أَم حَسِبتَ أَنَّ أَصحابَ الكَهفِ وَالرَّقيمِ كانوا مِن آياتِنا عَجَبًا
Do you suppose that the People of the Cave and the Inscription were among Our wonderful signs?
EXEGESIS
The am in the beginning of the verse is an interrogative that connects this verse to what was said earlier. There is no direct English equivalent, but it gives the meaning of ‘rather, did you’ or something to that effect. Since the discussion was about the creation of the world and its end and everyone being rewarded for their actions in the hereafter, it effectively says that God is capable of far more amazing feats than keeping a few young men alive in a cave for some centuries.
Kahf (cave) is said to be the name for a larger subterranean area, whereas a smaller cave is called ghār. Others have said that kahf is a ghār that is located in a mountainside, but the former understanding is more appropriate.
Raqīm (inscription) shares the meaning of the passive participle (marqūm), meaning something which is written, like in the verse, It is a written record (kitābun marqūm) (83:9, 83:20). Regarding what the People of … the Inscription means in this verse, different views have been suggested:
- From Ibn Abbas, raqīm was the name of the city from which the youths departed. Also from him, that it is a valley between Ghaḍbān and Aylah, somewhere near Palestine. Or that it is the name of a mountain.
- From Mujāhid ibn Jabr, that it was the name of a book in which their story was written. Similar to this, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd, that it was a book which had recorded their information, but God has not informed us of its contents. It is also said that it was a book in which the shariah of Prophet Jesus (a) was written.
- From Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, that it is a stone tablet on which the story of the People of the Cave was written and was then placed at the entrance of the cave (see verse 21), or it remained in the treasury of the ruler (or the authorities of the city).
- It is the name of another group of people totally different to the People of the Cave.
And some other interpretations have also been suggested.
Of these the only one that makes more sense with the rest of the narrations is the third one. It also makes sense considering the story of the People of the Cave, as the tablet or Inscription is significant, since it is the decisive evidence which proves their claim of having slept in the cave for hundreds of years. Of the two options as to where it was kept the second one is the more appropriate, as we shall show in the commentary of the following verses.
ʿAjab (wonderful) means to wonder at something because you are not used to it. It carries the meaning of strangeness and surprise.
EXPOSITION
The address of Do you suppose now turns to Prophet Muhammad (s), however others are actually intended by this address. It is for those who asked the Prophet regarding the matter of the People of the Cave and who thought it to be a very mysterious, strange, and wondrous affair. It informs them that there are far more wondrous things than this. The engrossment of man in the adornments of this life is more wondrous. The resurrection that each person will face is more wondrous. The creation of God we witness all around us is more wondrous: In the earth are neighbouring terrains [of diverse kinds] and vineyards, farms, and date palms growing from the same root and from diverse roots, [all] irrigated by the same water, and We give some of them an advantage over others in flavour. There are indeed signs in that for a people who apply reason. If you are to wonder [at anything], then wonderful is their remark: ‘When we have become dust, shall we be [ushered] into a new creation?’ (13:4-5).
The People of the Cave and the Inscription: as mentioned, People of the Inscription is an antonomasia, used to refer to the People of the Cave, because that was a significant part of their story.
The People of the Cave were a group of young followers of monotheistic Christianity from affluent families who lived during Roman times, about five centuries before Prophet Muhammad’s (s) migration to Medina. Out of fear of being forced into idolatry, they fled their city and took refuge in a nearby cave, where they then slept until waking up to witness that idolatry had ceased to be the official religion of the Roman Empire. The example of the People of the Cave staying in their underground dwelling for some time is like the example of this world, whereby people dwell in it for some time before being raised once again. For more on who they were and their story, see the forthcoming sections and the commentary on the verses to follow.
Our wonderful signs: as we said earlier, this means that in God’s vast creation there are, have been, and will be many more wondrous things. Alternatively it means that the revelation of the Quran spoken of in the beginning of the surah is a more wondrous sign of God.
There are two primary elements of wonder to the story, the more obvious of which is God keeping alive the youths in a cave for three centuries. God reminds the audience then, that one should not be surprised at the power of God to achieve such things, like Sara who exclaimed in surprise, That is indeed an odd (ʿajīb) thing (11:72) when informed that she should bear a child in her advanced age. The angels then reminded her: Are you amazed (taʿjabīn) at Allah’s dispensation? (11:73).
Another aspect of the story that has an element of surprise and wonder to it is the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity. The same empire that expended so much effort in smothering the message of Jesus (a), to the extent that it made their persecution into a sport and entertainment, then adopted that very same faith as its official religion. People often seem to think that the status quo of their times cannot change, that great empires will never fall, whereas history has shown once and again that such change is in fact one of the only constants in history. There is an important lesson in this for the modern reader, as there was for the contemporaries of the Holy Prophet, who were being reminded here that the regime of the idolaters would not last and God would make His religion overcome, It is He who has sent His Apostle with the guidance and the religion of truth that He may make it prevail over all religions though the polytheists should be averse (61:9).
