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O
Prophet Thou wouldst only, perchance, fret thyself to death, following after
them, in grief, if they believe not in this Message.‘ That which is on earth we
have made but as a glittering show for the earth, in order that We may test
them - as to which of them are best in conduct. Verily what is on earth we
shall make but as dust and dry soil without growth or herbage. Or dost thou
reflect that the Companions of the Cave and of the Inscription were wonders
among Our Sign?
Behold,
the youths betook themselves to the Cave: they said, "Our Lord! bestow on
us Mercy from Thyself, and dispose of our affair for us in the right way!"
Then We draw a veil over their ears, for a number of years, in the Cave, (so
that they hear not):
Then We
roused them, in order to test which of the two parties was best at calculating
the term of years they had tarried!
We
relate to thee their story in truth: they were youths who believed in their Lord,
and We advanced them in guidance: We gave strength to their hearts: Behold,
they stood up and said: "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and of the
earth: never shall we call upon any god other than Him: if we did, we should
indeed have uttered an enormity! "These our people have taken for worship
gods other than Him: why do they not bring forward an authority clear and
convincing for what they do? Who doth more wrong than such as invent a
falsehood against God? "When ye turn away from them and the things they
worship other than God, betake yourselves to the Cave: Your Lord will shower
His mercies on you and disposes of your affair towards comfort and ease."
Thou wouldst have seen the sun, when it rose, declining to the right from their
Cave, and when it set, turning away from them to the left, while they lay in
the open space in the midst of the Cave. Such are among the Signs of God. He
whom God, guides is rightly guided; but he whom God leaves to stray, for him
wilt thou find no protector to lead him to the Right Way.
Thou wouldst
have deemed them awake, whilst they were asleep, and We turned them on their
right and on their left sides: their dog stretching forth his two
fore-legs on the threshold: if, thou hadst come up on to them, thou
wouldst have certainly turned back from them in flight, and wouldst certainly
have been filled with terror of them. Such (being their state), we raised them
up (from sleep), that they might question each other. Said one of them,
"How long have ye stayed here?" They said, "We have stayed
perhaps a day, or part of a day." At length they all said, "God alone
knows best how long ye have stayed here.... Now send ye then one of you with
this money of yours to the town; let him find out which is the best food (to be
had) and bring some to you, that (ye may) satisfy your hunger therewith: And
let him behave with care and courtesy, and let him not inform any one about
you. "For if they should come upon you, they would stone you or force you
to return to their cult, and in that case ye would never attain
prosperity."
Thus did We
make their case known to the people, that they might know that the promise of
God is true, and that there can be no doubt about the Hour of Judgment. Behold,
they disputed among themselves as to their affair. (Some) said, "Construct
a building over them": Their Lord knows best about them: those who
prevailed over their affair said, "Let us surely build a place of worship
over them." Some say they were three, the dog being the fourth among them;
others say they were five, the dog being the sixth,- doubtfully guessing at the
unknown; yet others say they were seven, the dog being the eighth. Say thou:
"My Lord knows best their number; it is but few that know their real
case."
Enter not,
therefore, into controversies concerning them, except on a matter that is
clear, nor consult any of them about the affair of the Sleepers. Nor say of
anything. "I shall be sure to do so and so tomorrow" Without adding,
"So please God." and call thy Lord to mind when thou forget, and say,
''I hope that my Lord will guide me ever closer even than this to the right
road." So they stayed in their Cave three hundred years, and some add nine
more. Say: "God knows best how long they stayed: with Him is the knowledge
of the secrets of the heavens and the earth: how clearly He sees, how finely He
hears (everything)! They have no protector other than Him; nor does He share
His Command with any person whatsoever.
And
recite and teach what has been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord: none
can change His Words, and none wilt thou find as a refuge other than Him. And
keep thy soul content with those who call on their Lord morning and evening,
seeking His Face; and let not thine eyes pass beyond them, seeking the pomp and
glitter of this Life; no obey any whose heart We have permitted to neglect the
remembrance of Us, one who follows his own desires, whose case has gone beyond
all bounds.
