XVIII

AL-KAHF

INTRODUCTION
Name.

' This Surah takes iis name from v. 9 in which thc word i (a/-
AaA/?occurs.

Period of Revelation.

This is Ihe first of those Surahs which were sent down in the
third stage of Prophethood at Makkah We have already divided tlie life
of tlie Holy Prophet at Makkah into four stages in the Introduction to
Chapter VI. According to that division the third stage lasted from the
Fifth to the temh year of Prophethood. This is what distinguishes this
stage from the second and the fourth stages. During the second stage the
Quraish mainly resorted to ridiculing. scoffing, threatening, tempting;
raising objections and making false propaganda against the Holy Prophet
and his fo!lowers in order to suppress the Tslamic Movement. But during
the third stage they empioyed the wcapons of persecution, man-handling
and economic pressure for the same purpose. So rauch so that a large
number of the Muslims had to emigrate from Arabia to Habash, and
those who remained behind were besieged in Shi‘ib Abi Talib along with
the Holy Prophet and his family. To add to their misery. a complete
 4 The Meaning ofthc Qur'an

social and economic boycou was applied against them. The only
redeeming feature was that there wcre two personalides, Abu Talib and
Hadrat Khadijah, whose personal influence had been conducive to the
suppott of two great families of the Quraish. However, when in the tenth
year of Prophethood these two persons died, the fourtb stage began with
such severe persecutions as forced the Holy Prophet and all his
Compsnions to emigrate from Makkah.

It appears lfom the theme of the SOrah that it was revealed at the
beginning of the third stage when inspite of persecutions and opposition,
migration lo .Habash had not yet taken place. That is why the story of
■■AshSb-i-Kahr (the Sleepers of the Cave) lias been relatcd to comfort
and encourage the persecuted Muslims and to show them how the
righteous people have been saving their Faith in the past.
Subject and Topics.

This Surah was sent down in answer to the three qucstions which
thc mushriks of Makkah, in consultation with the people of the Book,
had put to ihe Holy Prophet in otder to test him. These were: (1) Who
were “the Sleepers of thc Cave"? (2) What is the real story of Khnjr1 ?
and (3) What do you know about ?ul-Qamain? As these three qurstions
and the stories involved concemed the history of the Christians and the
Jews, and were unknown in ijijaz. a choice of these was made to test
whether the Holy Prophet possessed any source of the knowledge of the
hidden and unseen things. AUah, however. not only gave a complete
answer lo their questions but also employed the three stories to the
disadvantage of the opponents of Islam in the conflict that was going on
at that time at Makkah between Islam and un-belief:

1. The questioners were told that “the Sleepers of the Cave"

beheyed in the same doctrine of Tauhid which was being put forwaid in

1 According u> some tradiiions, the second guesdon was in regard to the
Soul whicli (according ^ to thosc tradidons) has been answered in verse 8J
of Chapter XVII (Bani Isri’Il), but we do not agree with this because (I)
there is an interval of several years between the revelation of thls Surah
and of SOrah Barn' hrl’i!, and (2) in this Surah tiuw stories have been
related instead of two, Thereforc, we aie of the opinion that the second
guestion wa$ in regard to the stoty of Kh.^r and not couceming the Soul.
(Please refer also to E.N. 61 of this Sarah j
 Al-Kaht 5

the Qur’an and that their condition was similar to the condition of the
persecuced Musiims of Makkah. On the other hand, the persecutors of
the Sleepers of the Cave had behaved in the same way towards them as
the disbeltevers of the Quraish weie behaving towards the Muslims.
Besides this, the Musltms have been taught ihat even if a Believer is
persecuted by a cruel society, he should not bow down before falsehood
bui emigrate frora the place all alone, if need be, with trust in God
Incidentally the disbelievers of Makkah were told thal the story of the
Sleepers of the Cave was a clear proof of the creed of the Hereafter, for
this showed ihat Allah has the power to resurrect anyone He wills even
afler a long sleep of deaih as He did in ease of the Sleepers of thc Cave.

2, The story of the Sleepers of the Cave has also been used to
wam rbc chiefs of Makkah who were persecuting the small newly
tormed Mushm Communit)’. At the same dme, the Holy Prophet has
becn instructed ihat hc should in no case make a compromise with their
persecutors, nor should he consider thera to be more important than his
poor followers. On the other hand, those chiefs havc been admonished
Ihat they should not be puffed up with the transitory life of pleasure they
were then enjoymg but should seek after those excellences which are
permanenl and eicmal.

3. The story of Khi^r and Moses has been related in such a way
as to supply the answer to the question of the disbelievers and tu give
rfT’° T BeliCVerS “ well. The lesson contained in this storv is
Ts' You should have fa>to wisdom of what is happening in
the Divine Pactory in accordance with the will of Allah. As the reality is
hidden from 'you, you are at a loss to understand the wisdora of what is
happenmg. and sometimes if it appears that things are going against you,
you cry out, ‘How and why has this happened?’ The fact is that if the
curtain be removed from the "unseen", you would vourselves come to
know that what w happening here is for the best. Even if sometimes it
appears that something is going against you, you will see thai in the end
it also produces some good results for you*.

4. The same is true of the story of ?ul Qamain for it also

aomomshes ihe questioners, as if to say, "0 you vain chiefs of Makkah >
you should learn a lesson trora ?u!-Qamain. Though he was a great
ruler, a great conqueror and Ihe owner of great resources, yet he always
surrendered to his Creator, whereas you are rebelUng against Him, even
 Thc Mcaning nfdse Qur’an

ihough you are insignificant chiettains in coraparison with him. Besides

rhis. though Zul-Qarnain built one of the strongest walls for protcction,
yct his real trust was in Allah and not in the “wall”. Hc believed that the
wall could protect ‘him against his cncmies as long as it was the will of
Allah and that Uicrc would be cracks and holes in it. whcn it would be
Ilis will: whereas you who possess only insignificant fortified abodes
and dwellings in comparison with him, consider yourselvcs lo be
pcrmancntly safe and securc against all sons of calamilics."

While the Qur'an turned thc tables on the questioners who had
rried to uexposc’* the Holy Prophet, in the end of the Surah thc same
Lliings have been reiterated that were stated at its beginning: "Tauh!d and
Ihe Hereafter are absolutely truc and real and for your own good; you
should acccpl these doctrines, mend your ways in aceordancc wilh ihem
and live in this world with this conviction ihat you are accountable to
Allah: othcrwise you shall ruin your iife and all your doings shall be set
ai naughl. ”
 7

XVIII
AL-KAHF

a^3i
Ycrscs: 110 Rcvcalcd at Makkah
In the namc of Allah, the Mcrcifv/, the Compassionatc.

All praise is for Ailah, Who has seni down this Book to His 1-4
Servant, and assigned nothing crookcd to it.1 This Book says
everything dircctly so that hc may wara the people of the severe
chastisement of Allah and give good news to the Believers, who do
righteous deeds, tbat they will have an excellent recompense. which
they will always cnjoy and that he should wrarn thosc peopic who say,
“Allah has begotten a son”.2 '

1. Tbai i$, “There is nothing iniricate or eomplicated in it thai may be

beyond anyoiie‘s under9tanding nor is diere anything thal deviates from the straight
path of the Truth and thus cause hesitation in the mind of a rruth-loving person.”

2. “Those people” includes the Christians, the Jews and the mushrik
Arabs who assigned offspring to Allah.

[Contd. on p. 10
8 TheMeaning ofihe Qur'an

$£ii*£i$a3teK S&SS&^iisM&wgri

W 9 ’fi «£» # e S3S «i®in lo^ ayj

® c»i 15S-tf Bji&i £E[
S>S* •$%&&i\*££ Ejji w lji®it}jli;o!Ki ciM
5 «sa&K W & U»| JS aa & ^ liste
j&l ^ &a* o^STi ^ i^iii

w 2<«^rn dar^sSicrRja
® h^
^ an , i^ ^ jj; ^
4

s£ i &; ^ \££\ 3li

«s h iV * >' i&* 4*'M&

6 &=4 &£> iW &j&j8$3Z o#i JitTli Jii if;

$#' «is^r^^iac i5i j3i l?>' ;l g&^r

4
‘ *& $ ju? ys;»^ ;# iii
S4^I oi?;^i

«s&r^ vsaij &bUZJts

W < ^
5 35 ul fi*tf i
 Al-Kahf 9

Neither had they any knowledge of this3 nor their forefathers; it. 5
is a monstrous word that comes out of their mouths: they utter a sheer
lie.

WelJ, O Muhammad, ic may be thac you will consume your life 6-8
for their sake out of sorrow, it' they do not belicve in this message.4
The fact is that whatsoever is on ihe earth, We have made it as its
adomment so that we may test the people as to which of them does
best dceds. In the end, We wilJ tum all that is in it into a bare plain.s

Do you consider “thc Sleepers of the CaveV and the bearers 9-12
of the “Inscription"7 to be among Our strange Signs?8 When those few
young men took refuge in tlic Cave, they said, “Our Lord! have a
special mercy on us frora Thyself and guide us out of our ordeal
aright. ” Accordingly We lulled theni to a deep sleep in the Cave for a
number of years. Then We raised thera up in order to test which of
them were able to cakulate correctly the period of their stay there.

Now We tcll you their rcal story.5 They were a few young mcn 13-16
who believed in their Lord, and We increascd them in thcir
guidance.10 We strengthened their heans, wben they rose up, and tfiey
declared, '‘Our Lord is the One Who is the Lord of the heavens and
the eartli. We wUl not invoke any other deity tban Him. It will be the
most improper thing if we do so'\ * (Then they held mutual
consultations, saying.) "These people of ours have given up the Lord
of the universe and adopted other deities. Why do they not bring
forward any clear arguraent in support of their creed? Well, who can
be more wicked than the one who forges a lie against Allah? Now thar
you have forsaken them and discarded the deities they worship besides
Allah, let us go to such and such a cave for refuge.u Your Lord will
cxtend to you His raercy, and order your affairs for you for the best.”

If you had looked ac them in the Cave,12 it would have 17-18

appeared to you that when the sun rose, it !eft thc Cave to one side
and inclined towards the right, and when it set, it tumed away from
them and went to the left while they lay in the spacious plaee inside
the Cave.13 This was one of the Signs of Allah. Whomsoever Allah
guides aright, he is guided aright, and whomsoever Allah lets go
astray, you will find no guardian to direct him. If you had seen thera,
it wouid have appeared to you as if they were awake, whereas in fact
 10 The Meajing of ihe Qur'an

they were aslcep. We tumed them about to the right and Lhe left
sidcs.14 And their dog was sitting at the entrance of the Cave with out-
stretched forelegs. If you had looked at them, you would have turned
on your heels and their sight would havc struck you with terror.15

Comd. from p. 7}

3. “Monsirous word": “That one is the sou of God, or Allah lias adopied
that onc as His son." This has heeu declared to be monsrmus because it was not
based on nny knowledge ihat Allah had a soa or had adopted someonc as a son.
They had merely exaggcmled their Iove for someone and iovented such a
relationship, and diey do not rea1ize thar it is a monstrous blasphemy, impudence
and tabncaiion that they arc uttering in regard to Allah, the Lord of thc wurlds.

