Surah 18. Al-Kahf

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Verses [Section]: 1-12[1], 13-17 [2], 18-22 [3], 23-31 [4], 32-44 [5], 45-49 [6], 50-53 [7], 54-59 [8], 60-70 [9], 71-82 [10], 83-101 [11], 102-110 [12]

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Quran Text of Verse 13-17نَحْنُWeنَقُصُّnarrateعَلَیْكَto youنَبَاَهُمْtheir storyبِالْحَقِّ ؕin truthاِنَّهُمْIndeed they (were)فِتْیَةٌyouthsاٰمَنُوْاwho believedبِرَبِّهِمْin their Lordوَ زِدْنٰهُمْand We increased themهُدًیۗۖ(in) guidance وَّ رَبَطْنَاAnd We made firmعَلٰی[on]قُلُوْبِهِمْtheir heartsاِذْwhenقَامُوْاthey stood upفَقَالُوْاand saidرَبُّنَاOur Lordرَبُّ(is) the Lordالسَّمٰوٰتِ(of) the heavensوَ الْاَرْضِand the earthلَنْNeverنَّدْعُوَاۡwe will invokeمِنْbesides Himدُوْنِهٖۤbesides Himاِلٰهًاany godلَّقَدْCertainlyقُلْنَاۤwe would have saidاِذًاthenشَطَطًا an enormity هٰۤؤُلَآءِTheseقَوْمُنَاour peopleاتَّخَذُوْاhave takenمِنْbesides Himدُوْنِهٖۤbesides Himاٰلِهَةً ؕgodsلَوْ لَاWhy notیَاْتُوْنَthey comeعَلَیْهِمْto themبِسُلْطٰنٍۭwith an authorityبَیِّنٍ ؕclearفَمَنْAnd whoاَظْلَمُ(is) more wrongمِمَّنِthan (one) whoافْتَرٰیinventsعَلَیagainstاللّٰهِAllahكَذِبًاؕa lie 18. Al-Kahf Page 295وَ اِذِAnd whenاعْتَزَلْتُمُوْهُمْyou withdraw from themوَ مَاand whatیَعْبُدُوْنَthey worshipاِلَّاexceptاللّٰهَAllahفَاْوٗۤاthen retreatاِلَیtoالْكَهْفِthe caveیَنْشُرْWill spreadلَكُمْfor youرَبُّكُمْyour LordمِّنْofرَّحْمَتِهٖHis Mercyوَ یُهَیِّئْand will facilitateلَكُمْfor youمِّنْ[from]اَمْرِكُمْyour affairمِّرْفَقًا (in) ease وَ تَرَیAnd you (might) have seenالشَّمْسَthe sunاِذَاwhenطَلَعَتْit roseتَّزٰوَرُinclining awayعَنْfromكَهْفِهِمْtheir caveذَاتَtoالْیَمِیْنِthe rightوَ اِذَاand whenغَرَبَتْit setتَّقْرِضُهُمْpassing away from themذَاتَtoالشِّمَالِthe leftوَ هُمْwhile theyفِیْ(lay) inفَجْوَةٍthe open spaceمِّنْهُ ؕthereofذٰلِكَThatمِنْ(was) fromاٰیٰتِ(the) Signsاللّٰهِ ؕ(of) AllahمَنْWhoeverیَّهْدِAllah guidesاللّٰهُAllah guidesفَهُوَand heالْمُهْتَدِ ۚ(is) the guided oneوَ مَنْand whoeverیُّضْلِلْHe lets go astrayفَلَنْthen neverتَجِدَyou will findلَهٗfor himوَلِیًّاa protectorمُّرْشِدًا۠a guide

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Translation of Verse 13-17

(18:13) We narrate to you their true story.⁹ They were a party of young men who had faith in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance¹⁰

(18:14) and strengthened their hearts when they stood up and proclaimed: "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We shall call upon no other god beside Him; (for if we did so), we shall be uttering a blasphemy."

(18:15) (Then they conferred among themselves and said): "These men, our own people, have taken others as gods beside Him: why do they not bring any clear evidence that they indeed are gods? Who can be more unjust than he who foists a lie on Allah?

(18:16) And now that you have dissociated yourselves from them and from whatever they worship beside Allah, go and seek refuge in the Cave.¹¹ Your Lord will extend His mercy to you and will provide for you the means for the disposal of your affairs."

(18:17) Had you seen them in the Cave¹² it would have appeared to you that when the sun rose, it moved away from their Cave to the right; and when it set, it turned away from them to the left, while they remained in a spacious hollow in the Cave.¹³ This is one of the Signs of Allah. Whomsoever Allah guides, he alone is led aright; and whomsoever Allah lets go astray, you will find for him no guardian to direct him.

