The Ocean of the Quran

A verse by verse explanation of The Ultimate Scripture

Al-Kahf – Verse 18

وَتَحسَبُهُم أَيقاظًا وَهُم رُقودٌ ۚ وَنُقَلِّبُهُم ذاتَ اليَمينِ وَذاتَ الشِّمالِ ۖ وَكَلبُهُم باسِطٌ ذِراعَيهِ بِالوَصيدِ ۚ لَوِ اطَّلَعتَ عَلَيهِم لَوَلَّيتَ مِنهُم فِرارًا وَلَمُلِئتَ مِنهُم رُعبًا

You will suppose them to be awake, although they are asleep. We turn them to the right and to the left, and their dog [lies] stretching its forelegs at the threshold. If you come upon them, you will surely turn to flee from them, and you will surely be filled with a terror of them.

EXEGESIS

Ruqūd (asleep) is the plural of rāqid, meaning the one who sleeps.‎[1] It is said to be used for a short sleep, like a nap; it is used here since their state might have seemed more akin to being dead, so three centuries would have been a short nap in comparison to that. The usage might be ironical, as three centuries is but a brief moment for God. It also links to their own later debate about how long they slept.

As was explained in the previous verse, the word dhāt here means jihah or direction. In other words they are turned towards the right direction and left direction.‎[2]

Dhirāʿayh (its forelegs) is the dual of dhirāʿ, which refers to the arm from elbow to fingertip.‎[3]

Waṣīd (threshold) is the open area in front of the door of a house (fināʾ). It also refers to the part of a door frame that you step across when you go through a doorway, and to a door when it is closed, like in the verses, closed (muʾṣadah) fire (90:20), and, Indeed it will close in (muʾṣadah) upon them (104:8).‎[4] In the case of a cave, a doorway would be referring to its entrance.‎[5] So the dog was resting at the mouth of the cave. Others have said that the dog was outside the cave, because of general reports that angels would not enter a house in which there is a dog.‎[6] This is a superficial way of looking at matters, though.

Ruʿb (terror) is the type of fear that fills the heart, such as, and He cast terror (ruʿb) into their hearts (33:26).‎[7]

EXPOSITION

This verse continues with the description of the state of the cave and its sleepers, giving further details.

You will suppose them to be awake, although they are asleep: while the address here is the singular (You), as we explained in the previous verse this should be meant in a general way. We are told that anyone who might have stumbled upon the cave would have been able to see the sleepers, and based on their appearance would not have assumed them to be sleeping. This suggests that their sleep was not actually sleep, as to an onlooker it would have seemed like they were awake.‎[8] It is said this is because their eyes were open and they were breathing, but they would not speak or move otherwise.‎[9]

Thus, those who would like to compare their state to something akin to hibernation or torpor would be mistaken. Rather, their state should have been something more reminiscent of suspended animation or cryptobiosis, which while far rarer than hibernation, can be witnessed in some living beings. Indeed, there are even scientific findings of micro-organisms that have existed in such states for thousands‎[10] and even millions of years.‎[11] Some experiments have even artificially induced such states in mammals – albeit short term – by the introduction of certain chemical compounds.‎[12] It bears keeping in mind that such examples should only ever be considered as illustrative, and not that the sleep of the People of the Cave was of such a nature.

Finally, it should be noted that by all accounts the clothes of the People of the Cave were also preserved for the entire duration. Any attempt at trying to understand or explain the nature of their prolonged state should take that into consideration as well.

We turn them to the right and to the left: it is said that if they were not turned to their sides in such a fashion the earth would have swallowed them up,‎[13] meaning they would have decomposed or plants would have grown over them. This would also have helped prevent their bodies and muscles from becoming sore and atrophied.‎[14] Some have criticised this saying God would not need to turn them in order to preserve them and could do so without resorting to such means.‎[15] This is a shallow understanding of matters though, as it is God’s practice to work within the natural laws He has made.‎[16] In any case, what would be the purpose of describing that He turned them if not to point out how He preserved them?