4. This refers lo the real cause of ihe anxiety of the Holy Propliet at the
time of the reyelation of this Surah . It clearty shows that dic Holy Prophet did not
grieve at ihc persecution from which he and his Companions werc suffering but at
the deviation and moral degeneration of bis people. What was consummg him was
th3t. though he wa.s trying to bring theni out from their disgracelul statc, they
persisied iu it. He was grieved because he was convinccd that their devlation
would inevitahly lead them to destruction and scourge of Allah. Thcrcfore hc was
working day and niglu io save them but It appeared that they were bent upon
incurring thc chastlsemem of Allah. The Holy Prophct him5elf has described tliis
state of his mind in a Tradiiion to this effcct: “I may describe this thing in a
parable. A person kindled a fne to spread light but the moths persist in falling over
if to burn themselve.s alive. He tries to save them from the fire but thc moths
reducc his efforts to tailure The same is true of me aad you. I hold you by your
skirts to kecp you away trom the fire. but you are bent upon falJing into it."
(Bukhari, Muslim).

Though apparemly ii i$ merely stmed “. it raay be that you will

coiLsume your life for tbeir sake out of sorrow....- ii also contains a sort of
consolation for the Holy Propbet, as if to say, "As you are not responsible for
ibrciug them to believc, wby should you consume yourselt for their sake? Your
only duty is to give good news and waming and not tn tum people into Believers.
Tlieretbre ynu may go on cnrrying out your mission of giving good news to the
BeJievers and warning of the bad conSequenccs tu the disbelievers.''

5. V. 6 was addrcssed to the Holy Prophet, but w. 7-8 have been directed
to tlie disbelievers indirectly, as if to say, " Yca must understand it clearly that ail
the things that you see in the wnrld and wfhich allure you. are a tiansitory
adomment which has been arranged merely to test you, but it is a pity that you
liave been involved in the misunderstanding that all tJiese things have been created
 Al-Kahf 11

io cater for your pleasure and enjoymenL That is why the onJy aini and object of
hfe you have set hefore you is: “Eat, drink and be merry,- As a result of this you
do uot pay any attention lo your true and real wdl-wistier. You must understand it
well that these diings have not been provided for pleasure but are actually a means
of testmg you. You have been placed atnoag them to see wlrich of you is allured
by these frum the real aim of life and wbich of you keeps steadfast in the worship
of Allah, for which you have been sent to the world. All these things aud means of
pleasure stiaJl come to ao end on the Day your examinaiion is over aud noihing
will remain un ihe earth because it will be turned into a bare plahi.M

6. Ihe Arabic word literaJJy means a cave.

7. Thcre is a differencc of opinion obout tl\e meaning of ar-ruyun. Some

CiTiupamons and tlieir followers opiiicd that it was tlie name of that habitation
where rlus uvem toolc place and that it was situatcd somewhere between Aylah aud
PaJestine. Therc are other commenutors who take ii to mean the uInscription,, that
Itad becn set up at the Cave as a memorial to “the Sleepers of the Cave". Maulana
Abul Kalam Azid, in his commentary, Tarjmanul-Qur'an, has pretcned the firat
meanmg and opined that it is the same place which has been called Rekem in the
Bible (Joshua, 18: 27). Then he identitks it wkli ihe ancieat historical city of
Petra. But he has not coasidered the faci that Rekera, as mentioncd in the Bible,
belongcd to the children of Benjamio aud according to the Book of Joshua, tlie
territory of this cJah was situated to the west of river Jordan and tlie Dead Sca and
that the ruins of Petra aie lituated to the south of Jordan. That is why the modem
archaeologists do not believe tbat Petra and Rekem are one and the same place.
(PJease refer to Encyclopatdia BritannJca. J946.. VoI XVU, page 658). We are
also ot the opinion that by *Ar-nq/m"ui meant athe inscriptioa".

8. This question has been posed to expose die sccptical attitude of the
disbdievers towards tlic "Sleepers of the Cave\ as if to say. "Do you think that
Allah, Who has created the heavens and the earth. does not have the power to keep
a few persons in a state of sJeep for a couple of hundrcd yeare and then to raise
thcm up as bale and hearty as they were at the tinie ol goiug to sleep? If you ever
had ponderud over the wonderful creation of the sun and the moon aud the earth,
you wouJd nevcr have expressed any doub! that such a thing was anything difficulf
for Allah.’' *

9. The oldest evidencc of this story is found in a homily written in Syriac

by Jacob of Sarug, a Christian priest of Syria, who w»s bom in A.D. 452, a few
years atter the death of -the Companions of the Cave." The homily which
deseribes the legend in great detail was composed by him in or about A.D. 474.
On Uic one hand, this same S>Tiac version came into the hands of our eariy
commentators, and lbn Jarir Tabari cited it in hi$ coimnentary with various
 12 Thc Mcaning oflhe Qur'£n

authorities, and od the other, it reaclwd Europe where its iraosladons and abridgcd
versions were published in Gicek and Latin. The abridged story as told by Gibbon
in Chaplcr 33 of his Tbc Dccl/nc and Faii ofths Romau Empirc under the heading,
“The Seven Sleepers", so dosely reserables the story told by our commentators
that both the versious seem to have beeu drawn from the same source. For
instaiice,. the name of the king, whose persetutions made the Sevect Christian
youths of Ephesus take refuge in the cave, was Emperor Decius aceording to
Gibbon. He ruled the Roman Empire frora A.D. 249 to 251 and whose reign is
very notorious because of his persecution of ihe foiiowers of Prophet Jesus Christ,
while our commemators caU him ‘Decanus*, ‘Decaus'. ĕtc. The city, wherc this
event happened, was ‘Aphcsus1, or ‘Aphesos' according to our commentators,
whiJe according to Gtbbon it was Ephesus. which w*is the biggest Roman city and
sca-port on the west coast of Asia Minor. Thc ruins of this city can still be scen 20
to 25 miles south of the moderti Turkish city of Izrair. (Pteue see Map No. 1 for
refereoce). Again thc rurae of thc king, during whose retgn fcthe Companions of
the Cave awoke was ‘Tezusius’ according to the Muslim eoinmcntators and
Theodosius II according to Gibbon. He raled over Romc from A.D. 408 to 450.
after the Roman Erapire had acceptcd Chrisdanity.

The reserabJance berweeii the two versions is so closc that even the name
of Ihc companion whom the Sleepers sent to the city to buy food aftcr waking up
has becn mentioned as •JambUcha' by the Muslira schoJars and JarabJichus by
. Gibbon. Thc detaiJj of the story in both the versions arc also similar which are
brictly as Jollows;

When during the reign of thc Emperor Decius tbe foJlowers of Prophet
Jesus Christ were being mercilewJy persecuted. the Scven Chrisdarryouths hid
themselves iu a cavc and fell into a slecp. Tben in the 38th year of the reign of the
Eraperor Theodosius n (approxiraarely in A.D. 445 or 446) they awoke when the
whole of the Roman Empirc had become Christian. Thus, they slept ra the cave for
nearly 196 years.

On this ground souie oricutalists have rcjected that the above-mcntioned

story is the sajne as that given in tbe Qur'an because die period of their stay in the
cave according to die Qur an (v. 25) was 309 years. We have. however, answered
this objecdon in E.N. 25.

There are a few minor dift"erences between the Quranic and Syriac
versions, on the basis of which Gibbop has charged the Holy Prophet with
‘'ignorance’’. However, the Syrlac version, on the basis of whose authenticity he
has comrnitted this gross icsolence, was even according to hira written thiity to
iorty yeare after the evenc by a Syiian. He has not taken the trouble to cousider the
fact thax verbal versions of event5 do change a bit during such a Jong tlme whije
 Al-Kahf 13

they are communicaied from one country 10 ihe other. Therefore il is wrong to
rake «ueh a version of ihe siory for granted and Uterally true and to charge the
Qur'an wiih discrepancy for any mam diffeience with it. Such an attitude is worthy
only uf those people who are so blimied by religious prejudices that they dtscard
even the nwst ordinary deraar.ds of

The city of Ephesus where the cvent of the Sleepers of thc Cave took
pJace. was buUt about llth century B.C. and bccame a great centre of idol-
worship, its chief deity being the moon goddess, Diniu. whose tempJe was
regarded as a wonder of the ancient world Most of her devotees belonged to Asia
Minor and the Roman Empire also liad accepted her as one of its deities.

Atter Prophet Je^us when his rnessage staried reaching difterent parcs of
the Romau Empire. a few youths of Ephesus also gave up itlolworship and
accepted God as dieir only Lord Gregory of Toutb has collected details about
tlicse Christian youths in his Mcrauilorwn Libcr, which are brieily as follo\vs:

“They were seven youths. Wben the Emperor Decius heard of their
change of faitli. hc suramoned them and qucstioned them about their new religion.
In spite of knowing that thc Emperor was deadly against the foUowers of Chrwt.
they trankly admitted hefore hira that their Lord is the Lord ot' the earth and
heavens, and that they recognised noiie clw as Deity for lf they did so. tbey would
be committing a grave sin. The Emperor hcciune turious to hear this, and wamed
(hat he would have them killcd, but then consldering tlicir tender age. he granted
Uiem thrcc days in which they werc counseUed to reven to tiicir old faith,
otherwise they would be put to death.

The seven youths took advantage of thc situation and fled the city to
couceal themselves in a cavc in the moumains. Qn the way a dog also foliowed
them: tliey did their best to scare it away. but it would not leave dtem. At last they
fouttd a spactous cave as a suitable retugc and hid in it, and the dog sat at the
entrance. Being tired thcy soon fell into a deep sJumber. This bappened in about
250 A.D. After about 197 ytars. in 447 A.D.. during thc reign of Emperor
Theodosius II, thcy awoke suddenly when thc whole Roman Empire had embraced .
Christianity and the Ephesians had given up idolairy. :•
• • •/ •

“At this time a fiercc conlrovexsy was going on mnong iheRomans

regarding Ule reality of the life-after-dcath and Resurrection, and thc Emperor
himsell was anaious to eradicate somehow thc disbelief in the life-after-deadi ftom
Uie minds of his people So inuch so that one day he prayed that God in His merCy
may show a sign which may hclp restore and conect the pcople‘s behef. ln
precisely tlic same days the 5even Sleepers awoke in th^caye.
14 Thc Mcaning ofthe Qur 'An

,‘After wakiiig up ihe youths started askdng one anjKher about how iong
they might have slept. Some said it migju have been a day: others said It was a pari
of a day. When ibey reached rxO coDClusion, ihey siopped arguing, leaving the
knowledge of ihe exact period to God.