The expression Our wonderful signs is very powerful in the context within which it is addressed. As mentioned, one of the addressees were the People of the Book, who thought the story to be a miracle of ‘their’ God. By claiming ownership of the miracle in the Quran, God is reminding them that He is the same God who performed that miracle and is now communicating to them.
The story fits in with the main theme of the surah in more than one way. It is an answer to the questions posed to Prophet Muhammad (s), to which God has provided answers through revelation, giving the ‘true account’ and correcting some of the falsehoods that had crept in, while demonstrating His knowledge of their disagreements regarding it. Furthermore, the People of the Cave knew not what fate awaited them in the cave, so the story serves to demonstrate God’s knowledge of the full truth of things. In this way the cave itself is symbolic of man’s limited knowledge, as its deceptively small opening hides so much more that cannot be seen when looked at from the outside.
Regarding the People of the Cave, a common version of the report regarding them states that they were young Christian (and Roman) men who lived in a time when people were idolaters, and this was imposed on the people and enforced by the emperor of the time. They belonged to the noble caste and were sons of important families. They had a secret prayer room to which they withdrew to pray. One day they were discovered there by idolaters, who reported them to the emperor, as being a Christian was considered treasonous. Because of their high caste and young age, the emperor forwent executing them and gave them a chance to change their ways.
They left their city and debated with each other where to go, finally deciding on a cave. There they slept for centuries. Their names were written on a tablet to mark their treachery, or in some accounts to commemorate their martyrdom.
Upon waking they debated how long they had slept, after which they decided to send one of their number to the city to buy some food. Upon reaching the city he wondered at the changed structures and streets. He finally goes to a baker to buy food, but when he tries to pay, the shopkeeper is perplexed by the coin and demands to know where the young man has gotten it, thinking he has come across a buried treasure. The authorities then get involved demanding to know who he is. He mentions his family and mentions who the king is and they say we do not know them. Finally, he is taken to a wise man (or men) who asks him who his friends are and he tells them their names, which the wise man recognises as being written on a tablet. He declares that these are their long-lost brethren. The young man leads them to the cave, and upon reaching there asks that he may enter it first so his friends are not scared. He does so and after he informs his friends about what he saw and they realised the truth, their souls were taken by God. The people decide to erect a place of worship there. In some reports the ruler comes along and talks to them before they go to their final sleep.
Many reports also mention that they were awakened during the time of a good ruler who was a believer and that a debate was raging at the time about the possibility of bodily resurrection. The ruler then declares that the People of the Cave are a sign from God that the body will be resurrected.
One may refer to the books for the various reports and their differing details. We have given our understanding of what happened to them and their story, based on the reports and the verses of the Quran, in the midst of the commentary of the upcoming verses to which the reader may refer.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
There are many reports regarding who the People of the Cave were. These reports have a lot in common in their broad and general import, but have lots of conflicts in their details, such as names (of the individuals, places, etc.). This disagreement in details is due to both the usual factors – fabrication of narrations and mixing up of various reports – but also as the story relates to the People of the Book there is a good deal of Isrāʾīliyyāt that has gotten mixed up in the transmissions. Combined with the succinct way in which God retells the story, focusing on the important sections to highlight thematically appropriate lessons, this has left space for disagreement regarding the details. In any case such details are not the centrally important element of the story. The reports vary in their details as to why they fled the city, where they lived, who they were, when they lived, etc.
It is widely reported that they were a group of believers in the message of Prophet Jesus (a) and the king of their time was an idolater, and fearing his oppression they fled to a cave. The fact that their story is not mentioned in the Bible or the scriptures of the Jews can be considered evidence that it happened in the time after Prophet Jesus (a).
It should be noted that this does not necessitate that they believed in the same Trinitarian Christianity as professed by most Christians today, as various forms of Christianity existed during the early centuries after Prophet Jesus (a), many of which had more strict views on monotheism, such as those who followed the teachings of Arius, which was quite widespread in the Roman Empire in the third and fourth centuries CE. Ironically, the later Christian emperors persecuted non-Trinitarian Christians and had them killed as heretics.
It is also generally agreed upon that they lived in the Roman Empire, reportedly during the rule of Daqyūs (Decius, reigned 249-251 CE) or alternatively Daqīnūs/Duqyānūs (which may either be referring to Decius as well, or alternatively Diocletian, reigned 284-305 CE). Some reports say that they lived under the rule of a Zoroastrian king, but this is unlikely. It is also mentioned in some reports that they awoke during the reign of Theodosius (reigned 408-450 CE).