The We in this verse could be referring to God, or the angels who turned them by the command of God.‎[17] The attribution of the turning to God – rather than for example saying ‘they were turned’ – serves to emphasise the close care that God was giving them.‎[18]

The expressions of right (dhāt al-yamīn) and left (dhāt al-shimāl) echo the same expressions used in the previous verse. If in the previous verse the sun was symbolic of God’s mercy and attentive care, which gently helped them to survive the harshness of the centuries in the cave, then the imagery evoked here is that of the sleepers turning right and left like the sun turned to their right and left, as if they are looking to and turning towards the mercy of God. Except it is not they who turn but We turn them, God is the one who makes them look unto His mercy and guides them to it. This is the twofold mercy of God and an allusion to Your Lord will unfold His mercy for you, and He will help you on to ease in your affair (verse 16), not only will God give of His mercy, He will bring His servant to it as well.

And their dog [lies] stretching its forelegs at the threshold: yet another aid and mercy from God was the dog that kept watch over them. This could either mean that the dog was at the entrance of the cave, or at the entrance of the cavern (or smaller recess within the cave)‎[19] wherein they slept.‎[20] Apparently, the dog kept guard over them in this fashion for the whole three centuries that they resided in the cave.‎[21] It is not clear if the dog also slept or if he was somehow awake for this time, keeping a watchful eye over the sleepers. While some have suggested that he was awake,‎[22] it is more apparent that he was also in the same sleep-like state which allowed them to live such a long time. In this case it kept people and other animals away by looking like it was awake.

If you come upon them: again, explicit mention that they were not sealed up, but that a person could accidentally find their way to the cave.

You will surely turn to flee from them, and you will surely be filled with a terror of them: finally, one more mercy from God is mentioned. As they were not sealed up in the cave, in order to protect them from harm during their three centuries of sleep, God had – in addition to miraculously preserving them – provided the cave and the sleepers therein with a fearful aura or appearance that kept people and those with ill-intentions away from that cave. This is probably similar to other occasions when God aided the believers by inflicting their enemies with fear: We shall cast terror (ruʿb) into the hearts of the faithless (3:151).‎[23] In this way anyone who happened upon the cave would be filled with a mysterious dread and would desire nothing but to get away from there.

This also helps make sense of the fact that the sleepers went undiscovered in the cave for so many centuries. They had hidden in some remote mountain cave, and anyone who approached that cave would have felt a fear and nervousness taking them over and would not have wished to explore the cave any further. Considering that the previous verse told us they were within a cavern or recess of the cave which would not be seen from the entrance, no one would even have been aware of their presence.

It has been noted that the cause for fleeing has been mentioned after the act of fleeing; first, you will … flee from them and only then the cause, you will surely be filled with a terror of them.‎[24] This could suggest that the cause of the fear would remain in the heart of the one who flees, even after they have left the scene and from that which frightened them, so that they would not wish to return later.‎[25]

Consider then all the various blessings mentioned by God, all the different factors, the cave, the movements of the sun, the cavern which kept them cool and out of sight, the turning right and left, the guardian dog, the aura of fear, all of which factored into their safe stay over the centuries. This is the breadth and depth of God’s divine gentleness and why His ‘true account’ takes everything into consideration. This is explored again later in the surah through other examples.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

  1. In a report from Imam al-Bāqir (a), it is explicitly mentioned that Prophet Muhammad (s) is not intended by the statement, you will surely be filled with a terror of them, but rather all the believers.‎[26] There are many verses in the Quran which are addressed to a second person singular but are regarded to be general ethical instructions. The most outstanding example is: Should they reach old age at your side – one of them or both – do not say to them: ‘Fie!’ (17:23),‎[27] and many others.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

It has been said that their appearance was frightening because their fingernails and hair continued to grow during their sleep.‎[28] This is not very probable, firstly because there is no evidence for it, and secondly because when they awoke they would have surely noticed such a change in each other and themselves, instead of thinking they must have slept for only a part of a day.‎[29] Others have said it is because of their eyes being open as we mentioned; or because the cave itself was frightening.‎[30] What is more fitting is what was mentioned earlier about God granting them something akin to a supernaturally frightening aura.‎[31]

There are many various opinions mentioned about the dog that accompanied them:

  1. That it was a dog that belonged to a shepherd whom they met whilst making their way to the cave. Some say the shepherd then believed in their religion and followed them to the cave, others only say the dog followed them.
  2. Some attribute a miracle to the dog, saying that it spoke.‎[32]
  3. Others say it was their hunting dog, which they took along with them when fleeing the city.
  4. That it was not a dog literally, but one of them who had stayed to guard the entrance, standing like a watchdog.‎[33] This does not fit with the mention of stretching its forelegs which is more appropriate for the way an animal rests than human arms. It is also quite obviously contrary to the apparent purport of verse 22.

