18. Al-Kahf بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ اَلْحَمْدُ All Praise لِلّٰهِ (is) for Allah الَّذِیْۤ the One Who اَنْزَلَ (has) revealed عَلٰی to عَبْدِهِ His slave الْكِتٰبَ the Book وَ لَمْ and not یَجْعَلْ (has) made لَّهٗ in it عِوَجًاؕٚ any crookedness قَیِّمًا Straight لِّیُنْذِرَ to warn بَاْسًا (of) a punishment شَدِیْدًا severe مِّنْ from لَّدُنْهُ near Him وَ یُبَشِّرَ and give glad tidings الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ (to) the believers الَّذِیْنَ those who یَعْمَلُوْنَ do الصّٰلِحٰتِ righteous deeds اَنَّ that لَهُمْ for them اَجْرًا (is) a good reward حَسَنًاۙ (is) a good reward مَّاكِثِیْنَ (They will) abide فِیْهِ in it اَبَدًاۙ forever وَّ یُنْذِرَ And to warn الَّذِیْنَ those who قَالُوا say اتَّخَذَ Allah has taken اللّٰهُ Allah has taken وَلَدًاۗ a son 18. Al-Kahf Page 294 مَا Not لَهُمْ they have بِهٖ about it مِنْ any عِلْمٍ knowledge وَّ لَا and not لِاٰبَآىِٕهِمْ ؕ their forefathers كَبُرَتْ Mighty (is) كَلِمَةً the word تَخْرُجُ (that) comes out مِنْ of اَفْوَاهِهِمْ ؕ their mouths اِنْ Not یَّقُوْلُوْنَ they say اِلَّا except كَذِبًا a lie فَلَعَلَّكَ Then perhaps you would (be) بَاخِعٌ the one who kills نَّفْسَكَ yourself عَلٰۤی over اٰثَارِهِمْ their footsteps اِنْ if لَّمْ not یُؤْمِنُوْا they believe بِهٰذَا in this الْحَدِیْثِ [the] narration اَسَفًا (in) grief اِنَّا Indeed We جَعَلْنَا We have made مَا what عَلَی (is) on الْاَرْضِ the earth زِیْنَةً adornment لَّهَا for it لِنَبْلُوَهُمْ that We may test [them] اَیُّهُمْ which of them اَحْسَنُ (is) best عَمَلًا (in) deed وَ اِنَّا And indeed We لَجٰعِلُوْنَ (will) surely make مَا what عَلَیْهَا (is) on it صَعِیْدًا soil جُرُزًاؕ barren اَمْ Or حَسِبْتَ you think اَنَّ that اَصْحٰبَ (the) companions الْكَهْفِ (of) the cave وَ الرَّقِیْمِ ۙ and the inscription كَانُوْا were مِنْ among اٰیٰتِنَا Our Signs عَجَبًا a wonder اِذْ When اَوَی retreated الْفِتْیَةُ the youths اِلَی to الْكَهْفِ the cave فَقَالُوْا and they said رَبَّنَاۤ Our Lord! اٰتِنَا Grant us مِنْ from لَّدُنْكَ Yourself رَحْمَةً Mercy وَّ هَیِّئْ and facilitate لَنَا for us مِنْ [from] اَمْرِنَا our affair رَشَدًا (in the) right way فَضَرَبْنَا So We cast عَلٰۤی over اٰذَانِهِمْ their ears فِی in الْكَهْفِ the cave سِنِیْنَ years عَدَدًاۙ a number ثُمَّ Then بَعَثْنٰهُمْ We raised them up لِنَعْلَمَ that We make evident اَیُّ which الْحِزْبَیْنِ (of) the two parties اَحْصٰی best calculated لِمَا for what لَبِثُوْۤا (they had) remained اَمَدًا۠ (in) time
(18:1) Praise be to Allah Who has revealed to His servant the Book devoid of all crookedness;1
(18:2) an unerringly Straight Book, meant to warn of a stern punishment from Allah, and to proclaim, to those who believe and work righteous deeds, the tiding that theirs shall be a good reward
(18:3) wherein they shall abide for ever;
(18:4) and also to warn those who say: "Allah has taken to Himself a son,"2
(18:5) a thing about which they have no knowledge,3 neither they nor their ancestors. Dreadful is the word that comes out of their mouths. What they utter is merely a lie.
(18:6) (O Muhammad), if they do not believe in this Message,4 you will perhaps torment yourself to death with grief, sorrowing over them.
(18:7) Surely We have made all that is on the earth an embellishment for it in order to test people as to who of them is better in conduct.
(18:8) In the ultimate, We shall reduce all that is on the earth to a barren plain.5
(18:9) Do you think that the people of the Cave6 and the Inscription7 were one of Our wondrous signs?8
(18:10) When those youths sought refuge in the Cave and said: "Our Lord! Grant us mercy from Yourself and provide for us rectitude in our affairs."
(18:11) We lulled them to sleep in that cave for a number of years
(18:12) and then roused them so that We might see which of the two parties could best tell the length of their stay.
1. This means that there is nothing in the Qur’an which, being intrinsically complex and enigmatic, defies understanding. Likewise, there is nothing in the Qur’an which is repugnant to truth and righteousness making it difficult for any truth-loving person to believe in it.