Then they seni Jean, a companign, to ihe chy with a few silver coins (o
buy foodT aad wamed him to be oa his guard lest (he people shouid recogmse him,
for they feared that if (hey were discovered ihe Ephesians would force them lo
bow before Diaiu. Bu( wheu Jean came to the city he was astonished to sec (hat
the worJd had changed: the whole populatioii had embraced Chrisdanity, and therĕ
whs nobody in the city to worship Diana. He came to a ahop and wanted to buy a
few loaves of bread. When be paid in a coin bearing the image of Etnperor Decius,
(he shopkeeper couid not believe his eyes and asked the stranger wherefrom he had
obiained that coin. Whcn thc young man said that h was his own, a dispuie began
between them and soon a crowd gathered around thcm, and the matter reached Ihe
chief otJiccr of the city. The officer hinuclf was puzzled and waoted to know tbe
whercabouis of the trcasurc house irom where the young num had taken the coin,
but the latter insisted ihai it hclonged (o hira. Thc off»cer did not believe him
bccause bc thought that a young man like him could not possibly possess a
cemurics-old coin which had not even been seen by ihe elders in ihc city. When
Jean came U> know that Uie Emperor Dccius had dicd, hc was pleasantly surpriscd.
Hc told the crowd that he and his six companions had llcd the cily only the other
day and takcn refuge ra a cave to escape Decius* persecution. The officer was
greaUy surprised and followed thc young man to see the cave where his
companions lay in hidlng. Aod a grcar crowd followed behind thcm. When they
carae to the cave. it was fully estabJisbed that ihe youths rcally belonged (o the
Emperor Decius' period. Conscqucn(ly. Emperor Theodosius was inforn>cd and he
also visited the cave to receivc grace Then the scvcn youths went back into ihe
cave and lay down and breathed their last. Seeing this clcar sign (he people’5 belief
in ihe life-af(cr-death was restored, and a monument was ordered to be built over
the cave by die Emperor.*’

The story of the Sleepers of ihe Cavc as narrated above, coricsponds so

closely with that mentiooed in the Our'4n that the ^even youdis can casily be
regarded as “Asbib-i-Kahr ((he Companioire of tbe Cave). Some people,
however, have raised the objection iliai ihis story conccrns a ci(y of Asia Minor,
and (he Qur'an does not discuss or refer to any event that might have (akcn place
outside Arahja; lherefore it would be against the Quranic style and spirit to label
tbis Christian story as Ihe story of “Ashab-j-Kahr. In our opinion this objection is
Dot correct. The Qur’an means to impress and wam the Arabs by relatitig stories
concerning (hc yhiious ancient tribes who had transgressed from the right path and
with whom they were familiar, whether ihey lived and flourished inside Arabia or'
 Al-Kahf 15

outside It. rt 18 for this v«y reason that a meodon has heen made of the aacient
lustory of Egypt i* thc Qur'in, whcreas Egypt has never heen a part of Arabia.
The questwn is that when the history of Egypt can be ineationed in ibe Qur'an,
why cannot Romc and the Ronun history with which the Arabs were as tkmjJuir as
with the Eg>piian history? The Roman frontiers adjoined the northcm Hijar aad
rhe Arab caravans traded with the Romans aJmost throughont the year. Then there
were fl oumber of Arab tribes who weie dircctly under Roroaa domination and the
Roman Empire was in no way unknown to the Arabs, a fact which is hilly bome
ouc hy Surah Ar-Rum Ado<her thjng which should be bome in mind is thar the
story of tlie Sleepers of the Cave has beec related in thc Qur’an in response to a
<juer>' raised by the disbelievers of MaJcknh. who had been prompted by the Jews
aiu! Chnstuns to question the HoJy Prophet on *uch matters were wholly
unknown to the Araba m ordcr to test his Prophetbood.

10. That is, when diey had betieved sinccreJy, Allah rncreased their faith
in the guidance and cnabled tbem to bccome Hrm and steadfast on the way of Ihe
I ruth evcu at the risk of tbeir lives radier than surrender bcfore falschood.

11. Wlicn tbese God-wurshipping youths fled tbe habitations to take rehige'
II lhe ^ gi|y of Epte*™ was the priircipal centre of idohworship and
sorcery m Asia Miuor. There was a great tempJe dedicated to the goddess Diana,
wh.ch was well-known in the whole world and attractcd dcv0tees from far and
wide. ThC sorcerers, worlc^rs of magic and occult arts. sooth-Mvers and aniulet-
wnters of Ephesus were well-known and their black busine.SS had spread
tbroughout Syna and Palestinc. even as far as Egypt. The Jews also had a big
-share m «, who attributed this an to Prophet Solomou. (Please sec Cyclopacdia of
Bibhcal Litcracurt uiuter Ephesus’. for detaUs). The predicamcnt in which tl>e
rigbMOM. peopk Jivlng m an environment of idolatry and superscition were
mvnived can well be imggined from the remark 0f “the Compaiuons of the CaveM
that occurs in v. 20: .if thcy succeed in ovcr-powermg us, they wJII surely
5tone us ro death or force us back into their Eatth. ”

12. It has not beeu raentioned that in accoidancc with this mutual rcsolve,
(hey lett the city and went to a secret Cavc in the mountains in order to escape
trom death or forced apostasy.

13. This is to show thai ihc mou* of the Cave ia«d ille north. That is
why the light of the sun could not enttr insidc the Cave Md the one who paSsed by
it cuuld not see who was inside it.

14. rhat is, "If some one could havĕ pecped at the Seven Pereons frorn
outside and seen them tuming ffom one side to the other at imervals, he would
Have thought that they were not asleep but were relaxing themsdves '
[Conid. onp.18
16 Tht Meaawg of the Qur'Sn
 Al-Kahf 17
* •

And in thc same rairaculous way We raised them up again16 so 19-21

thar they may ask one another (about their wonderfuJ experience). One
of them asked, "Well, how long have you remained in this
cotidilion?" The others answered, “May-be, we have remained so for
a day or a part Of a day." Then they declared, “Your Lord knows best
how long we have remained in ihis condidon. So let us send one of us
with this silver coin to the cityf and he should look foraplace
wherein he can get, the best food so that he may bring soraething to
eat. He should, however, conduct himsclf with caution lest anyone
should discover our whereabouts; for if they succeed in over-powering
us, they will surely stone us to death or force us back into their Faitb,
ind in that case we will never be able to obtain true success.”—Tn this
iay We revealed their secrct to the people of the city17 so chat (hey
/hould know that Allah’s promise is true and that there is no doubt
about (the coming of) the Hour of Resurrection.1* (But it is a pity that
instead of considering this aspect of the matter) they were at that time
disputiiTg araong chemselves. with rcgard to thera (the Sleepers of the .
Cave). Somc of them said, “Let us build a wall against thera, for their
Lord alone knows best about thcra".19 But those people who prevailed
in their raatter,?0 said, “We will build a place of worship as a
mcmorial for them,,.2,
•

Some people wiil say, “They were three and thc fourth was 22*26
their dogw, and some others will say, “They were five and the sixth
was their dog.” These are merĕ irrelevant guesses. There are still
others who say, “They were seven and the eighth was their dog. ”22
Say, “My Lord alone knows best how many they were." There are a
few people only who know their correct number: so you should not
entA into discussions with thera about their nuraber except in a
cursory way: nor ask anyone about thera23 and never say about any
mattcr, “I will do th\s tomorrow (fbr you cannot do anything) except
that Allah wills it. * If ever you inadvertently utter anything like this,
you should at once remember your Lord and say, “I hope that my
Lord will guide me24 in this matter with that thing which is nearest to
the right way for nre"—and some people say that chey remained in
their Cave for three hundred years and sorac others add nine more
years25 (to the reckoning of the period). O Prophet, say, “Allah knows
best about the period of their stay there, for He is fully awaie of all.
that is hidden in the heavens and the earth." What an excellent Seer
 18 The Meaning of the Qur'an

and Hearer He is! There is no oiher guardian of ihe creation in the

heavens and the earth, ana Ile does not associate anyone with Himseif
in His amhority.
-28 O Prophet.26 recite (the very same) that has becn revealed to
you in the Book of your Lord, for no one is authorised to make any
change whatsoever in the Word of your Lord and (if you will make
any change to please any one) you will find no place of refuge to
protect you from Him.27 And keep yourscJf whole-heartedly content
with thosc who pray to their Lord moming and evening in order to
win His approval, and do not tum your atiention away from them,. Do
you desire che ailuremenLs of the world28? Do not follow the one2y
whose heart We have made negleciful of Our remembrancc and who
follows his own lust and goes to extremes in the conduct ofhis
affairs.30

Contd. tromp.JS.J

15. Allah had so arrangcd thcir retuge thai nonc darcd go insidc the Cave
and know aboul them for it was piich dark in the Cave and the dog was kccping
watch at thc cntrancc. If somcone cver pccpcd into tbc Cavc and saw the Slccpers,
hc took them for sonic robbcrs and at oncc cunicd od his heels. This was ihe
reaaon why chcir retuge remaincd a sccret to thc outer world for such a long
period.

16. They were rouscd from their stcep in the sarae miracuious way tliat
was empJoyed in sending diem Co slecp and keeping them hidden ffom the outer
world.

17. Thc secret of their sleep was rcveaJcd whcn one of them wemto
Ephesus to buy tbod for them and offered a coin of thc period of Emperor Decius.
Ax it was a changed world, hc naturally attracted anention for Ih; was wearing a
costume of 300-year old tashion and spoke a language different from that in vogue.
This was because during thosc two ccnturies the laoguagc, culturc, diess etc., had
uiuiergonc a marked change. So thc sbOpkeepcr looked ask&nce at him and,
according to a Syriac tradition, suspccted that he had dug up somc aticient
treasure. Accordingly, he gathered some people of his neighbourhood and tiiey
took him beforc the ruter. On quesuoning, it was dlscovered tliat he was one of
those followers of Christ, who had fled the city 300 years ago to save their Faith;
As inost of the population had embraced Christianity. thc nfcws immediately spread
throughout the city and a big crowd of ihe people along with tlie Christian Roman
Ruler, arrivcd at the Cave. It was thcn ihat the Sleepers of the Cave camc to know
 Al~Kahf 19

that they had sJept for about thiee hundred years. So after makmg salutadons to
their Cbristian brothers they l3y down and thcir souls Sett their bodies.

lb. According to the Syriac tradition, at ihe time of this occurrence» hot
dcscussions were going on in Epbesus about Rcsurrection and the Hcrcafterl
Though the peopie liad embraccd Christianit>- under the inAuence of the Roman
Empire, yet traces of shirk and idolatry of the Romans and the effects of the Greek
philosnphy were still very powectoL So in spite of tbe Christian crccd of tlie
Hereaher, many pcople denied this, or at least were sceptical about this. To add to
this the Sadducee sect of the Jcws. who formed a great pan of the population of
ihe city, openiy denied the Hereaher and professed to base tliis on the Torah. The
Christian scholars, however, could not put forward any strong arguments to refute
them: $o much so that thc reporLs <»f the polemical discussion given in Matthew,
Mark and Luke, attributed to Propbet Christ, are admittedly very weak even
according to the Christian scholars. (Pieasc rcfer to Matthew 22: 23-33, Mark 12:
18-27, Luke 20: 27-40). That is why the disbelievers in the Hercafter were having
the upper hand and even the bel»evers were being involved in doubts about it. It
was ai Ihat time that the Sleepers of the Cave were raiscd up and funiished an
absolute proof of thc life-afier-death ar.d mmed the scaies in t‘avour of the
believers in this di6pute.
19. Ii appears from the context that tbis was the saying of the righteous
people from among Uie Christians. They were of the opinion that a wall should be
raised at thc entrance of tlie Cave in order to let the Sleepers remain in the same
coudition in which they wcre. for thcy argued thai their Lord alonc knew best
about dieir rank and position and the reward they deserved.

20. The people “who prevailed In their matter" wcre the Roman ruler»
and the priests of tbe Christian Church. who did not let the righteous Christians
have dieir way. This was because by the middle of the fifth eentury, the common
people, especially the orthodox among the Cbristians, had become fully involved
in shirk and the worship of saints ar.d tombs. They used to visit the tombs of the
saiuM to worship them and kept the statues of Jesus. Mary and the apostles in their
churches: 80 much so that a few yeais betore the rising up of the Sleepers ot tbe
Cave. in 431 A.D., a greai councll of tbe representatives of the Christian World
had been beld in Ephesus it$elf. in which it was resolved that the creed of the
divinity of Christ and ot' Mary as the raolher of God, should be included in the
artidcs nf the Christian Church. lf we keep in view ihe year 431, it becomes cleai
that by '‘those who prevailed in thelr matier” are meant the leaders of the Church
and the ottlcers of the govermnent. who had the reins of the reiigious and political
powers in iheir hands. in fact these were tbe people who were tbe upholtters of
shirk and whu decided that a raausokum should be built over the Cave of the
Sleepers to make it a place of worsbip.
20 The Mear.ing ofthe Qar'Sn

21. It is an iruny that soroe peoplc antong the Muslims have misconsirued
lliis vcrse of the Qur’ar. so as to make it lawhil for themsches to build
mausoleums. monuments and raosques over the tombs of the righteous persons and
saints. The Qur'2kn has, In fact, pointed out the deviation of the workers of iniquity
who prevailed upon othere and built a place of worship over the Cave of the
Sleepers, who were indeed a Sign of Resurrection and of the llfe-afler-death. But
they abused this good opportunity aud produced another means of practising shirk.