(S: 18, V: 1-28)
Infields
of Makka, upon instigations of Christians and Jews, Or testing the knowledge of
the Holy Prophet (PBUH) put three questions to him.
1.
Who were the Companions of the Cave?
2.
Who is Khizar? And,
3.
Does he know the story of Zulqumain?
All
the stories concerning these questions were buried in the Christian and Jewish
history and Arabs were not familiar with those stories. Purpose of the’ people
to pose these questions was to ascertain that Holy Prophet (PBUH) was really
versed with the divine knowledge or not.
Ephesus;
the city of Rome was built in 11"‘ century BC. Afterwards it turned into a
great center of worshipping goddess Diana. People from far away visited this
city. Sorcerers, priests, witch doctors, magicians, divination experts and
specialists of amulet and charms of this city were famous the world over. These
things were practiced up to Syria and Egypt. Jews, ascribing their correlation
with Solomon, had the biggest contribution in this business. Infidelity and
pagan worshipping based upon superstitions was common.
It
is said that there was a king named Decius in Rome. He had a large empire with
sizable army of soldiers. Once another king attacked Rome. Decius defeated him
and won the war. The enemy king was killed and his sons were imprisoned.
According to some, they were five and some say they were not five but six
brothers. Kaiser of Rome enslaved them and they were made to serve him.
Kaiser
proclaimed to be a god and made the people to prostrate before him. One night
all these brothers had a discussion amongst themselves to find a way out of the
slavery and freedom to worship one suggested that they should escape. They
planned to escape.
One
day when Kaiser went to play game of javelin and he took these brothers
with him. One of them, by the close of the day, threw the javelin out of the
ground and went after it pretending to fetch it. The king started back and
other brothers also stealthily sneaked away and joined their brother. Soon they
were out of Kaiser’s domain.
The
brief account of the details of this story as collected by Gregory of Tours in
his book Meraculorum liber is given here.
When,
the teachings of Christ reached Rome few of the youths of that city left pagan
worshipping, embraced Christianity and switched over to worshipping one God.
Decius, the Kaiser of Rome, summoned seven of these young men and asked them,
“What is your religion?”
They
knew that the Kaiser was after the lives of Christians but they fearlessly
said, “Our Lord is the Lord of the earth and the heavens and we do not
acknowledge any one other than Him to be our Lord and if we would do so, we
would be committing a sin.”
This
offended Kaiser greatly and he said angrily, “O you! Shut up, otherwise I’ll
slay you. You are young so I give you respite for three days. If you mended
your ways and returned to the religion of your people I’ll spare your lives
otherwise you would be put to the sword.”
Taking
advantage of the given time the youths escaped from the city towards mountains
to take refuge in a cave. On the way a dog joined them. Finding a large cave
they hid themselves in there and the dog sat near the entrance of the cave.
They were tired and exhausted so they all went to sleep. Quran mentions about
this thus:
Do
you think that Companions of the Cave and of the Inscription were wonders among
our signs? When the youths betook themselves to the Cave, they said, “Our Lord!
Bestow on us mercy from Thyself and dispose of our affair for us in the right
way. Then, We patted upon their ears (to put them to deep slumber for a number
of years in the Cave. (S: 13, VI 9-11)
When
Decius, the Kaiser of Rome came to know of their escape and found that they
were hiding in a cave, he ordered to construct a wall to seal the cave so that
they should perish within and the cave be turned into their grave as a
punishment to their crime of not listening to him and trying to run away from
his domain. The man who was given the task of constructing the wall was a
person of good nature. He got the names of those youths and the details of the
happening inscribed on a bronze tablet and buried it near the foundation of the
wall in a copper box. According to the legends a similar tablet containing the
names of those youths was deposited in the royal treasury.
After
sometime Decius died and centuries passed by, kings came and perished so much
so that a righteous king named Badros became the ruler of Rome and ruled the
country for 68 years. In his times people were divided upon the issue of Life
after Death. Some of the people, under the influence of distorted teachings of
Judaism, denied any concept of life after death and Resurrection. Badros, who
himself was a Christian and believed in resurrection and life after death, grew
worried He wanted people to have faith in resurrection and life after death. So
he earnestly prayed to God to grant him some sign that should convince his
people of Resurrection after the Doomsday and life after death.