Ṭabarī gives the names of the story’s protagonists as Maksimilnā (Maximilian/Maximiliano), Maḥsimilīnā, Yamlīkhā/Yamnīkh (Iamelichos), Marṭūs (Martinos/Martinian), Kasūṭūnus (Constantine/Exakoustodianos), Bīrūnus (Brunus), Rasmūnus, Baṭūnus (Plutonius), Qālūs (Gallus); although this adds up to nine, which is in contradiction to verse 22. Many other variations are also mentioned. The most commonly mentioned name in the reports is that the leader of the group was Maximilian, who was the son of the prefect or governor, and Iamelichos was the one sent to the city to buy food.
As for the location of the cave, many different locations have been mentioned, including Palestine, Syria, and even near Andalusia, or Nineveh, or Tarsus. The most famous of these reports is that it is somewhere in what were Roman lands, although that does not narrow it down too much since it includes all the aforementioned. The name of the mountain to which they fled is given as Banjalūs/Yanjalūs, or Nīhilūs. However, none of the claims regarding specific locations that are mentioned are proven in any definitive way. There are two candidates though that stand out more than others.
The first candidate for the location of the cave is Ephesus. The Christian writings mention Ephesus (see the Insights From Other Traditions section), and it is also mentioned in some narrations. Considering the importance of Ephesus, it makes sense that the emperor would have visited it (as indicated in many reports). The suggested cave is also located close to the city, so the youth going back to the city to buy food is believable.
Tabatabai criticises this by saying that the direction of the cave’s mouth does not fit the description in the Quran, which states that the sun rises on their right and sets on their left (verse 17). He says that this means the mouth of the cave should face south, whilst the cave of Ephesus has a mouth that opens to the north (and slightly to the east). The problem with this criticism is that verse 17 is not clear on whether or not the directions right and left refer to one looking out from the cave or looking in towards the cave. As such, they allow for both north or south facing caves. Therefore, Makārim Shīrāzī sees this as evidence in favour of Ephesus being the cave in question.
Another criticism Tabatabai makes is that verse 21 mentions that a place of worship was built at the cave, while no such place is visible in Ephesus. Again, this may not be totally satisfying. There are in fact still remains of catacombs at the cave of Ephesus, in addition to the seven graves of the ‘sleepers’. The remains of the sleepers themselves were reportedly moved to Marseilles to St. Victor’s Church, and it is quite feasible that there was a more extensive structure at the location at some point.
A second candidate is the cave of Rajīb near Amman, in present-day Jordan. It is facing south and has some graves, ancient writings, a picture of a dog, and the structure built around it has been dated to the time of Justinian I (reigned 527-565 CE).
There is also textual evidence for Amman being the city of the People of the Cave. It is also mentioned that Raqīm was the name of a village near Amman. Amman is also built on the ruins of Philadelphia, which was a major city during ancient times and under Roman rule.
There is a point to contemplate though, and that is that if the extant sources are any indication then apparently the People of the Book at the time considered the event to have taken place in Ephesus. Seeing as the Quranic account has made efforts to point out the mistakes of the People of the Book regarding the number of the sleepers and the years they slept, etc., it would make sense that it would make some – even if brief and indirect – mention of their being mistaken about where they were. Having said that, we do not know exactly what was the version of the story that was in circulation in Arabia at the time of Prophet Muhammad (s) and what city was mentioned in it.
Other candidates have also been suggested, such as a cave in Jabal Qāsiyūn near Damascus in Syria, another near Petra in Jordan, and many others.
As for when they lived, it is virtually agreed upon that they were followers of Prophet Jesus (a) living in the territories in the Roman Empire, initially during a time in which Christians were being persecuted, and subsequently awaking during a time that Christianity was at least an openly practiced religion, or more likely the official religion of the Byzantine Roman Empire. This would mean that they should have awoken at a time at least after the Edict of Milan (313 CE), or perhaps after the Edict of Thessalonica (380 CE).
According to the timeline given in Christian writings, they lived during the time of Decius (reigned 249-251 CE) and woke during the time of Theodosius II (reigned 408-450 CE). This would have them sleeping for about 200 years. This is clearly in contradiction to verse 25, which states that they slept for 300 years.
As such, if we accept the reports that they lived during the time of Decius, they would have woken up sometime around 550 CE, during the reign of Justinian I (reigned 527-565 CE). This could also be considered supporting evidence for the cave near Amman as being the cave where they slept, as it is said the structure there was built during the time of Justinian I. Most accounts about the People of the Cave (Muslim and Christian) mention that there was debate about bodily resurrection at the time when the People of the Cave awoke and the reality of bodily resurrection seems to have been one of the important lessons that the miracle was supposed to prove to everyone. Emperor Justinian I indeed became personally involved in such debates with a highly significant theologian of the time, Oregenes Adamantius (Origen), even writing a tract against him. This makes him quite a strong indicator for the time period in which they awoke, and it also fits in with them going to sleep during the time of Decius.
It is worth noting that many reports claim that the youths got into trouble and fled their city because the emperor had decreed everyone should offer sacrifice to the Roman gods. This is something that was decreed during the time of Decius.