Oue faiis to uudcrstand liow anyone caa deduce from this verse an
argumcni for the legaiity of building mosques over the tombs of the righteous
pcople, wben the Holy Prophet has categorically prohibited this:

(1) “Atiah has cursed those women who visit lombs and those people wbo build
mosques over thera and bura lights over tbero’, (Atpnad. Tirmizlf Abu
Dawud, Nasa’!, Ibn M^jab).

(2) “Beware that the p&iple, who havc passed bcfore.you, raade the tombs of
Ihcir Prophets the placcs of thcir worship. I forbid you to do that." (Muslim)

(3) “Allah has cuised the Jews and ihe CThrigtians, for they made the tombs of
their Propliew thc placea of thcir worship." (A^mad, Bukhari, Muslim,
NasS’i).

(4) “The behaviour of tbose pcople was sirange: if a righteous pcrcun from
among them, died thcy would build a mosque over bis grave and draw his
pictures. Tliey will be treated as worst criminals on the Day on
Rcsunection." (.Abmad, Bukhan. Muslim, Nasa’i).

'l hus. it is clear from ihe ahove Sayings of die Holy Prophet that building
of the places of worship ovcr ihe tombs is utterly unlawful; tbc Qur*ao has merely
statcd as a historical fact thc sinful act of the Chrisrian priests and the Romao
rulers and has not sanctioned such a thing. Therefore no God-tiearing person can
ram this into an argument for huilding mosqucs ovcr the tombs.

Tncideiitally, it will be wortbwbile to cite a statement of Rev. T. Arundell

who published his Discweries in Asia MJaor in 1834. He says that he had seen tlie
remains of the Mausoleums of Mary and the Seven Sleepers on a hillock near the
remains of the ancienl city of Hphcsus.

22. This shows that about three hundred years after this event, at the time
of ilte revelation of the Qui'an, different stnries had become current among the
Christians about the Slcepers of the Cave. but geaerally these storieshadno
authentic source behind them. Tbis was because thac was not the age of the press in
which authentic books might have been published. Therefore naturally the stories
of events were carried from place to place by lueaos of oral traditions, and with
the passagc of thnc many tales of Tiction got mixed up with the real story.
 AJ-Kah! 21

23. This is meani lo imprsss ihat the real thing in this story is not the
number of the Sleepers but the lessons it teaches: (1) A true believer should doi on
any account tum away trom the tmth and bow befcre fa!sehood. (2) A believer
should not merely rely on the material oieans but on Ailah. He should trust in God
and follow tlie right way, even thcugh the outward adverse circumstances might
appear to be unfavouiable. (3) h is wrong to suppose that AJlah is bound by any
so-called “Law of Nature’, for He is able to do any thing He wills even iliough
that might seem to be agakst some comnton experience. He has the powcr to
ehangc any so-called law of nature, whenever aad wherever He wiUs and bring
about any ex(raordinary “supcmaturaJ’ thing. So much so that He can raise up
anyone who might have been asleep for two hundred years, as if he had slept only
foi a few hours, without letting any changc take place in his appearance, dress,
hcailh. iudeed iu anything during the passage of thne. (4) This teaches us that
Allah has the power to bring to Jife aJJ the generations -past, present and future—
all together as asserted by the Prophets and DivJne Scriptures. (5) It teaches us tliat
ignnrant people have always been perverting the Sigos of Allah which are sent for
the right guidancc of the people. That is how the miracle of the Sleepers of the
Cave, which had been shown as a proof of tbe Hereaher. had been turned into a
means of shirk, as jf they were soine saints who had been sent only for ihis
purpose.

Il is obvious from the above-mentioncd rcal Jessons. which one can leam
from the story of the Sleepcrs, that a wisc man will pay his attcntion to thesc thiags
and not divert it in search of their nuraber, iheir names, the coJour of their dog and
thc likc. Only those pcople, wbo bave no interest for thc reality but for superficial
things, will spend tlieir time and energy in making invCtdigalion8 about such
things. That is why AUah instnjcted the HoJy Prophet. "You sbould not enter into
useless and irrelevant discussions aboui such things, if othcr people try to involve
you in them. Jnstead of wasting your time in such useless things, you should
concentrate your anennon only oo your mission.” That is wby Allah has not
Himself told their exact nuraber lest it sbould encouiage such people as are aJways
hankering'after useless iliings.

24. This Is a parentheticai clause which has been inserted here becau.se of
its relevancy to the preceding verse. in which it was asserted that the correct
number of the Slecpers of the Cave is kr.own only to Allah and a research into it is
a useiess task. Therefore ODe should refrain from investigating iiuo uiiiniportiint
thmgs, nor enter into discussions about thera. This has Ied to the instruciion
coniaincd in ihe parendwtkaJ cJause for thc benetit of the Holy Prophet aud the
Believers who have been told never to make a positive assertion like ihis: “l will
do this thing tomonow’*, for you do not know whether you wiJl be able to do that

/Contd\ onp.24
22 . The Me&ning ofthe Qur 'an

fc-i t&p: \$

; BS-1 e^A <5V«&r'

^ <&£.# ^ifc igi «^I (ju
6S^4 5 6? ;*t~,f 6s ^ 6^4 Ji*vt 6? t£j?$
$3» A V$il i> <& S#-4 g^il c*& 65 C& Cft
j3S^J <^;£(SS* «aii ;
&\ «^Ji GJ&5 W. & t£i£; V^T ^
6USEi2 4 6irsiW t4% wgjg ^
s ^dK>2t#jtfjite^stfl
^liii &W 6 iiW %i a# 6f £61 5 6S
'd5£ 6>ST<£ cii^AJ y J%Tt
£1^ s3 y- Jg5i o>tt
a5<sKftSFy;$$zi t& %ai 5; c(; &i 3 ^.fe
&lifc 64 63 4 »y yv4ti iS t: <a
>165 su <# 0->:; && (55c> 61 %
'1H* & C£ \sfc ^jm i&£ k&
ityu*3&& - •>
7^i 7V&

s t&£ <> &t g^; ^ sgrc <* #r<K ^ ?Ph

05; & 4sssf ;&2 a& wt *!&£$&
4? r 1 £&£&&■$ u;^i
 Proclaim, “This is the Truth from your Lord: now whosoever 29-31
wili, he may accept it and whosoever wili, he raay reject it”.31 (As for
those who reject this,) We have prepared for such wrorkers of iniquity
a fuc whose flamcs have encircled them.32 If they will ask for warer
%

there, they will be treated with such a drink as will have its residue
like thai of oil33 and burn their lips: wfhat an evil drink and what an
cvil abode! As regards those, who accept it and do righteous deeds,
they should rest assured that We do not lct go wasce the reward of
such people: they will have evergreen gardens with canals Aowing.
beneath them: tliey will bc adorned with bracelets'4 of gold and will
wear green coloured robes of silk and rich brocade and will be
reclining upon raised thrones.35 What an excel1ent reward and wrhat an
excellent abode!

O Muhammad, present a parabie16 before them. Tbere were 32-36

two persons; to one of those We gave two gardens of vine and
surrounded them with a fence of date-palm trecs and We kept a piece
of land bctween them for cultivation. Both of the vine-yards yielded
abundant fruii and did not fail anywisc in bringing forth thclr produce,
and We caused a canal to flow in their midst. And the owner of the
gardens got much benetlt. In spite of all this, while conversing with
his ncighbour. he said. “I havc morc of wcallh than you and have
mightier men at my service.” Then he entered his "Paradise",37 while
he was unjust to himself. and said. “I don’t think that this wealth of
mine will ever perish, and 1 do not bclicve that tbc Hour of
Resurrection will ever come. Anyhow if cver I ara retumed to my
Lord, I will get eVen a grander place than this/34
His neighbour rebuked him during the conversation, saying, 37-44
“What ! do you disbeHeve in the Being 'Mio has created you from
clay, thcn frora spcrra drop and shapcd you as a periect man39? As for
myself; Allah alone is ray Lord and I set up no partners with Him.
And when you were entering your garden. w'hy didn’t you say, ‘Only
that shall happcn what He wili: neither I nor any one eise has any
power.*40 If you find me now less in wealth and offspring than you,
my Lord may bestow onmea better garden than yours and send from
heaven on your garden a catastrophe that might tura it into a barren
plain, or its water raight sink inio the earth and you may not be able to
bring it out in any way." At tast (it so happened that) ali his fruit
24 Thc Meaamg of ihe Qur'afi

producc was desuoycd and, seeing his vines overtumed on thc

trellises, he began to wring his hands at the ioss of what he had spent
on it, saying, “I wish I had not associated a partner whh my Lord!"—
He was so helpless that neither could he fmd any host to hetp him
against Allah, nor was himseif able to avert that catastrophe—It was
then that he realized that alJ thc power of helping rests with Allah, the
Truc One. That reward is the besc Which He bestows and that end is
the best to which He leads.

Comd. fromp.2li

thing or not: you have neiiher the knowledge of the unknown nor have full powers
10 do what you like If ever inafh'enentiy you utter anything like this, you should

at once remeraber your Lord and say, “Inshi Attah." Besidw this you do aot
know whether there wilJ be any good fbr you io the thing about which you say, “I
will do this.M It is possiblc that you may do another thiog better than tliat.
Therefore you should trust in God and say. “I hope that my Lord wili guide me in
this mauer with ihat thing wbich is nearer to the right way fbr me.**

25. Tlus sentence is connectcd with thc theme preceding the parcathetical
dause like this: "Some people wiil iay, 'Tbey were three and thc fourth was tlieir
dog..,..* and some people wiil say ihat tbey remained in the Cave for threc
hundred years and some others would add nine roorc years (to the rcckoning of the •
period)". We are of the opinion that 'Jte number of the years "300 and 309” have
not heen statcd by Allah Himsclf but AJJah has cited these as sayings of the people.
This opinton is based on this succeeding scntcnce: -Allah knows best about the
period of their stay tbere ” If the number of years, given in v. 25, liad beeu from
Allah, this succeeding senience wouid havc been njeanmgless. Hadrat 'Abdullah
bin 'Abbas has also opined that this is not the saying of Allah but that of the peopie
which has been cited as a pait of the story.

. 26. After relating the story of the Sleepers of the Cave, the Qur’Sn begius
to review die conditiOD of the Muslims of Makkah at the tiiiie of the revelation of
the Surah.