In
those days, a person chose that cave to use it as a pen for his sheep and got the
wall demolished. When the wall fell and the people saw in the cave it terrified
them and they ran away in fright.
If
thou had come up on to them thou would have certainly turned back from them in
flight and would have certainly been filled with terror of them.
(S:
18, V: 18)
They
got up fresh and bright, full of life and filled with inner solace and bliss.
They offered their prayers and asked one anther if someone had any idea as to
how long they had been there sleeping.
And
they stayed in that cave for three hundred years and some add it up to nine
hundred. Say, "God knows best how long they stayed, with Him is the
knowledge of the secrets of the heavens and the earth. ”
(S: 18, V: 25-26)
Then
they sent one of them, whose name was Yamlikha, giving him some money to the
town to bring some food for them. They also told him to be careful lest he is
recognized and they be traced through him.
When
Yamlikha reached the town he couldn’t recognize the town. It was all changed.
All had become Christians and there was nobody to worship Diana. He managed to
find a baker. When he made the payment for his purchases using the coins that
had the picture of Decius, the baker was surprised to see that coin and he
asked him as to where did he find that coin because that was a centuries old
coin and that he must have found an old treasure.
was
his own money. And, h so that the matter reached the told him to tell him about
the found treasure because the coin he was having belonged to the era of
Decius who had died many centuries before. When Yamlikha heard that Kaiser
Decius had passed away centuries ago, he was dumb founded and couldn’t say
anything. After a while when he recovered his senses, he told the mayor, it was
only yesterday when he along with his companions had fled from the town and had
taken refuge in a cave in the nearby mountains, to save themselves from the
tyranny of Decius. And, that if they wished he could take them to them. Mayor
and the chiefs of the town along with a number of on lookers came to the cave where
his other companions were hiding.
When
they saw a mob coming towards the cave they thought that their companion had
been apprehended and he gave them in to the Decius Army. But when the people
reached the cave and they saw the others and it was confirmed that they belonged
to era of Decius and they had been asleep till then, the people had much firmer
faith in rising after death. The mayor saw the copper box and upon opening he
found the bronze tablet having their names and the name of their dog, which
are: Mccilmena Yamlikha, Martens, Benonus, Sarinonus, Zononus Chasfieti Taunus
and the Name of their dog was Qatmeer.
It
was written on that tablet that these in this cave fearing the Decius to save
their faith and religion. Decius upon coming to know sealed off the cave by
constructing this wall. This is written so that whenever this cave is opened
people should have knowledge about them.
This
inscription left everyone wonder-stricken and people celebrated the praises of
God who had sent a sign for them to believe in Resurrection and life after
death. The mayor informed the Kind Badros who visited the cave and thanked God
for acceding to his prayer. Companions of the Cave met the king and went back
to the cave to enter the realm of eternal slumber.
In
those times Dooms Day and the Day of Judgment were the most popular topics of
discussion among the people. A group of Jews; Sadoquies had opted to deny the
Doomsday and the Day of Judgment altogether. They used the quotation of the Old
Testament to support their arguments with such skill and tactfully that the
Christian Scholars had no answer to their reasoning nor they could prove it
with any example that Hereafter is another phase of life. Minds of Sadoquies
were set so low that they were not ready to accept that after the life of this
world they would ever be resurrected and there would be the Day of Judgment
when they would be called to account for their deeds in the life of this world
here. This debate usually ended in favor of Jews who rejected the concept of
life of hereafter altogether.
God
has narrated the story of the Companions of the Cave to put an end to their
misleading thinking. It is not at all difficult for God to Put someone to sleep
and awaken him after three hundred of more Years and in spite of passage of
this long duration of time l1lS form and features are also maintained without
suffering any Signs of aging. Extraordinary events can take place as and
when God so wills.
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