On the other hand, if we accept the reports that they awoke during the time of Theodosius (408-450 CE), that would have them going to sleep anywhere between 108-150 CE. This would place it within the reigns of Trajan (98-117 CE), Hadrian (117-138 CE), or Antoninus Pius (138-161 CE). While Christians were also persecuted during these times, it was apparently not to the same extent as during the time of Decius.
However, as will become apparent from the Insights from Other Traditions section, the earliest Christian writings are dated to the early sixth century CE, with the writings of Jacob of Serugh (d. 521 CE) being the earliest. As one can see there is contradiction between this and the assumption that they lived during the reign of Decius (and fled during his decree of persecution in 250 CE) and subsequently woke up three centuries later during the reign of Justinian, as the sources on their story predate 550 CE, which means the event should have occurred prior to that. This is all of course assuming that the homily attributed to Jacob of Serugh was indeed penned by him.
Another option would be to assume the event happened during the time that Justinian was the de facto ruler while his predecessor emperor Justin (518-527) was on the throne. In any case, this would still place the time of the youths going into hiding prior to the rule of Decius (somewhere in the early third century CE).
The truth is that there are so many variables and unknowns to the story that it is difficult to come up with working theories on the matter.
Finally, some books have related a long story from Wahab ibn Munabbih about one of the disciples of Prophet Jesus (a) working in a bath and that there were some youths who believed in him, and it eventually relates to the story of the People of the Cave, but this report is contradictory to all other reports and should be discarded.
- From Hishām ibn Sālim, that Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said: ‘The likeness of Abū Ṭālib is found in the People of the Cave: they hid their faith and displayed polytheism, for that God will reward them twice.’
- From Aḥmad ibn Muhammad, that Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said: ‘They were a group of people who ran away and the ruler of the time had their names and the names of their parents and family written on lead tablets, and that is the meaning of People of the Cave and the Inscription.’
- There is a report from Zayd ibn Arqam that claims the severed head of Imam al-Husayn (a) recited this verse when it was being carried through the streets of Kufa, or from Minhāl ibn ʿAmr that he heard this in Damascus, or that the severed head replied when the verse was recited in its presence, saying that his being killed and paraded in this way is more wondrous. Some other reports claim it recited Allah shall suffice you against them, and He is the all-hearing, the all-knowing (2:137), or some other verses, but these seem like outliers. What is most reliable is what is reported from Zayd ibn Arqam.
The story of Imam al-Husayn (a) of course bears resemblance to the story of the People of the Cave. Both were in a situation where they could have chosen a life of comfort had they acquiesced to the falsehoods and oppression around them. Instead, they chose to speak the truth to power, even if it cost them everything.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
The important question that arises here is why would Medinan Jews instruct the Quraysh to ask the Holy Prophet about a Christian story? Ibn Kathīr suggests that this is evidence that the story should have preceded the time of Prophet Jesus (a); however, while his suggestion is not valid, it is contradictory to the famous reports.
Tabatabai says the context of the verses – especially the first three that begin the story – suggests the story was known to people at the time, at least in a general manner. It could be construed that since the story was well known, the Jews of Medina were also aware of it.
Others have suggested that this is because the Jews also believed in bodily resurrection and therefore venerated the story for validating a belief that they shared with the Christians.
What is most likely is that the reports which later state that they asked the Jews for questions to pose to the Prophet are not giving the full picture, and the Meccans might have asked both Jews and Christians to give them tough questions with which they could disprove Prophet Muhammad’s (s) prophethood. The Meccans had trade routes through which they encountered and had dealings with the People of the Book in Medina, Najrān, the Levant, and other places. Through these trade routes they had no doubt established contacts which they then consulted. As the Medinan Jews were the most famous group of the People of the Book, later reports may have conflated the multitude of Meccan sources to simply the one source. Many reports also mention Najrān as a source of information on the story about the People of the Cave.
Regarding the statement with which the story of the People of the Cave begins, Do you suppose, Ṭabrisī says this is as if to say to the Prophet after he became worried due to the delay in revelation – hoping to answer them and through this guide them – that: Do you suppose that by hearing this story they would become believers?
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
There are, by some estimations, over 200 surviving manuscripts regarding this legend in non-Muslim sources, half of which are in Latin. There is no consensus on whether or not the story originated in Syriac, Latin, or Greek, but Syriac writings dating to about a century before the Prophet’s migration are the likeliest candidate. Certainly, Syriac writings are the earliest extant written sources on the event, although it is said Greek writings were the origin of these Syriac accounts but have since been lost.
The earliest extant source of this story is the writings of Jacob of Serugh (d. 521 CE), who wrote in Syriac; noteworthy also are the writings of Gregory of Tours (d. 593 CE) in Latin, which he based on Syriac writings. The story is undoubtedly of eastern origin, as remarked by the earliest European sources. All of this is noteworthy, because Jacob of Serugh’s writings – as well as others who wrote on the subject, like Zacharias of Mytilene (d. 536 CE) – were in circulation amongst the Arab Ghassānids (in Syria) and Jacobites of Najrān (near Yemen). This means that the People of the Book who came into contact with the Holy Prophet would also have been in contact with these writings.
