إِذ أَوَى الفِتيَةُ إِلَى الكَهفِ فَقالوا رَبَّنا آتِنا مِن لَدُنكَ رَحمَةً وَهَيِّئ لَنا مِن أَمرِنا رَشَدًا

When the youths took refuge in the cave, they said: ‘Our Lord! Grant us a mercy from Yourself, and help us on to rectitude in our affair.’

EXEGESIS

Awā (took refuge) comes from awī meaning to return, more specifically to a place (maʾwā) where they can rest and feel secure.^{‎[1]Mizan, 13/247; Nemuneh, 12/357.}

Fityah (youths) is the plural of fatā, like later in the surah, he said to his lad (fatā) (verse 62), and indicates a small group of young people.^{‎[2]Alusi, 8/201; Tantawi, 8/475.} It is also used as a term of praise.^{‎[3]Mizan, 13/247.}

Hayyiʾ (help) comes from tahīʾah, meaning to prepare.^{‎[4]Mizan, 13/247.} Here it means to make it easy^{‎[5]Tibyan, 7/12; Tantawi, 8/475.} because when something is prepared for you, you do not need to work hard for it anymore.

Amr (affair) can have many different meanings depending on the context. It can mean any event (shaʾn), or to command and order. It is a general word used for all action and speech.^{‎[6]Raghib, p. 88.} Here it means the issue and affair the youths were facing.

Rashad (rectitude) has the same meaning as rushd and means to achieve the desired state of maturity and rectitude. However, rushd is used for both physical (4:6) and spiritual (2:256, 21:51, 72:2) matters while rashad is used only for the latter (18:10, 72:10, 72:14).

EXPOSITION

This and the next two verses is a summary of the story of the People of the Cave, in which God outlines the basic elements of the event. A group of youths who believed in God went to a cave and prayed for God’s help. God made them sleep there for some years, until He then roused them once again.

As this is a summary, we are not yet told the reason for them taking refuge in the cave, but later we find out it is because they stood up against the idolatry of their people and so they had to flee from their city.

They said: that is, upon reaching the cave.^{‎[7]Tibyan, 7/12.} There is an article fa here in the Arabic, which has no direct equivalent in English, but suggests that as soon as they reached the cave they turned to God in prayer.^{‎[8]Tantawi, 8/476.}

Our Lord! Grant us a mercy from Yourself: we are told that the mercy here is specifically from (ladun) God, and should be referring to none other than guidance.^{‎[9]Mizan, 13/247.} Naturally, this does not exclude other types of mercy.

The indefinite mercy (raḥmatan) is open-ended and undetermined, which foreshadows the unexpected way in which God answered their prayer.

And help us on to rectitude in our affair: the affair they are seeking help with is rising up for the one true God, which meant marking themselves for death, making themselves exiles, and abandoning their families and homes.^{‎[10]Tantawi, 8/475-476.}

There are various possibilities as to what is meant by rectitude:

1. Help us achieve the ultimate guidance (rashad).^{‎[11]Tabrisi, 6/698; Zamakhshari, 2/705.} Or that thing with which we may achieve rashad.^{‎[12]Baydawi, 3/274.}
2. Help us to safety from this cave, since rashad can have the meaning of being saved (najāh).^{‎[13]Tabrisi, 6/698; Mizan, 13/247.}
3. Help us gain Your satisfaction.^{‎[14]Tabrisi, 6/698; Tabari, 15/132.}
4. Help us to make the right decision in the course of this venture.

There is no reason to consider any of these as mutually exclusive and they are all referring to different aspects of rashad.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

There are some narrations that claim the People of the Cave were not youths but rather old men. These narrations explain that what is meant by fityah is not youth, but rather a heroic and noble quality.^{‎[15]Kafi, 8/395; Nur, 3/245.} This is indeed a connotation of the word, however the majority of the exegetes agree that they were in fact youths,^{‎[16]See for example Tibyan, 7/15; Tabrisi, 6/700; Razi, 21/441; Qurtubi, 10/364; Ibn Kathir, 5/127; Nemuneh, 12/360.} and this is also what is mentioned in the Christian sources.^{‎[17]In Syriac writings they are referred to as ‘Youths (ṭlāyê) of Ephesus’; see Sydney Griffith, ‘Christian lore and the Arabic Qur’an: the “Companions of the Cave” in Sūrat al-Kahf and in Syriac Christian tradition’, in The Qur’ān and its Historical Context, ed. Gabriel Said Reynolds (Routledge, 2007), pp. 109-138. See the commentary on verse 9 for more on the Christian sources.}

[1] Mizan, 13/247; Nemuneh, 12/357.
[2] Alusi, 8/201; Tantawi, 8/475.
[3] Mizan, 13/247.
[4] Mizan, 13/247.
[5] Tibyan, 7/12; Tantawi, 8/475.
[6] Raghib, p. 88.
[7] Tibyan, 7/12.
[8] Tantawi, 8/476.
[9] Mizan, 13/247.
[10] Tantawi, 8/475-476.
[11] Tabrisi, 6/698; Zamakhshari, 2/705.
[12] Baydawi, 3/274.
[13] Tabrisi, 6/698; Mizan, 13/247.
[14] Tabrisi, 6/698; Tabari, 15/132.
[15] Kafi, 8/395; Nur, 3/245.
[16] See for example Tibyan, 7/15; Tabrisi, 6/700; Razi, 21/441; Qurtubi, 10/364; Ibn Kathir, 5/127; Nemuneh, 12/360.
[17] In Syriac writings they are referred to as ‘Youths (ṭlāyê) of Ephesus’; see Sydney Griffith, ‘Christian lore and the Arabic Qur’an: the “Companions of the Cave” in Sūrat al-Kahf and in Syriac Christian tradition’, in The Qur’ān and its Historical Context, ed. Gabriel Said Reynolds (Routledge, 2007), pp. 109-138. See the commentary on verse 9 for more on the Christian sources.