27. This does not mean at ail thaj, God fbrbid, the Holy Prophet was
inctlned to make any changes in the Qur‘an lo pleasc tbe disbeiievers of Makkah
aud was thihking of sorae formula of compromise with die chiefs of the Quraish
which nccessitated a waraing Ihat he was not authorised to do so. As a mauer of
fact, thougb chis was apparently addressed tctrthe Holy Prophet, it was really roeant
for the disbelievers that they should not entertain any hope whatsoever for anything
Jike this, as if to say, “You mnst imderstand it once for all that Our Messenger jg
not authorised lo make any chaages in Our Revelalkm7 for he has to convey
 Al-Kahf 25
* V ,

precisely just as it is sent down to him. If you want to accept it, you wiil have to
accept it iu its entiiety as it is being sent by the Lord of the Universe: aud if you
want to reject it, you may do so but you must understand it weil that no
modihcatkm even in the ieast, wHl he made in ic to please you." This was the
answer 10 ihe repeated demand of the disbelievers. “If you do insist, O
Muhammad (Al]ah's peace be upon him), that we should accept your Message in
its entirety, then make certain moditications in it to accoinmodate some creeds and
custontt of our forefather3f and we wili accept your Message. This is our offer for
a compromise and this wiU savc our people from dis-union." This demand of ihe
disbelievers has been cited In ihe Qur’an at sevenl placds and the same answer has
been Eiven, e.g. “When Our clear Revelations arc reciied to ihem, those who do
oot expeci 10 meet Us. say, ‘Bring an other Qur'in in its stead or inake some
amendments in it’ (X: 15)

28. Though these words have also been addre9sed to the Holy Prophet.
they are really meant for (he chicts of the Quraish. According lo a Tradition-
reJated by ibn 'Abbis. the cbiefs of the Quraish would say lo the Holy Propbet that
ihey considered il below iheir dignity to sit wilh such people as Bilal, Suhaib, •
‘AmmAr, Khabbab. Ibn-Mas‘ud and the like who generally remained in his
company: and Oiai if he should scnd them away. ihey would bc willing to attend
his meelings in order to leam about hls Message. At tbis Allah rcvcaled Ihis vcrBe:
“And keep youreelf whole-bcartediy content with those who pray lo their I-ord
raoming and evenlng in order lo win His appmval and do not tuin your attention
away from them: (Do you desire to discard ihese sincere bui poor people so that
the chief» of il»e Quraish, ihe well-to-do peopJe. shouid come and sit near you?)M
This was meant to wam ihe chicfs of ihe Quraish to this cffect: "Your wealth,
your porap and show of which you are so proud, has no value at all in the sight of
Allah and His Messenger; nay. those poor people are reaiiy more worihy in ihcir
sighi, fbr they are sincere and always remembcr AJJah.* The same was Ihe aititude
of ihe cbiefs of Prophei Noah’s people. who said. “And «e see aJso that none hut
the meanest aud the most shallow of oiir people have become your followers.
(Noali replied,) “I am not going to drive away those who have believed in me. uor
can I say aboui those wliom you disdain. 'Aliah has not bestowed any good on
them’ . . (XXi: w, 27, 29, 31) ' ”

. 29. That is. “Do not yieJd to what he says, nor submit to him, nor fulfil
his desire, nor follow his biddmg." .

30. The original Arabic iext may ako mean, “Who discards the truih,
breaJcs all moral limits and rushes on headJong." But in bolh cases it comcs lo Ihis:
“The one, who is negJeclful of AJJah and becomes a sJave of his lust, inevitably
transgresses alJ limits and becomes a vic(im of iramoderation. Therefore the one,
 26
Thc Mcaning of the Qur 'an

who wiJI submii to him, wiH also Jbllo» the same way anJ wander abou. in
deviaiiou atter him.”

31- This ver$e nukes ii quite plain that the story of tbe Sleepere of the
Cave bas been related to tell thc opponenis of Tslam: “l'his is tl,e Tmth trom your
Urd; now whosocver wills, he may accept it and whosoever wills. he may reject
it. But people must understand thai nu compromise will be tnade in regard to the
Truth just as tlie Sleepers of thc Cave did not make any compromise with regard to
iheir creed. They did not make tny compromisc in regard to the Doctrine of
Tau#id after they had beiieved in it and categoricilly dedared, “Our Lord is the
One Who alone is the Lord of the heavens and the earth." Aftcr this declaration
they did not in any way accede to the making of any compromise with their
pcople, who had gone a-stiay, but tlrmly dectared, “We will not give Him up and
pray to other deities, because it wiU be thc most improper tbing. if we do so.”
After making this duclaration rhcy left their people and deities and look <etuge in
the Cavc without taking any provisions with them. After this when theyYose up,
the only dnng ahout which they showed any anxiety, was that their people might
not succeed in forci«g them back to tbeir own laith. Atter relatmg Uiese things, thc
Qur'3n addresses the Ho(y Prophet to ihc effect (though thcse words are rcally
meant ‘for thc opponents of Islam); “It Is absolutcly outofquesdon whetherany
compromise can be madc with nmshriks and disbelievers. Present Uie truth intact
to them whcther they accept it or not. If they do not accept it, they themse]ves wiU
ntcet with an evil end. As regards those. who bavc accepted the Truth (wheUier
they be youagsters orjour. mdigen. people or slaves or labourers,) they are really
tbose people who have a worth with AUab. and they alone will be honoured.
Therefore you shouJd not discard Jhem and prrfer the chief$ and the ricb people
who may be neglectful of Allah and bc slaves of Uieir lust, even though they might
be possessors of worldly grandeur."

32. TTie Arabic word iSuradiq) liteniUy means sides of a tent but, as
used m ihe case ol Hell, ii may mean its cxtemal boundaries to which its Aames
and heat may reach. According to some commentators, it applies to the hiture
lense “.... its flames will encirde them" so as to refer to the tlames of Hell in the
Hereafter. But we are of the opinkrn that its names have already encircled, in this
very world, these workers of iniquity, who have turaed away frum the Truth and
tliat rhey cannot escape them.

%3. The Arabic word {nmhl) has several lexical meanings. According
to some people, it means “the residue of 011"; according to others, “3ava”, which
is formed by the melting of things in the earth, according to some, “molten
mauer" aad according to others “pus and blood”.
 27

34. The dwellers of Paradise wUl be adoraed wldi bracelets of gold LLke'
the kmgs of ancient times. This wiil be to show that thcy will be adumed like the
kings of this world, whereas an unbeliever »nd wicked king wiil be disgraced
s

there.

35. The Arabic word dlhj (ara 'ikj is plurai of arikah which is thal kiud of
throue thai is covered with ao umbrelia. ITus is also to sbow that in Paradi6c thc
Beiievers will sit on throues like the kings of this worl4.

36. In order to und$rstand the significance of this parabie we shoutd keep

in view v. 28 in which a/rogant chlefs of Makkah were told tbat the poor
Companions of the Holy Prophet wouid ikx be discardcd to pleasc thcm.

37. He considcred his gardens co be ‘P&radise". Thus he behaved like

those mean persotw, who, when rise to power and wealth, arc always involvcd in
the misunderstandlng that they aie wyoylng "Paradiac" in this world; therefore
they do noc stund in need of any othcr Paradise.
I

38. Thatu, *I Uon‘t think tbere ia any llfe-after-de*th, but supposing there
be one, I shall lare even bener there than in my prcscnl lifc, for my prosperity is a
* •

clear proof that 1 ara a favouiitc of God/

39. This shows that *unbeli«f “ in Allah is no« conTined to the denlal of
tlic exi»teitcc ofG«xl in so many words, but arrofance, pride, vanit>' and the denial
of tlie Hereatler are also kuir. Althougb that person did not dcny the exisience of
Ailah, may be he profcssed it as is ipparem from his words ("-If ever 1 tun
retumed to my Lord—"), yet in .«pite of his protessioo, his neighbour chargcd him
with unbelief in Allah. This is becaust tbe person. wbo considcnt his weahh and
his grandeur etc., to be thc fnihs of his own power and capability and not the
favours of AUah. and who thinks dut thcy arc evcrlastlng and none can take them
away frora him and thai he is not accountable to anyone, is guilty of "uabelief in
Allah", even though he might profess belief in Him. for he acktwwledges AHah a$
a Being and not as his Mastcr. Owner and Sovereign. ln fact, belief in Allah
demaDds not merely thc profession of His existenc< but al*o the acknowledgment
of His Sovereignty, Mastery, Rule and tbe like.

40. That is. **lf we are ablc to do anything, it Is by the help and support of
Allah alone." 1

[Contd onp.30
 28
- Mcamng ofihe Qur'an
o
' Bist &* & m pt& ua
.1®

£sJ»i «s^y s^i % s^ji; aarlc^si

^£5%? cSS# u3o atyi^;5;|sLi®.5 tjij
am apjfey;iia^,Ais^

«s!»# «i OB es a»; * ts, a»ss

ije isU e lysr;
»8- ‘J«J?J isiw 5$a, ta 9 ,-sJla ap
3 a« « «4fr^vr
o*5S# j' <***ai ><tei G £&; yuii&s _^y^4
L)rt;;;;iii^ <£U3i ^ ^ cjo-^gr ^ y;
^ !SW ^ Asr ^i b*it'
^ \x& P J &&M 6&0I vd%Z
^ * "^P oM <9lrfii ili t\ £*£
«jt& &w

J^5f 3Uffiis^yr (LT?j

Sif m?s&r,a&*ma M tst&i
W& IJJyil 5;tjgi1! Ijiigj; J^l ^ ^kjj^ lg2'
 Ai-Kaht' 29

And O Prophet, bring home to them the reality of this worldly 45-49
life by a parable. It is like the vegetation of thc carth ihat Aourished
luAuriandy when We sent down rain water from the sky, but
afterwards tbe same vegetation was tumed into chaff, which is blown
away by thc wind: AJlah has power over everything.4! Likewise this
wealth and the offspring are mere transitor)' adomment of worldly
life: in fact the abiding good deeds are best in the sight of your Lord
in regard to their cnd, and hoJd out for you greater hopes. The only .
thing, for wrhich you should prepare, is the Day when We will set the
mountains in motion,42 and when you will find the Earth quite
nakcd,43 and We will muster togelher all human beings in a way as to
leave none at all behind,44 and all shall be presented before your Lord
in rows—Well! you may see that you have come bcfore Us in the
same condition in which We crcated you at rirst45: You were under
the delusion that We had not fixed any time of appointment with
you—Then the record of deeds shali be set before them. At tiiat timc
you wiU see that thc criminals will be afraid of ihe record of their
book of life and will say, “Woe to us! What son of a book this isl It
has Ieft nothing unrecorded of our doings, sma!l or great.” lliey will .
scc before thera everythingf whalsoever they had done, and your Lord
will not be unjust to anyone in the least.46
Retnember! When We said to the angels, "Bow down before 50
Adam”. They bowed dowti but Iblis did not 47 He was one of the
jitms, so he chose the way of disobedience to his Lord’s Command.48
What, would you then discard Me and make him and his offspring
your patrons, though they are your eneraies? Whar a bad substitute it
is that tiiese workers of iniquity are taking !
I dtd not call them to witness the creation of the heavens and 51
Uic cartli nor did I associate them in iheir own crcation.49 It is not for .
Me to make My supporters those who lead others astray.

What thcy will do on thc Day when their Lord will say to 52-53
them: uNow call all those whom you considered to be My partners."5U
They will call them but the>' will not respond and come to their help.
and We will sct a gulf of perdition common bctwcen thetn.51 All the
criminals will see the Fire on that Day and will have a foreboding ihat
they are going to fall into it> but will not find any place of escape.
 30 The Mcaning ofthe Qur'an

54-55 We have devised different ways in the QurTan to make ?he

people understand its Message, but man is by nature very contentious.
CThe question is) what kept them back from accepting guidance when
it came before them and frora asking the forgiveness of cheir Lord? Jt
is nothing raore than this that they are waiting for the same thing to
happen to them thac visited the former communittes; or that they
should see the scourge of Allah coming before them!«

The only mission for which We send the Messengers is to

convey good news and stem waming » but the disbelievers employ
weapons of falsehood to defeat the Tnith, and they hold up to ridicule
My servants and the warnings that have been sent to them.
* * • •

Contd. tiom p 27]

41.. “Allah has power over ever)TJiiiig": He givcs Ufe and also death: He
■cauaea the rise and ihc doHufall: it is hy His command that the seasons change.
1 heretorc, O disbeiievro, if you are etdoying pKisperity today, you should be
under no deluslon dut this condition wilJ remain for evcr. Thae God, by Whose
commind these thiogs havc been bestowed on you, has the power to snatch away
ail this by another command.