According to the account of Jacob of Serugh, the event first occurred during the rule of emperor Decius (249-251 CE) in the city of Ephesus, whose reign was marked by brutal persecution of Christians. When visiting Ephesus, he declared that all must participate in the festival to honour the idols. A group of youths by the names of Maximillian (who was the son of the prefect), Jamblichos, Martin, John, Dionysios, Exakostodianos, and Antoninos, refused to do so. After their faith had been revealed, Decius ordered the young men to be executed. They gave away their families’ wealth and withdrew to nearby Mount Anchilos/Angelos with only a few coins in their possession to pray and prepare for death. The emperor sent soldiers after them, and when they were discovered ‘asleep’ the cave was ordered to be sealed up and that they should be buried alive. Two believers were present and decided to write the names of the martyrs on a tablet and place it in a sealed box at the entrance of the cave. Before the young men awoke, a shepherd happened upon the cave and wished to use it for his sheep and therefore removed the rocks sealing the entrance. When the young men awoke, they sent Jamblichos to the city to buy food, who was surprised to see crosses being displayed in the open and wondered at the changed city and the inhabitants whom he does not recognise. When he tries to pay a shopkeeper with a coin, the shopkeeper wonders at the old coin and demands that the young man has found a hidden treasure and he must lead him to it. A heated argument ensues and Jamblichos is dragged into the street. Eventually the governor, the bishop, and finally the emperor Theodosius II himself (who was visiting) are involved, and they are led by Jamblichos to the cave to prove his claims. As they find the young men, they corroborate what has been said by their friend and the tablets placed by the entrance are found and used to prove the claim of the young men, that they had slept in the cave for hundreds of years. At that point the young men proclaim that this is proof of bodily resurrection, which was a debate raging at the time of Theodosius. The youths sense that they are about to ‘sleep’ again. There is some debate amongst the people about what to do with them and the emperor suggests to take their bodies to the city to build a sanctuary for them, while the youths request to be left in the cave. The emperor agrees and it is decided that they should erect a ‘house of prayer’ at the cave to venerate their remains and the site.
Almost exactly the same account is given in some Islamic sources.
The account has many similarities to the narrative in the Quran (see the commentary on the following verses for the story), as well as of course many narrations that should be based on the same sources of the People of the Book. Such similarities between the two accounts are too many to be ascribed to coincidence, and without a doubt the Quran is making reference to this story (and not some other story), albeit giving the true account of what happened, in its own succinct style. As such, we may dismiss other accounts that claim for example that they were Persians, or that the events preceded the time of Prophet Jesus (a).
Some orientalists have suggested that raqīm is a misreading of the Hebrew name for Decius (רקים rāqīm instead of דקיס dāqiyôs). This has been dismissed by serious scholars, as the two terms look nothing alike in Syriac, which would have been the origin of the story.
[1] Tabrisi, 6/695; Zamakhshari, 2/704; Razi, 21/429; Qurtubi, 10/356; Tantawi, 8/474.
[2] Thalabi, 6/145. Qurṭubī says this is not a very well-known understanding in linguistics (Qurtubi, 10/356).
[3] Tibyan, 7/12.
[4] It has also been reported that Ibn Abbas said he knew the meaning of every word in the Quran except ḥanān (19:13), awwāh (11:75), and raqīm (Tabari, 15/132; Razi, 21/429; Qurtubi, 10/356). Rāzī also adds ghislīn (69:36) to this list, as does Qurṭubī.
[5] Tibyan, 7/11; Tabrisi, 6/697; Tabari, 15/131. This has also been attributed to Kaʿb al-Aḥbār (Qurtubi, 10/356), which is the more likely source for this view.
[6] Ṭabarī gives this as ʿUsfān; Thaʿlabī as Ghaṭfān.
[7] Tibyan, 7/11; Tabari, 15/131; Thalabi, 6/146.
[8] Tibyan, 7/11; Tabari, 15/132, who also reports that the mountain is known as Binā Jalūs, as does Bidayah, 2/135.
[9] Tibyan, 7/11.
[10] Tibyan, 7/11; Tabrisi, 6/697.
[11] Qurtubi, 10/357.
[12] Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah, 1/198; Tibyan, 7/11; Tabrisi, 6/697; Tabari, 15/132; Thalabi, 6/147. This is the opinion chosen by Ṭabarī in Tarikh, 1/454; and Mizan, 13/246; Nemuneh, 12/355; Tantawi, 8/474.