There are also various opinions mentioned about the dog’s colour,‎[34] or its name such as Qiṭmīr,‎[35] or Ḥumrān, and many other claims.‎[36] In any case, such details are unreliable and unimportant. As Abū Ḥayyān points out, many of these opinions are hard to accept, and far removed from what one could think, and would require definitive proof if they are to be accepted.‎[37] Ibn Kathīr says such discussions are in fact what the surah itself is forbidding when it declares that the People of the Book debated such matters without any knowledge, taking a shot at the invisible (ghayb) (verse 22).‎[38] Such debates are made even about what kind of food the youths intended to buy.‎[39]

Qurṭubī says that the dog was with them and is included in the miracle of God because it loved them and cared for them. It has been mentioned in some reports that a person is with whom they love, so God allowed the dog to remain with his companions. What then should be said of Muslims who have faith and love the Holy Prophet?‎[40]

It has been reported from Ibn Abbas that the People of the Cave turned once a year,‎[41] and from Abū Hurayrah that it was twice a year,‎[42] and some have claimed the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ was the day that they were turned.‎[43] Others say that they were turning constantly and that is why they seemed awake,‎[44] and many other opinions.‎[45] However, none of these narrations are reliable.‎[46] Additionally, what we mentioned earlier about avoiding baseless and needless speculation can apply to this as well.

Many exegetes have mentioned that Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān came upon the cave during a military excursion to Roman lands. He then wished to enter it but Ibn Abbas told him he would not be able to as ‘God has withheld many who are better than you from it’. He nevertheless attempted to do so and was withheld from that.‎[47] This should definitely be a fabrication as the verse in question speaks of God withholding people from entering the cave while the youths were sleeping in it, and there is no reason or need to assume that this protection continued after their death. Furthermore, if the cave were still miraculously protected and inducing fear in onlookers then certainly it would be known to all and its location would not be a matter of debate.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

Like the previous verse, this too is part of the Quran’s ‘true account’ and differs from the traditions recorded in Christian writings. They make no mention of the sleepers turning, of a dog accompanying the youths to the cave or sleeping with them at the entrance,‎[48] nor do they mention anything of supernatural terror overtaking onlookers.

There are some similarities to be found though. For example, while there is no mention of a watch dog in the Syriac versions of the story, there is mention of a guardian, which is often understood to mean a guardian angel: ‘They went up the mountain; they entered the cave and stayed there. They called out to the Lord in a doleful voice and spoke thus, “We beseech you, Good Shepherd, who has chosen His servants, guard your flock from this wolf who thirsts for blood.” The Lord saw the faith of the blessed lambs, and He came to give a good wage for their recompense. He took their spirits and brought them up to heaven, and He left a watcher to be the guardian of their limbs.’‎[49]

William of Malmesbury tells of how King Edward the Confessor (d. 1066 CE) saw the People of the Cave turn to their left sides. When letters and enquiries were sent to Ephesus, it was discovered that they had in fact after, as long as anyone remembered, turned from their right side to their left. This was interpreted as an omen of invading ‘Saracens’ from the east and that ‘whenever sorrow threatens, the Sleepers turn on their sides’.‎[50] This report would assume that the People of the Cave were still in place in their cave ‘asleep’,‎[51] even during the eleventh century CE, which is contrary to what we concluded earlier.