42. The moumams will beBin to nx>vc «bout like clouds when the
gr*vitadon of the carth shall be brougbt to an end. The Qur*an has described the
samc thiug in XXVU; 88 in this way: “When you see the nxiuntains. you consider
them to be firmiy &ted, but they shall be Aoating about Jike clouds at that tiroe."

43. -You will find thc Earth quHr nakcd**; You will fli>d no vcgeation
and no building on it and it will bccomc a barren plain. It is the same thing that has
been stated in v. S of this Chapter

.44; That is, "We wdl musccr together every humau being from the fmt
Man, Adam, to the. last o« bora in tbe last momcnt of the Day of Resurrecdon:
even dat child whtch had brcathed che Orst breath after hs birth, shall be
resurrecied ajtd all shaD be tnustered aj one and tbe yune dme. *

■ . 45; tog wiH be addresscd to those who denied tbe Hereatter. as if to

«y, “Well.. now yousee that tbe kfbrmatk>n givea by the Propbets bas come oui
to bc true. Tbey told you th»t AUah woutd bring you to Iife again a« He tirst
btought you out the wwnbs of yonr jnotbers but you disbeUeved in it. Now
Say wtetber you haw been breught to life for tfae second dmc or not. -
. *'.•••' . * * % .

. 46.
*Your Urd wiU not beuppjst to aayoBe in the lem": Ncither will an
evil deed nrt cpmmiittd by someoae have becn recorded in his Conduct Register,
 Al-Kahf '3V

nor shall anyow be punished nwre than one deserved for his crime, nor shail an
iimocenl person be punished at all.
•

47. The reference to the stor>’ of Adam and Iblls has bcen made here to
.wam the erring people of their folly. It is an obvious foiiy that people should
discard their Prophets, who were their well-wishers, and get entangled in the snare
set by their eternal enemy, Iblis, who has beeo jealous of man ever since he
refused to bow down before Adaui and became accursed.

48. It was possible for Iblis to disobey AUah because he was not one of the
angels bui one of thcjiims. Jt must be noccd that the Qur’an is very «tplicii that the
angels are inheremiy obedient:

(1) “They do not show arrogance; they fear their Lord Who is above them, and
do whatever they are bidden." (XVI: 50)

(2) They do uot disobey the Command that is given to them by their Lord
and do whatever they are biddeh to do." (LXVI: 6)

In coutrast to the augeis, theyianrhave bceu, like hunlan beings, given the
option to obey or not to obey. Therefore they have been gjvcu tbe powcr to believe
or disbeiieve, to obey or not to obey. This thing has been n»de explicit here by
saying that Ibiis was one of the jinns, so hc dcUberateiy chose che way of
disobedience. IncidcntaUy, thia verse remove$ aU chose jnisundcmandings that aie
generally found among the common people that Iblis was one of die angels and not
an ordinary angei but the Instructor of the angeis. As regards the difficulty that
arises becau.se of this statemcnt of the Qur'an, “When Wc said to the angels, *Bow
down before Adam. They bowed down but Iblis did not\n it should be noted that
the Command to the angels was rueaut for ail those on the Earth who were undcr
tlie administration of the angels so that they should also be made submissive to
man. Accordingly aU thcsc creatures bowed along with the angcls but iblls refused
to bow down along with them.

49. This thing has been asserted to impress on the disbelievers that the
satans were not entitied to their submission aud worship, for they bad no sharc at
ali in the creation of the heavens and the earth, uay, they themselves were the
creation ol Allah: tlierefore Ailah alone was worthy of worship.

50. lhis theme has already been stated at several places in rtie Qur‘an;
Tliis is to imprcss that it is 5M*to discard tbe commandrnents and die guidance of
AUali aod to foUow the orders and guidance of any other than AUah, though one
may not be professmg with one’s tbngue that there is any partner of Allah: nay, if
one might be cursing others but at the same dme toUowing their orders instead of

/Conid on p.34
32 The Menning of ihe Qur 'an

su_i t <jv j <JC& f£>

Jl 3
j
A&to &y fb \% igssg $s
<5* ij<St5 # WiWS&Ji m ii^r t*
£8

ii^iSnP^aos;; !*& srjsnsr^ ^

^ t^: 0*iTjt y£3l |tf Ji Sf i? «U^ ^ 3(f
d^ t#>' y ^ e? ts£
oe 'i ^ ^T 3P ^ [*f A^t Jls
6Wfcari:;jsjU| sg au euii jj^j^r
l5SKif^srU5||i
<£ *£T *&}^& l&£ iS^kks tdji y
%* <*&&$&$&</&41
a~ sya ^ ^ ariSsa «#
5i ££ ikl jU 6] a^. as&£
^ ^ *>*S| ^ fcE3 C^l gg C <r

!>^

<jj£l%iJ£l Cr£> ^jSji d IX' Ii|

^ <J -Mi air^jr os&j ih rL awi

^'3-^ <VT «j Jhs <y> nh0 $ ffi£&£
oP&%& & sssr x*&a e* ^rnj ^sttsg
 Ai-Kahf 33

Now, who can be more unjust lhan the person before whom his 57
i-ord-s Revelations are recited to admonish him, and he tums away
trom ihem and forgets the evil end to which he has paved ihe way with
Ins own hands? As regards those people, who have adopted such an
atntude, We havc put coverings over thcir hearts which do not lct
ihem listen to the Qur'an, and We have produced heaviness in their
ears. Wliile in this siate, they will never be guided aright howsoever
you inay invite tliem to the Guidance.*4

Your Lord is very Forgiving and very MercifuJ: Had He willed 58

to seize for their evil deeds. He would have sem itnmediately a
scourge on Ihem but Hc has appoimed a time tor its fu]fi]niem, and
they will find no way out to escape from it.55

Thcsc habitations which were stricken witb the scourge are 59

betorc you:<* whcn they comjiiitted iniquity We annihilated them, and
We had appointed a term for their annihilation.

(Now relate to them dic event regarding Moses.) when Moses 60-65
said to his attendant, will not bring my jouroey to an end until I
i-each tlie contluencc of the two rivers: othcrwise I will continue my
journcy for years."57 And it su happened that when they reached the
conlluence, they became neglectful of thcir fish and it burrowed its
way to thc river as through a tunnci. When thcy had passed on further
Moscs said to bi» attendam. “Let us l!ave our breakfast, for wc are
dead nred because of to-day\«; joiirncy". The attcndant said. “Did you
not notice what a strange thing happened wlien we were taking rest by
thc side of that rock? I toially forgot about the fish and satan made me
so negleclPul of it that I could not mention it to you: thc fish slippctj
into Ihe river in a marvcJlous manncr." Moses replied, “That is
exnctiy what we werc seeking-.« Accordingly, they both wem back,
rerracing their footsteps, and there they found one of our servanis
whom We had blessed with speciaJ favour and had given him a special
knowledgc from Oursclyes.5*5

Moses. said to him, “May I accompany you. so that you may 66-70
teach me also that Wisdom, which has been taught to you?" He
answcred, “You cannot bear with me, and you carrnor have the
patience with regard to that mattei of which you have no knowledae”.
Moses said, “If Allah wills, you will fmd me patient and I will not
 34 Thc Mcanlng of Ihe Qur'in

disobey you in auy matter”. He said, “Well, if you want to accompany

me, you should ask me uo questions about anything imtil I mysdf
mentioo it to you. ”

So they proceeded on until they boarded a boat, and that

person bored a hoie in the boat. Moses cried ouc, “What! have you
bored a hole in it so that all the passengers may be drowned? This is a
grievous thing that you have done*. He answered, “DidnH I tdl you
that you wouid not be able to bear with me pattently"? Moses replied,
“Please do not rebuke me for ray forgetfulness, and do not take me to
task in regard to ray conduct".

Then tbey joumeyed on untU they met a boy and that person
slew him. Moses cried out, “Have you killed an innocent person,
though he had loiled nobody? Suiely this is a horrible deed that you
have committed*'.

Contd.fromp.31/

Divine Comnundmems. cvca then that one shaU be guilty of sblrk. For irutance,
we see that everyoDe in this worid curses satans but stOl follows thern. According
to thc Qur'4n, in spite of cursiog diem. if people follow wtans. they shall be guilty
of seuing up sotans .* partoen with AUah. Though this witl not be shirk iu so
rnany words. it will be tamamount to the practice of shirk and the Qur’an
deuouuces thls as shirk.

51. Generally the commemators have assigned two roeanings to this. Tbe
one is the saroe that we have adopted ln our translition and the other is this: “We
wUJ cause enmity between diem." That is, “Their triendsbip in this world shali be
turned into biuer enmhy in the Hereahcr."

52. This is w wani the people ihal tbe (Jur’in has lcft no sione unluraed in
maldng the Truth pUin. Ii has employed all kiuds of argumems, parahles,
simililudes and used all Ihe possible eReciive ways to appeal lo the beart and the
uiind of nun, and adopted the best possible style. In shon, nothing has been lefi
Ihal could persuade the people to accept the Trath. If. in spite of this, they do not
accept the truth, it is ohvious that they are waiting fbr God's scourge like the one
that visited the fonner communities to make them realiie their error.

53. This vctm tus two roeanings:

(I) We send Our Mcsseugers to tbrewara the people before the coming of the
judgment of the good results of obedienee and the evil consetjuences of
disobedience. But these tboUsh people are not taking advantage ofthese
 A!-K*hf 35
rorewaraings and insist on seeing the same evil end from which the
Messengers desire eo save rhem.

(2) lf rhey insist on meeimg with the scourge, they should not demand this from
ifie Messenger became the Messenger is sent not to bring a scourge but to
wara the people beforehand to escape from it.

54. Allah puts a covermg over the heart of a person atid mahes Ms ears
liard of hearing the Truth when he adopts the at.itude of contention, dispute,
wranglmg aud arguraentation towards the admonition of a weU-wisher a..d tries to
defeat the truth with the weapons of faisehood and cunning. Nauirally this attitude
produces in him obduracy and obstinacy so tha. he turas a deaf ear towards
guidance, and is unwiHing to reaJiie h» error before seeing his evil eod. For such
peuple pay no heed to admonitioa and warning and insist on fa)ling into the abyss
of perdition: then and then alone they are convinced that it was perdition towards
which they were rashing headlong.

55. This ts to wam the Toolish pcople that Chey should not bc deluded by
thc respite that is given to thern and prcsume that they wiH ncver be takcn lo task
whatcver they may go on dorng. Tbey forget that Allah gives them respite hccauae
Hc w Forgivtng and Porbearing md does not punish thc evil docrs on che spot, for
His Mcrcy demands Uiat the evi!-doers should be given respite so that they may
mend their ways.

56. The ruined habiutions were of Saba, Thamud. Midian and the people
ot Prophet Lot, which wcre visited by the Quralxh during their trade journeys, and
which were quite well known to other Arahs alao.