[13] This view is adopted by Mudarrisi, 6/366. Some have said that God has not informed us of who they were in any way (Qurtubi, 10/357; Alusi, 8/200-201). There are also some reports that say they were a group of three people who went to a cave and got stuck there after a rockslide sealed the entrance, and then told each other accounts of their good deeds so God may have mercy on them and save them, and so He did (Thalabi, 6/145; Bukhari, 4/147-148; Barqi, 1/253; Nur, 3/249-250; Suyuti, 4/212-213. The reports vary in their details). This can at best be considered a mix up and should have no connection to the verse at hand because the verse itself, nor its context, nor the following verses, support the possibility of two different groups being discussed. Additionally, it makes no sense that God would bring up a second group of people then mention only the story of one. Most importantly, the narrations themselves make no such connection to the verse, the only similarity being is that both stories have a cave, which is why as we said it is probably a mix up by later scholars.
[14] Such as, it was the name of their dog (Zamakhshari, 2/704; Qurtubi, 10/357); in other reports the name of the dog is given as Qiṭmīr, or Ḥumrān; or a golden tablet which Khiḍr (a) buried under the wall he constructed (Qurtubi, 10/357; Alusi, 8/200-201). Another view says it was the name of their leader, who was also known as Kalb (‘dog’), and there was no dog actually accompanying them (Tustari, p. 97. See also Tarikh, 1/454).
[15] Lisan, 1/580.
[16] Tibyan, 7/10.
[17] Alusi, 8/199.
[18] Razi, 21/428; Qurtubi, 10/356; Nemuneh, 12/355. For more details on the how they asked him about the People of the Cave and why, see the Introduction.
[19] Mizan, 13/245.
[20] Tibyan, 7/11; Tabari, 15/130.
[21] Tibyan, 7/11.
[22] In some reports it is a tablet that had the genealogy of the people of the city (presumably the genealogy of the noble houses) to which they belonged. Given the context of the story, what is most likely is that the tablet was written to name and shame the youths who had defied the imperial edict and to denigrate their families.
[23] Alternatively, in some accounts the tablet is found at the entrance of the cave, locked in a box.
[24] What is mentioned is a general amalgamation of the various reports. For the various individual reports see Suyuti, 4/212-215; Qummi, 2/32-33; Tabari, 15/132-147; Thalabi, 6/147-156; Baghawi, 3/173-175; Bidayah, 2/135-139.
[25] Mizan, 13/291-292.
[26] Tabari, 15/132.
[27] Mizan, 13/295.
[28] See T. E. Pollard, ‘The Origins of Arianism’, The Journal of Theological Studies. New Series, Vol. 9, No. 1 (April 1958), pp. 103-111. Although even Arianism could not be considered truly monotheistic by Islamic standards.
[29] Tarikh, 1/455; Tabari, 15/133.
[30] Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī al-Taʾrīkh, 1/355; Tarikh, 1/455; Bidayah, 2/135; Suyuti, 4/214.
[31] In the Christian sources he is identified as Decius. Decius issued an edict that all citizens should offer sacrifice to the idols on behalf of the emperor at pain of torture and execution.
[32] Muhit, 7/143; Tarikh, 1/455; Tabrisi, 6/698; Tabari, 15/133; Thalabi, 6/147; Baghawi, 3/173; Baydawi, 3/274.
[33] Diocletian was also a great persecutor of Christians, issuing an empire-wide edict of universal persecution, calling for the destruction of churches and Christian scriptures. Notably, all Christians were ordered to sacrifice to the empire on the pain of death.
[34] Mizan, 13/281-282.
[35] Tabari, 15/143-144 (quoting Ibn Isḥāq); Thalabi, 6/151; Ibn Kathir, 5/133. This should be Theodosius II. See the Insights from Other Traditions section. There are also reports that mention other names such as Bandūsīs (perhaps Benedictus/Benedict), and Nidlīs (Tabrisi, 6/709), and Bīdrūs (Petros/Peter) (Baghawi, 3/185), which may be referring to the name of the local governor.
[36] See Tarikh, 1/454-455. Other lists have also been given, such as Maksimilnā, Yamlīkhā, Marṭūlus, Thabyūnus, Dardūnus, Kafāshīṭīṭūs, Manṭanawāsīs; or alternatively as Maksimilnā, Yamlīkhā, Maslīnīyā, Marnūsh, Darbanūsh, Shādhnūsh (Mizan, 13/288). Ṭabrisī gives them as Maksimilnā, Tamlīkhā, Marṭūlus, Naynūnus, Sarīnūnus, Darbūnus, Kashūṭbūnus (Tabrisi, 6/710). Thaʿlabī claims them to be Maksilmīnā, Tamlīkhā, Marṭūnus/Kalīnūnus, Sārīnūs, Anwānus, Rawanwānūs, Mashṭaṭyūnus (Thalabi, 6/163). For other variants see for example Zamakhshari, 2/712; Baghawi, 3/186; Razi, 21/448; Ibn Kathir, 5/134; Suyuti, 4/217; all of whom give different names, some of them increasingly complex, such as Kafāshaṭahwās, or Manṭafwasiyūs. As is clear these are all just guesswork and the only two names that are consistently mentioned are Maximilian and Iamelichos, which seem to be the only ones based on actual information.