2. Those who declare that God had begotten offspring include Christians, Jews and the polytheists of Arabia.
3, That is, when the polytheists declare that someone is either God’s son, or that God has taken him as His son, such statements are not based on any dependable knowledge of which they might feel sure. People in fact are wont to make such arbitrary statements in a fit of exaggerated devotion. Little do they realize how outrageously misleading their doctrine is. Nor do they fully recognize what blasphemy they utter, and what fabrication they foist upon God.
4. This refers to the condition of the Prophet (peace be on him) at that time. It is evident that he was not grieved primarily because of the persecution to which he and his Companions were subjected. What really grieved him and caused him intense suffering was the realization that while he sincerely wished to salvage his people from the doctrinal error and moral corruption in which they were steeped, they, however, showed no readiness to get out of the rut in which they were in. He, therefore, felt convinced that his people would be seized by God’s scourge. For while the Prophet (peace be on him) exerted himself day and night to save his people, they virtually insisted that God’s punishment should inflict them. In a hadith, the Prophet (peace be on him) portrays this condition in the following words:
The analogy of me and of the people is this: a person who lit a fire which illuminated the area around him, but this caused moths and other insects which (are inclined to) fall into fire to fall into it. This person tried to somehow pull them away (from the fire), but they overpower him and plunge into the fire. My position is that I seek to restrain you from the fire but you plunge into it. K. al-Riqaq, ‘Bab al-Intiha’ min al-Ma‘asi’ . (See also Muslim, K. al-Fada’ il, ‘Bab Shafaqat Salla Allah ‘alayhi wa sallam ‘ala Ummatih’ . . . — Ed.)
The verse apparently states that the Prophet (peace be on him) is so intensely concerned with the welfare of his people, the Quraysh, that he might lose his life. The verse, however, also contains a message of consolation for the Prophet (peace be on him), for it also subtly tells him that he is not to blame for the failure of his people to believe and do good. It is beyond anyone’s power to turn people into believers. The Prophet (peace be on him) should, therefore, persevere in his mission: giving good tidings to those who believe, and warning those that do not of the evil consequences of disbelieving.
5. The earlier verse (i.e. verse 6) was addressed to the Prophet (peace be on him) while these two verses (i.e. verses 7-8) are addressed to the unbelievers.
After saying a word of comfort to the Prophet (peace be on him), the deniers of the truth are told — albeit without addressing them directly — that the riches and ‘pomp and grandeur of the world which fascinate them, are all transient, and are meant to test human beings. Many are misled by the opportunity to live in ease and luxury, mistakenly believing that they were created simply to enjoy the pleasures of worldly life. As a result, such people pay no heed to the counsel of sincere well-wishers. They fail to appreciate that the opportunities for enjoyment are in fact simply a means of testing how people behave. The purpose of the test is precisely to distinguish those who immerse themselves in the pleasures of life from those who remain conscious of their duty to serve their Lord and follow the right way. The day this test ends, this life of enjoyment will also be brought to a sudden close, and the earth will become merely a vast stretch of desolation.
6. In Arabic, the word kahf signifies a large cave, whereas the word ghar signifies a relatively narrow and small cave.
7. There is disagreement among scholars concerning the word al-raqim. Some Companions and Successors are reported to have expressed the view that it is the name of the place where the event took place, and that it was located between Elia, i.e. the land (i.e. ‘Aqabah) and Palestine. Some of the early commentators on the Qur’an, however, are of the opinion that al-raqim refers to the epitaph which was placed at the Cave as a monument to the People of the Cave. Mawlana Abu al-Kalam Azad has expressed his preference for the former view in his work Tarjuman al-Qur’ an. (See his Tarjuman al-Qur’ an - (New Delhi, Sahatyah Academy, 1970), vol. 4, pp. 406—7— Ed.) He considers this to be the same place as Rekem mentioned in the Bible (see Joshua 18: 27).
Azad also identifies this with the ancient Nabataean city of Petra. He has failed, however, to take into account the fact that Rekem was mentioned in the Bible among the cities inherited by the Benjeminites. According to the Book of Joshua, this was located to the west of the River Jordan and the Sea of Lot.
Obviously, it would be out of the question for Petra to be located there. For the ruins of Petra were discovered in an area which was separated from the territory under the occupation of the Benjeminites by the territory of Judah and Edomia. It is for this reason that modern archaeologists are strongly disinclined to regard Petra and al-Raqim as the same place. (See art. ‘Petra’ in’ Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1946 edition, vol. 17, p. 658; also art. ‘Petra’ in the 15th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. 9, p. 339 — Ed.) In our view, al-raqim signifies epitaph, or the inscription on the epitaph, rather than the name of any particular place.
8. The unbelievers are being asked whether they consider it impossible to believe that God — Who out of His power could bring the earth and the heaven into existence — would be unable to cause a group of people to remain asleep for three hundred years and then restore them to their former state — youthful and healthy — as if they had never been subjected to such a long spell of slumber? If the unbelievers were to keep in mind God’s power to create such objects as the sun, the moon and the earth, they would never have considered that act at all difficult for God.