57. Thougb this story . was told in answer to tbe question of the
djsbelievers, it has been used to irapress a ver>- important truth ou the minds of
both the disbeJievers and the believers. It ls thls: those people who draw tbeir
conclusions on!y from the secming aspects of eveats, makc a very serious error ia
ibeir deductions, for tbey only see what is apparent and do not go deep rnto the
Divme Wisdom that underlies them. When they dady sce the prosperity of the
tyrants and the afflictkms of the ianocent people, the afnuence of the disobedient
p^jple and the mdigence of tbe obedient people. the enjoyments of the wicked
people and the advershy of the virtuous people, they get invoIved m mentnl
contlicts, nay, they becoroe victims of tnisunderstandings because they do pot
comprehend the wisdom behind them. Tbe disbehevers and the tyrants conclude
from this rhat Uie worid is tuiKtioning without any moral laws and has no
sovereign, and, if tliere is one, he must be senselets atid uiyust: cherefore one may
do whatever one desires for there is none to whom one shaU be accountable. Oa '
the other hand, when the believers sec those things. they become so frustrated and •
disheartened that sometimes their feiths are put to a. very hard trial. it was to
 3* The Meaning of the Qur 'an

tmravel !he wisdom behind this myscery lliai Aliah sligbOy lifted flie curtain from
itie Realily governing Ilis factory, so tbat Moses might see thc wisdom behind the
evems tliat are liappening day aod night and how their seeming aspect i$ quiie
ditterent from the Reallty.

Now let us consider the quesiion wlien and where did this event take
l>lace? The Qur'an says nolbing about this There is a tiidition rclated by 4Auti iu
Which he cites a saying of Ibn ‘Abbas to this ctTect: “Tlys event happened aftcr the
destruction ot Hharaoh when Prophet Moses had settle^ his people in Egypt". But
Ihis is liot support^d by other more auihentic tradilibns from !bn ‘Abbas which
liave been cited in ihe collection of Bukhari and other books of Tradilions, nor is
ihere any’ other source wliich nny prove that Prophet Moses ever settled in Egypt
allcr Ihe destruction of Pharaoh. On the coiurary. the Qur‘an says expiicitly that
Piophet Moscs passed ihe whole of his life after Exodus from Egypt in the descrt
{Siiiat and At-Tilt). Therefore the tradition ffom ‘Aufi cannot be accepted.
Howcver. tf we congjticr tlie details of this story, two things are quite obvious: {I)
Tliesc Chings wouki have becn demoustrated to Prophet Moscs in the eorlier period
ol iiis Prophethood because such tliings are uecded in the bcginning of
Pmplictliood for thc teaching and training of thc Pmphcts. (2) As this siory has
been cited to comfort thc Bciicvers of Makkah. it can be reasonably concludcd that
tliese dcmonstrations would have hecn shown to Prophct Moses, when the
IsraeliieR were eiicuunteriDg thc same conditioos as the Muslims of Makkali did at
ihe time of the revelation of this Surah. On tbe basis of these two things, we arc of
dic opinion {and correct Knowledge i* wilh Allah alooe) that this event relates to
the periud. when the pcrsccution of the Israeliles by Pharaoh was at its height and,
like the chiefs of tlic Quraish, Pharaoh and his courtiers were deluded hy dday in
tiie scourge that there was no power above ihwn to take them to task, and like the
pcrsecuted Muslims of Makkah, the persecuted Muslirns of Egypt werecrying in
theii agouy, as if lo say. “Our Lord! how long will the prosperity of these tyrants
and our adversity conUnuc V So much so that Prophet Moses himself cried uuf:
Our Lord. Thou ltast bestowed nn Pharaoh and his uobles splendour and
pqssessions in the worldly life; O our Lord, hast Thou donc this that they might
lead astray tlie pcnple froin Thy Way?..." (X; 88)

lf our conjecmre is correct, then u may be conciuded thai probably this

event took place’ dunng Propher Moscs' juurney to Sudau. and by the conAuence
”1 die rivers is meant ihe site of tlie prescnt cily of Khartum where the Blue Nile
«nd iJic White Nile meet together.

The Bible does not say anythuig about this cvciU but the Tahnud does
j elate tliis tliough »t assigus it to Rabbi Jochanan, the son of Levi, instead of (u
Prophet Moses, and according ro ii ihe uther person was Elijah wbo had been
 MAPSNoJ
MAP RELATING 0F THE STDRY 0F KHIDR ANO MOSES
(PEACE 0E UPON THEM
 A!-Kabf 37

uken up alive to tieaven a„d joir.ed witb the angds toi the putpose ofthe
admmjstiation of tlie world. (Tbe Talmud Sdccrionsby H. Polaao. pp. 313-16).

h i» just possible that like the events, whieh happened before the Eaodus
.hts event «bo ntight no. have remained inoct bu, during the passage of centuries
dianges and alteiahODS might have heeo made m it. But it is a pity that some
Musluns have been so mHuenced by the Tahnud that they opine that in this s.ory
Moses does not refer to Prophet Moses but to some other penon bearir.* Ae satne
name. They forge, ihac every tradidon of the Talmud is not necessarily correct, nor
have we any reason ,o suppose that the Qur-an has related the story conceroing
some unknown person beairng the name “Moses'. Above «II. when we leam trom
an authentic Tradnlon related by Ubayy-bin-Ka',b that the Holy Prophe. himself
n^de it Clear Uta, m this story, by Moses is meam Prophe, Moses, the.c is
absoiutely no reason why any Muslim should consider any statemen, of the Talmud
at aU.

11 ^1' 'ried “ make a "research" into thc

sources of thts story and have pointed out that “Thc Kurank story may be traced
I*jk *-?"? sourc“'<» The Gilgamesh Epic. (2) Tlie Alexandcr Romance
and (3, The Jew.sh Legend of Eljjah and Rabbi Joshua ben Levi (Encydopatd» of
ed‘"0nK “d Shomr ^yclopaedU of hlam undcr Uie heading Al-
W«t»n>_ This ts because these malicious -scholars' dectde beforehand cha. thetr
sceutiBc research mus, lead to the conclusion that the Qur'an is not a revealc<l
hook: therefore Ihey have, anyhow or tnher. to produce a proof that whakver
(AUah 5 pMce be UP°" h™> presented as Rc. elation, has been
plagtartaed from such and such ‘sources-. 1„ this Uiese pcople brazenfacedly u.se
facts and quota!,oiis" so cunningly and cleverly as to achieve dteir mean entl
and one begms ,o have nauaea at Uieir -rcseareh". If tba, is research wha, these
bigoted forgers make. Uien one is compelled ,o curse Uieir 'kr.owledge and

We ask them to answer our quesdons m order lo expose their "researdr:

(1) What proof have you go, to make the claim Uia, the Qur'Jn tas based a
certam siatcinent on Uie contettts of a couple of ancient books ? Obviously it
w,Il noi be 'Tesearch- ,0 build this claim on ihe scan, basis tha, a cer.ain
statemenc made in the Qnrin is sumlar to the one found i„ these books

(2) Do you possess any knowledge that,, the time of the reyelation of the Qur'ar,
there was a library at Makkah from which the Holy Prophet collected
matenal for the Qur'an? This question is pertinent because if a list were to be
tnade of ttte numerous books in different languages, whici, you allege were
sources of the stones and statements contained in the Qur’in, it tvilJ become
*

lContd od p.40
38 The Meaninp ofthe Qur \w

■*aC#fc5<£^u£f

^s&s&a&s: <* o&' & ^r, js ^

lfc* 1^5 Ji ss ^eaKii^ Jii ti (||
Jls&&T*£ £££ ££a/ Og *scSLf o^soTd:i
'S '1
i. ul
7?

[SI & \*J£> 4$Z iljilj' £J C (//=< 5Ji^U'cl^T $£ (j!&

^^ai
S» &f 0^1 £| ;fc- ^ 5^ at- %f
^ G£ fc&g 0 csr^e^K <sr e^s
J 3M 4 tgS&y&l m Ji^ji er;fc £sij 5/5
Sal5 uT C Trir^ti ^^
0$ •*> ias l:;b^j £ ;
p£ «# ^ /1;
a^w ; g?5vT ^ 5j ££ lojli/j
TTiij^ '& u yyUii a./; ti| 3^Sl/
w uT%5 V^ yt C-I (^T tl: ISB rCSS
’***

^^ sf 4$S (Jp /t' <JS [=1 Jtjiw

*J £fif£:;ttJW-*$& 45 ^U 0/5 ^T ^ tSf;Jfe
Cai;
 AI-Kahl 39

He answered, uDidn’t 1 tcll you that you would not be abJe to 75-76
bear with me patiently”? Moses said, ‘if after this, I ask anything of
you, you may not let me accompany you. Well, now I have afforded
you with an excuse from myseir.

Then they travelled on until they reached a certain habitation 77-82

and requested its inhabitants ro give ihem some food but they dectined
to entertain ihem. There rhey saw a wall which was about to fall
down. That person set it up again. Moses said, “Had you wanted, you
could have dcmanded paymenc for your labour”. The other said,
“Hiat will do: we must now part company. Now I explain those things
about which you could not keep pacience. As regards tlie boat, it
belonged to a few poor persons who toiled on the river. I intended to
daniage it because turther on there was the territory of a king who
forcibly seized every boat. As for the boy, his parcnts were true
Beltevers and we feared lesrTtc should trouble tliem with his rebellion
and unbelief. Therefore we wished that in his stead their Lord may
grant them another child who may be more righteous and filial. As
regards the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys, who reside in this
city. A treasure for them lies buried under this wall. As theii' father
was a righteous man, your Lord willed that when these children attain
their maturity. they should dig out their treasure. All this has been
donc as a mercy from your Lord: F have not done anything of my own
authority. This is the interpretation of those thjngs about which you
could not keep patience.”60

And O Mubammad, they ask you about ZuI-Qarnaincl: tell 83 ■

them, “1 am going to recite to you an accoum of him”62

We had established his powcr on the Earth and iiad provided 84-88
htm with cvery kind of ways and means. At first, he madc
prcparations for an cxpedition (to the West and marched on) lill he
reached the limil where the sun set,63 and found it seuing in black
waters,64 and there he saw a people. We said to him, "O Zul-Qarnain!
you have the power to punish them and also the option to trcat ihem
generously”.65 He said, “We will punish rhat oue of them who wtll
commit iniquity: then hc shali be returned to his Lord and He will
infiict on him a grievous tormenr: And as for the one, who will
believe and do righteous deeds, there is a generous rccompense and
 4« The Meaning of the Qur’an

.We prescribe tor him easy tasks. ”

Contd. fromp.37J

loog enough for a big library. Have you goi any proof thar Muhammad
(AtlalTs peace be upon him) had arranged for such Iranslaiors as Iransiaied
mm Arabic chose books from dilTerem languagei for his use? If it is not so
aad your aJlegation is based oa a couple of joumeys which die Holy
Prophet made outside Arabia. a question arises: How many books did the
Holy Prophet copy or comrait to meroory during these trade .jountcys
before his Pmphethood? And how is it that even a day before he daimed
to be a Prophet. no sign at all was displayed inhis conversation that he
had gathered such information as was rcvealed in the Qur’an atterwards?

