we call laws of nature are in fact the usual ways in which God lets thing happen. He is not, however, bound by any such laws and has the power to set aside or alter these so-called ‘laws’ and to do whatever He will, in flagrant contravention of the usual ways in which things happen.”

21. That is, the cave was so situated that they were saved from the sun’s beat throughout the year (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi). They would have thus been also saved from the observation of a passer-by (Mawdudi).

22. “Fajwah” is a wide, open space within a cave or between two cliffs (No`mani).

23. “That was one of the signs of Allah:” that is, the fact that Allah led them to the right kind of cave. When Allah guides someone, He guides him through and through (Au.).

Ibn Kathir remarks that Allah mentioned the position of the cave with reference to the sun. The position avoided its harmful effects. But He said nothing about where the cave was located. Hence there is no point in trying to locate the cave after this lapse of time. All the more so because such far and wide places have been suggested: [Aylah (Ibn ‘Abbas), Nineveh (Ibn Is-haq), Roman territory, Spain (Qurtubi), Qumran Caves in Jordan (Asad) - Au.].

The question remains, what if we knew the place? If its knowledge had been of any profit, surely Allah would not have held it back from us. The Prophet has said, “There is nothing that can take you closer to Paradise but I have informed you about it, and there is nothing that will take you away from the Fire but I have informed you about it.”

Mawdudi writes, (under verse 22), “(The main point is Allah has power to resurrect). But instead of taking note of this, people often get embroiled in trivial and far-fetched questions. They ask, for example, what was the total number of the People of the Cave? What were their names? What was the color of their dog? Such questions can only be of interest to those who concern themselves with the husk rather than with the kernel..”

We do not know who wished to know the color of their dog. But, a word thrown here, or a hint thrown there in the Qur’an – that, going by the rule of “what is not profitable”, apparently are functionless - seem to provide challenges to the inquisitive human minds. They immediately accept the challenge and begin to investigate to unravel the mystery. It is the desire to uncover mysteries that accounts as an important factor in the progression of knowledge (Au.).