[37] See for example Tarikh, 1/454; Thalabi, 6/161; Baghawi, 6/184-185. Yamlīkā is Syriac for Iamelichos (alternatively Iamblichus or Jamblichos). The same name is given in Syriac writings. 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. Some sources mention Iamelichos as the leader (such as Razi, 21/445. Qurtubi, 10/375, mentions both as possibilities).
[38] Qurtubi, 10/358; Muhit, 7/143.
[39] Zamakhshari, 2/710; Baghawi, 3/185; Razi, 21/446; Fadlallah, 1/295. Baghawī theorises that Tarsus (Ṭarsūs) is the same as Ephesus (Afsūs), the name of which was changed after the Age of Ignorance. What is correct is that both are cities in modern-day Turkey, and Tarsus should be a mix up with Ephesus.
[40] Bidayah, 2/136.
[41] Tabari, 15/134; Thalabi, 6/148. This may be a reference to Anchilos or Angelos.
[42] Tarikh, 1/455.
[43] Afsūs in Arabic.
[44] Mizan, 13/295. Ephesus is what is mentioned for example in Tabrisi, 6/698; Tabari, 15/134, 142; Thalabi, 6/147; Baghawi, 3/173; Zamakhshari, 2/713; Qurtubi, 10/375. Ibn Hishām mentions it passingly in the context of the disciples of Prophet Jesus (a), saying Johannes (Yuḥannas) was sent to Ephesus, ‘near the youth of the People of the Cave’ (Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah, 4/1026).
[45] Thalabi, 6/157; Mizan, 13/255, 296.
[46] See the commentary on verse 17 on this point.
[47] Nemuneh, 12/401.
[48] Mizan, 13/296-297.
[49] Sabine Baring-Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, p. 103, accessed at: https://archive.org/details/curiousmythsofmi00bariuoft/page/92/mode/2up.
[50] Called Philadelphia at the time of the People of the Cave, after Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who rebuilt the city.
[51] Mizan, 13/298. Tabatabai considers this cave to be the most likely candidate.
[52] Mizan, 13/299.
[53] Mizan, 13/299, quoting Yāqūt al-Ḥimawī’s Muʿjam al-Buldān.
[54] Mizan, 13/299.
[55] Mizan, 13/299.
[56] The Edict of Milan was the official imperial edict which stopped the persecution of Christianity and granted them legal rights and freedom of worship.
[57] The Edict of Thessalonica, issued by Theodosius I, made Trinitarian Catholic Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.
[58] For example, his writing: ‘If anyone says or thinks that, at the resurrection, human bodies will rise spherical in form and unlike our present form, let him be anathema.’ From The Anathematisms of the Emperor Justinian Against Origen (accessed at: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.xii.x.html). Origen has been described as the most important theologian of the early Greek church. Origen argued that ‘the rational soul occupies an earthly, human body only once (ensomatosis), rather than a cycle of multiple bodies (metensomatosis)’; see https://classicalstudies.org/annual-meeting/151/abstract/%E2%80%9Corigen%E2%80%99s-resurrection-rational-soul-and-its-ascent-likeness-angels%E2%80%9D.
[59] See for example Alusi, 8/207.
[60] J. B. Rives, ‘The Decree of Decius and the Religion of the Empire’ in The Journal of Roman Studies, Volume 89, (November 1999), pp. 135-154.
[61] Theodosius II became emperor as a small child, as such – if we accept that they awoke during his reign – it would be safe to assume the event to have occurred closer to the end of his reign.
[62] J. B. Rives, ‘The Decree of Decius and the Religion of the Empire’ in The Journal of Roman Studies, Volume 89, (November 1999), pp. 135-154.
[63] Witold Witakowski, ‘Sleepers of Ephesus, Legend of the,’ in Legend of the Sleepers of Ephesus, ed. Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron M. Butts, George A. Kiraz and Lucas Van Rompay. Accessed at: https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Sleepers-of-Ephesus-Legend-of-the; Brannon M. Wheeler, ‘Moses or Alexander? Exegesis of Qurʾān 18:60-65’ in Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 57, No. 3 (July 1998), pp. 191-215.
[64] See for example Tarikh, 1/455-456.
[65] Kafi, 1/448; Amali.S, p. 712; Maani, p. 286.
[66] Ayyashi, 2/321.
[67] Mufīd, Kitāb al-Irshād, 2/117.
[68] Ibn Ḥamzah Ṭūsī, al-Thāqib fī al-Manāqib, p. 333.
[69] Rāwandī, al-Kharāʾij wa al-Jarāʾiḥ, 2/577; Ibn Asakir, 60/369-370.
[70] Ibn Asakir, 22/117; Ṣafadī, al-Wāfī bil-Wafayāt, 15/201.