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Commentary

9. The earliest evidence of this story is found in the Sermons of the Christian priest James of Sarug, a work which is in Syriac. He was born a few years after the death of the People of the Cave in 452 C.E. and he compiled his Sermons around 474 C.E.

This Syriac account reached the commentators of the Qur’an and this explains why Ibn Jarir al-Tabari reproduced it in his Commentary under different chains of transmission. The same account reached Europe and was subsequently translated and summarized in Greek and Latin. Edward Gibbon provided a summarized version of the story based on these sources under the title ‘The Seven Sleepers’ in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. (See Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, second edition, in six volumes, London, Murray, 1846, vol. 3, pp. 220-2.) Gibbon’s account is so closely similar to the reports found in the works of Muslim commentators of the Qur’an that both seem to have drawn on the same source. For example, the king who persecuted the People of the Cave, forcing them to retire to the cave, is called Dagyanus, or Daqyanus (see al-Tabari’s comments on this surah) or Daqyaus in Muslim sources. According to Gibbon, his name was Decius and he ruled over the Roman Empire from 249 C.E. to 251 C.E. His reign was notorious for the persecution of the followers of Jesus Christ (peace be on him). The city where the incident took place is called Afsus, or Afsaus in Muslim sources, while Gibbon names it as Ephesus, which was the largest town and a famous Roman port on the western coast of Asia Minor. The ruins of this town can be found at a distance of some twenty to twenty-five miles from the present-day Turkish town and seaport of Izmir (Smyrna). (See Map 2.) Moreover, the Emperor during whose reign the People of the Cave woke up is referred to as Tidhusis in Muslim sources (see, for instance, al-Tabari’s comments on the surah in his Tafsir - Ed.) while, according to Gibbon, the event took place during the reign of Theodosius II who ruled over Rome from 408 to 450 C.E., after the Roman Empire’s adoption of Christianity as its official religion.

The two accounts resemble each other so closely that the person sent to the town to bring food is called Yamlikha by Muslims and Yamblichus by Gibbon. The story, in all its details, is common to both sources. In its bare outline, the story mentions that while the disciples of Jesus Christ (peace be on him) were persecuted during the rule of Decius, the Seven Youths of Ephesus retired to “the cave and finally woke up in the thirty-eighth year of the Emperor Theodosius, i.e. in 445 or 446 C.E., at a time when the entire Roman Empire had already embraced Christianity. According to this account, they remained in the Cave for about 196 years. Some Orientalists have, however, cast doubt on the Qur’anic version on the ground that the Qur’an specifies the period of their stay to be 309 years. (For our view on this subject, however, see n. 25 below.)

The Syriac and Qur’anic versions of the story differ in certain respects. Gibbon had the temerity to dub the Prophet (peace be on him) as ‘ignorant’ on account of these differences. (See Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, op. cit., vol. 3, p. 220, n. 45 — Ed.) This is bold indeed of Gibbon who himself recognizes the Syriac work to have been composed by someone in “Syria some thirty or forty years after the event. It is evident that oral traditions, usually undergo changes in the process of transmission from one land to another, Gibbon’s judgement would have made some sense had the Syriac account been fully authentic and reliable. But we know that is not the case. Hence the insistent contention that if the Qur’anic account varies to any extent from the Syriac account the Qur’an must be wrong can only behove those whose religious bigotry has totally overwhelmed them. (See also Appendix 1.)

10. When these youths became sincere men of faith, God enhanced their guidance and enabled them to faithfully adhere to the truth. This also gave them the strength to prefer courting all kinds of dangers as opposed to timidly surrendering before the forces of falsehood.

11. At the time when these devout youths had to flee from the towns and take shelter in the mountains, the town of Ephesus was a major center of idolatry and magic in Asia Minor. The splendid temple to the goddess Diana, which then adorned the town, was famous the world over. (For the goddess Diana, q.v., Encyclopedia Britannica — Ed.) It attracted devotees from far-flung places who took part in rites of worship there. The sorcerers, soothsayers, and amulet-writers of Ephesus were well-known; theirs was a flourishing business all over Syria, Palestine and Egypt. The Jews, who attributed their skill in this field to the Prophet Solomon (peace be on him), also had an important share in this business. (See art. ‘Ephesus’ in Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature.)

The plight of righteous people in this atmosphere an atmosphere charged’ with polytheism and superstition was summed up in the following remark about the People of the Cave: ‘For if they should come upon us, they will stone us to death or force us to revert to their faith’ (al-Kahf 18: 20).

12. In the course of this narration, mention of the youths’ collective decision to take refuge in a cave in this mountainous region such that they might avoid being subjected to lapidation or compelled apostasy has been omitted.

13. The mouth of their cave faced north, thus preventing sunlight from entering it no matter what the season. The result being that the cave remained dark and it was impossible for any passer-by to observe the inmates of the cave from outside.