[1] Mizan, 13/255-256; Tantawi, 8/487.
[2] Mizan, 13/256.
[3] Alusi 8/215.
[4] Tibyan, 7/21-22; Tabari, 15/142, who also proposes that waṣīd could mean dust (ṣaʿīd), perhaps intending that the dog laid its legs on some dust (Tabari, 15/141). This opinion is not reflected in the writings of other exegetes.
[5] Baghawi, 3/184.
[6] Ibn Kathir, 5/131.
[7] Zamakhshari, 2/709; Raghib, p. 356.
[8] Mizan, 13/256; Nemuneh, 12/369, which also suggests that their eyes being open was so that predatory animals would not approach them and harm them, but this is unlikely. While it is true that many animals might avoid a person who is looking at them, this is not always the case, and is especially hard to imagine for any prolonged state.
[9] Tibyan, 7/21; Zamakhshari, 2/708; Baghawi, 3/184.
[10] Lyubov Shmakova et al., ‘A living bdelloid rotifer from 24,000-year-old Arctic permafrost’, in Current Biology, Vol. 31, Issue 11, (2021) pp. 712-713 (accessed at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982221006242).
[11] Yuki Morono et al., “Aerobic microbial life persists in oxic marine sediment as old as 101.5 million years.” Nature Communications, Vol. 11,1 3626. (28 Jul. 2020) (accessed at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7387439/).
[12] Eric Blackstone et al., ‘H2S Induces a Suspended Animation-Like State in Mice’ in Science, (Apr 2005), Vol. 308, Issue 5721, p. 518 (accessed at: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1108581).
[13] Tabrisi, 6/703-704; Tabari, 15/141.
[14] Mizan, 13/256; Nemuneh, 12/369-370; Fadlallah, 14/292.
[15] Muhit, 7/153.
[16] Alusi, 8/214.
[17] Qurtubi, 10/370.
[18] Muhit, 7/153.
[19] See the previous verse.
[20] Tabrisi, 6/704.
[21] Tabrisi, 6/704.
[22] Such as Alusi, 8/216.
[23] It is also mentioned in Duʿāʾ al-Nudbah that God aided His Messenger with ruʿb (Nemuneh, 12/371).
[24] Mizan, 13/256.
[25] Mudarrisi, 6/380-381.
[26] Ayyashi, 2/324.
[27] We know that Prophet Muhammad’s (s) parents passed away while he was still a young child, so there is no way that he is intended by this.
[28] As related by Tibyan, 7/22.
[29] See Tabrisi, 6/705; Qurtubi, 10/373, who relates that it could be they spoke these words before seeing each other’s hair and nails, but such a scenario is rather impossible to imagine.
[30] Baghawi, 3/184.
[31] Alusi, 8/216-217. He names it haybah and jalāl.
[32] Alusi, 8/215, attributes this report to Kaʿb al-Aḥbār.
[33] Tabari, 15/141; Qurtubi, 10/372.
[34] As Qurṭubī poignantly puts it, whatever colour one may imagine has been mentioned, even sky-blue (Qurtubi, 10/370).
[35] This word also appears in 35:13.
[36] For the various opinions regarding the dog see Tabrisi, 6/704; Bidayah, 2/135; Thalabi, 6/160; Baghawi, 3/183-184; Razi, 21/444; Qurtubi, 10/370; Suyuti, 4/216. It has also been mentioned that the dog was not a dog at all, but a lion (Baghawi, 3/183). See also the commentary on verse 90.
[37] Muhit, 7/153.
[38] Ibn Kathir, 5/131.
[39] Qurtubi, 10/375.
[40] Qurtubi, 10/372.
[41] Tabrisi, 6/704; Thalabi, 6/160.
[42] Tabrisi, 6/704; Tabari, 15/141; Thalabi, 6/160; Zamakhshari, 2/709; Ibn Kathir, 5/131, who says it is ‘from some of the salaf’, which would exclude Abū Hurayrah.
[43] Thalabi, 6/160; Zamakhshari, 2/709; Alusi, 8/214.
[44] Razi, 21/444; Qurtubi, 10/369.
[45] See Qurtubi, 10/370.
[46] Razi, 21/444; Tantawi, 8/487-488.
[47] See for example Tabrisi, 6/704; Thalabi, 6/161; Zamakhshari, 2/709; Baghawi, 3/184; Alusi, 8/217. The accounts vary on how he was withheld, many mention that he tried to send some soldiers in and they were blown out by a gust of wind (akhrajathum), or immolated by it (aḥraqathum).
[48] None of the surviving pre-Islamic accounts make mention of a dog, however verse 22 suggests that at least to the audience contemporary to the Prophet it was known; see Archer, George, “The Hellhound of the Qur’an”, in Journal of Qur’anic Studies, 18.3 (Edinburgh University Press, 2016), pp. 1-33.
[49] As quoted by 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.
[50] Sabine Baring-Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, pp. 93-112, accessed at: https://archive.org/details/curiousmythsofmi00bariuoft/page/92/mode/2up.
[51] Although there is no problem with saying that their remains were still in the cave, but they should have been dead at that point and not in a state of sleep.