[71] Manaqib, 3/218. Ibn Shahrāshūb attributes several verses and says that the head was heard speaking in both Damascus and Kufa, also saying things like lā quwwata illā bil-lāh (there is no power but by God).
[72] Bidayah, 2/135. See also Ibn Kathir, 5/127.
[73] Mizan, 13/245, although he later says that it was known to the Prophet in a general way (Mizan, 13/246), it is not clear if he means this as a specification.
[74] Rashid Iqbal, ‘A New Theory on Aṣḥāb al-Kahf Based on Evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls’, in Al-Bayān Journal of Qurʾān and Ḥadīth Studies, Vol. 15 (Brill, 2017), pp. 5-32.
[75] See for example Qummi, 2/31; Tabrisi, 6/710; Thalabi, 6/162; Zamakhshari, 2/712; Muhit; 7/159.
[76] Tabrisi, 6/697.
[77] Bartlomiej Grysa, ‘The Legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in Syriac and Arab Sources’, in Orientalia Christiana Cracoviensia 2 (2010), pp. 45-59, accessed at: http://czasopisma.upjp2.edu.pl/orientalia/article/download/1011/895.
[78] 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; Pieter W. Van der Horst, ‘Pious Long-Sleepers in Greek, Jewish, and Christian Antiquity’, in Tradition, Transmission, and Transformation from Second Temple Literature through Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, ed. Menahem Kister et al. (Brill, 2015), pp. 1-19.
[79] Witold Witakowski , “Sleepers of Ephesus, Legend of the”, in Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition, ed. Sebastian P. Brock et al. (Gorgias Press, 2011; online ed. Beth Mardutho, 2018), accessed at: https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Sleepers-of-Ephesus-Legend-of-the. Sydney Griffith argues that the earliest texts were written by in Greek by Bishop Stephen of Ephesus, but the current earliest extant texts are in Syriac.
[80] 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; Adrian Fortescue, ‘Seven Sleepers of Ephesus’, in Catholic Encyclopaedia, accessed at: https://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=10741; George Archer, ‘The Hellhound of the Qur’an’, in Journal of Qur’anic Studies, 18.3 (Edinburgh University Press, 2016), pp. 1-33; Mizan, 13/295.
[81] Sabine Baring-Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, p. 100, accessed at: https://archive.org/details/curiousmythsofmi00bariuoft/page/92/mode/2up.
[82] In fact, Griffith notes that in pre-Islamic times it was solely in circulation in Jacobite circles. 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.
[83] Gregory of Tours gives them as Achillides, Diomedes, Diogenus, Probatus, Stephanus, Sambatus, and Quiriacus. Jacques de Voragine gives the names as Maximian, Malchus, Marcian, Dionysius, John, Serapion, and Constatine.
[84] Jacques de Voragine gives the name as Celion. Patriarch Ignatius Zakkā I ʿIwāṣ gives it as Okhlon.
[85] In some versions, a rich landowner.
[86] This detail is mentioned in many of the Islamic sources as well, for example Thalabi, 6/151. There was in fact a historically recorded theological debate that centred around Ephesus and the emperor Theodosius II, but it had to do with the human and divine nature of Prophet Jesus (a); see Fergus Millar, ‘The Syriac Acts of the Second Council of Ephesus’, in Chalcedon in Context: Church Councils 400-700, ed. Richard Price and Mary Whitby (Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 45-64.
[87] Bayt ṣlūtā in Syriac; 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.
[88] Adrian Fortescue, ‘Seven Sleepers of Ephesus’, in Catholic Encyclopaedia, accessed at: https://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=10741; Sabine Baring-Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, pp. 93-112, accessed at: https://archive.org/details/curiousmythsofmi00bariuoft/page/92/mode/2up; Bartlomiej Grysa, ‘The Legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in Syriac and Arab Sources’, in Orientalia Christiana Cracoviensia 2 (2010), pp. 45-59, accessed at:http://czasopisma.upjp2.edu.pl/orientalia/article/download/1011/895; 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.
[89] Tabari, 15/133-147; Thalabi, 6/147-156; Suyuti, 4/214-215. Even the entrance of the cave is for example sealed in this account, which is in apparent contradiction to the Quranic account, and suggests it has been sourced from Christian writings. Also, they explicitly mention Decius and Theodosius as the two emperors in the story, again in contradiction to the Quranic version. Thaʿlabī and Ṭabarī relate from Ibn Isḥāq a very detailed account, which is almost verbatim the account of Jacob of Serugh, which suggests they had access to that.
[90] Most of the reports are not transmitted from an Infallible, but rather the accounts of first or second generation Muslim scholars.
[91] Bartlomiej Grysa, ‘The Legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in Syriac and Arab Sources’, in Orientalia Christiana Cracoviensia 2 (2010), pp. 45-59, accessed at: http://czasopisma.upjp2.edu.pl/orientalia/article/download/1011/895.
[92] Roberto Tottoli, Encyclopaedia of the Quran, ‘Raqīm’, pp. 351-352.