How is it then that the conteinporary disbeliever* of Makkah and tbe /ews
and the Christians, who like you, were always in search of such a proof,
could nor put forward even a single instance of plagiarism? They had a
good reason to produce an instancc of this bccause they were being
chalienged over and over again to rertne the ulaim that the Qur'an was a
revealed book and it had no other sourje than Divine Knowledgc and diat
if diey said that it was a human work. they were to prove tbis by bringing
the like of it. Though this cbaiienge had hroken the hack of the
contemporary opponents of Islam, they could not point out even a single
plausible source thai might prove reasonabJy that the Qur‘an was based on
it. In the light of thesc tacts onc may ask. “Why had the conteroporaries of
the HoJy Prophet taiJed in their researcb and how have tiie opponents of
Islu i>i succecded in their attempt today aiter the passage of raore than a
thousand years?w

The Jast and the most important question is: l>oes it not show that it is
bigotry and malicc that has misled the opponents of Islam to discard the
possibility that ihe Qur'an may be a revealed book of Allah and lo
concentrate ali their efforts to prove ihat it is not so at aJJ ? The factthat
iu stories are similar to those contained in the former books, could be
considered equaJly in rhU light thar the Qur an was a revealed book and
was relating them in order to correct those errors thai Jiad crept into Uiern
durmg the passage of time. Why sbouid their researchbe conflQed to
prove tbat ihose books are the reai source of the stories of the Quran and
not to coasider the other possibility that tbe Qur*in itself was a reveaied
book?

/Vn impartiaJ person who wiil coosider these qucstions will inevitably
arrivc at *e condusion tbe “research’ wbich ihe orienlalists ruve presemed in
tbe nante of -kaowiedge” k not worth my serious consideration.
 Al-Kahf 41
58. That is, -The same was ihe sign of die place of our deBtmation”. This
nhows that Prophet Moses had taken this journey at AJJah’s behest to meet His
Serva»t. He had been toJd that he would meec the Seryant at the place wliere the
fish would disappear.

59. The name of ihis Sen-ant has been stated to be “Khidr- in all tiie
authentic books of tradmons. Thus there is no reason why it should be considered
at all that his name was Elijah. as some people have asserted under the influence of
..the Israelite traditions. Their assenion is incorrect not only because it concradicts
the assertion of the Holy Propbet but it is also absurd because Propbet Elijah was
born several hundrcd years atter Prophet Moses.

Though the Qur’an does not meiuion the name of the attendant of Prophet
Moses, according to somc traditions he was Joshua, the son of Nun, who
succeeded him. • •

60. ln coimection with tbis story, a very hard probiem arises to wbich an
answer must be found: Two of the three things done by Hadrat Khidr are
obviously agamst those conmundjnents of the Uw which ha’ve aJways t>een in
force since the creation of man. No iaw allows anyone the right to damage the
property of another aud kiJJ an innocent pcrson. So nmch so tbat if a rtum wcrc to
know by inspiration that son« usurper would illegaUy seize a ecrtain boat, and thai
« certain boy would bc involved in a rebeJJion and uubchcf. even then no law. sent
down by Aiiah, mak« it lawfui that ooc should bore a hole in the boat and kiU the
innocem boy by virtue of one’s insplratiou. If in answer to this. one were to say
that Hadrar Khidr committed Uiese two acts by thc Commands of AJIah, this does
not solve the problem, for the question is not this, -By whose commaiKl did Iladrat
Khidr commit thesc acts“? but it is this: “What was the natnre of’ these
commands’'? This is lmportant because Hadrat Khi^r dld tbese acts in accordancc
with Divine Command, for he himself says that these acts of his wcre not done by
lns own authority, but were moved by the mercy of Allah. and AJlah HimseJf has
testified this by saying: “We gave him a speciai knowiedge fmm OurselvesH. Thus
it is beyond any doubt tbat these acts were doue by the Command of AUah, but the
question abour the nature of the Command remams thcre, fbr it is obvious that
tiiese commands were not legai becausc it is not ailowed by any Dlvine Uw, and
the hindamental principles of the Qur*in alsodonot aiiow that a person should kill
another person without any proof of his guik. Therefore we shall Iiave to admit
that these commands belonged to one of those decrees of Ailah in accordance with
wbich one sick pcrson recovers. wbile another dies: one becomes prosperous and
the other is ruined. If ihe Commands given to Hadrac Khidr were of this nature,
then one must come te the cooclusion that Hadrat Khidr was an angel (or some
othcr kind of Allah's creation) who is not bound by the Divine Law prescribed for
42 Thc M&tning of ihc Qui'An

liumau beiugs, fur such conmunds as liave no lega) aspect, can be addressed to
angds only. This is becanse (he question of die lawtiil or the unlawtul cannot arise
about them: they obey the Comniaads of Allah without havhig aoy personal power.
In contrast to them, a man shall be guilty of 3 sm whcthcr bc does any such lliing
iiirtdveriently by intuitian or hy soine inspiration, if his act goes against some
Divine Commandment. This is because a man is bound to abide by Divine
Commandments as a m3n, and there is no room whatsoever in the Divine Law that
hi) act may bccome tawtul for a man inerely because he had received an instruction
hy inspiration and had been informed in a secret way of the wisdom of that
unlawtul act.

The above-meationed priociple has beeo uuaDiinousIy acccpted by scholan»

of (lie Divinc Law and tlie leadcrs of Sufism. 'Allamah Alusi has cited in detail tbe
sayings of 'Abdul Wahhab Shi'iram, Muhy-ud-Dia ibn-‘Arabi, Miyaddid Aif
Tliani. Sliaikh ' Abdul-Qadir JDaoi, Junaid Bagbdadi, Sirri Saqti. Abul-Hussain An-
uurl, Abu Sa‘Id-al-Kharraz, Ahmad ud-Dainaurl and Imajn Ghazzali 10 tbis effect
that it is not lawhd even for a sflfi to act in accordance with that inspiration ot his
owu which goes against a hindamental of law. (Ruh-ul-Sfa‘anj\ Vol. XVI, pp. 16-
18). That is why wc have come to thc conclugion that Haijrat Khidr miLst be an
angel, or some other kind of Alloh*s creation, exempted from human law, for he
could uot be the onJy exception to the above-memioned formula. Thereforc we
incvitHbly come to iJie conclusion ihat hc was one of dioae Servants of Allah wlio
act in accordance wltb the will of AUah and not in accordance with the Divine Law
prescribed for human beings.

We would bave accepied ihe tlieory that Hadrai Khidr was a human being,
if llie Qur‘an bad plainly asserled ibat the "ser^ant* to whum Prophet Moses was
sent tor training, was a man, bui the Qur'an does not specifically say that he was a
liuman being hut says thai he was “one of Our Servants*', which does liot show
tliat he was nece^sarily a humau being. Besides this, Ibere is no Tradition which
specitically says that Hadrat Khicjr was a human bcing. In tbe authentic traditions
relaied by Sa‘id bin Jubair, Ibn 'Abb3s, Ubhyy bin Ka‘ab from ihe Holy Prophet,
the Arabic word. <rujut) has bccn uscd for Hadrac Khidr, which Ihough
generally used for human beings, is not exclusively used tor buman beings. ln the
Iloly Qur‘itn itself, lliis word luis becn used for jiunsako (LXXII: 6). It is also
obvious that wheu a jinn or an angel or an invisibie being will come before a
humaii being, he will surely come in hunian shape and, in that form, he will be
called a bn$har{man), just like tlie angel wlio cauie before Mary in the shape of a
human being (XIX: 17). Thus the word nyul, used for Hadrat Khidr in the abovc-
mentioned Tradition by rhe Holy Prophet, does not necessarily mean that he was a
huiuan being. Therefore we are quite justified In the light of the above discussion
to bclicvc lliat Hadrat Khidr was oue of the angels or some other kind of AJlah’s
 MAP4Nft.2
MAP RELATING TO THE STORY 0F^UL~ OARNAIN
-^ Ary<£3 Js^OCOIA 1
sy /: AlS*'- \v\ ,WMAWAHft -AN-NAHR)

t-S&r ' CAP

P&CC
SS\f|| 1.E
balkh'?
^Ooc, ARIA
aS V

v' )! & eS
~*Jg£ZZ
_ C^u>e4 4^c«flCl.
WmmĔs * BA0YU>N

LIBYA

EOYPT
ARABIA
BOUNOARY 0F THE EMPJRE
0F CYRU5 AND HIS
SUCCESSORs (530 B.CJ
 Ai-Kahf 43

creation wlio is nof bound by Ibe Divine Law prescribed for human beings. Some
ol ihe tormer schoJars of tbe Qur’5n have also expressed the same opinion which
has been ciied by lbn Kathir in his Conunentary on the authority of MSwardi.

61. Jt is quite obvious that the conjunction “wmt "joinsJhis story with the
previous story of Khidr. Thus ic is a sdf-cvident proof that the pre\'ious two siories
ot the "Sleepers of tlie Cave” and -.Moses and Khidr" were also relaicd in answer

io die queries of the disbelicvers of Makkah who, in consuliation wilh the people
ol tlic Book, had put these quesikms to Muhammad (A!lah’s peace be upon him) as
a icsi of his Prophechood.

62. Tlic itlcn(ification of ZuhQarnain has been a coniroversial malter from

ihc carliest limes. In general ihe commenunors haye been of the opinion that he
was Alexander the Greai hui il»c cliaracterisiics of Zul-Qarnain described in the
Qur’an are nnt applicable to him. Ilowever, now ihe commentator?» are iacliaed to
helicvc lliat Zul-Qaruain was Cyrus, an ancient kuig ofIran. We are also of the
opiiiion tliat probably Zul-Qarnain was Cyrus, but the historical tacts, which have
come to lighi up io this limc. are noi sufricient to maJce any caiegnrical asscrtion.

Now let us consider the characierisiics of Zul-Qarnain in llie ligbt ol his

story as given in the Quran:

(1) The title 7ul-Qauiain ("The Two-Homed") should havc becn quitc
ramiliar lo the Jcws, for it was tt their insiigacion thai ihc disbeJievers of
Makkali put this question io the Holy Prophet. Therefore we rnust turn to
the Jewish literature in order to Jeam who was the person known as “Thc
Two-Homed" or which was the kingdom known as “The Two-Homed."
(2) Zul-Qarnain musi havc bcen a great ruler and a great conqueror whose
conque.sts might havc spread from the Easi to ihc West and on the third
side to thc North or to ihe South. Bcfure ihe revelation of the Qur’an ihere
had been several persons. who were such great conqueror8. So we must
confine nur research for the other cliaracieristics of ZuJ-Qarnain io one of
ihcsc persons.
(3) Tliis title should be applicable to such a rulcr wbo mighi have conslructed
a strnng wall across a moumain pass to proiect his kingdom from the
iucursions of Gog and Magog. In order to iovestigate this tbing, we will
have to determine as to who were Gog and Magog We will also havc to
lind out when such a wall was built and by whom and m whicli territory it
was adjacem.
(4j Besides posse.ssing the above-mentionecl characteristics, he sliould also be
a r»otl-worshipper aiid a just ruler, for ilie Qur’an has brought imo
prominence ihese characieristics more than anyihing else. .
[Cotstd. on p. 46
44 The Meahmg of the Qur 'an
 A!-Kahf
45

Then ht made preparations (for. another expedition and 89-91

marched on) till he reached the limit where the sun rose. There he saw
the sun rising on a people, whora We had not given any shelter from
sun shine.66 This was their condition and We know well whatever Zul-
Qarnain possessed.

Then he made preparations (for another expedition and 92-98

marched on) till he reached between two mountains,67 where he foirad
a people who could hardly understand any tanguage.68 They said, “O
Zul-Qarnain, Gog and Magog69 spread chaos tn this land; should we
then pay a tribute to you so that you raay build a bulwark between us
and them ?* He said, “What my Allah has granted rae is more than
enough. You should help me only with manual labour and I wiU build
a barrier between you and them.70 Come, bring sheets of iron for me.
“When he had fiUed the space between the two mountains, he said to
the people, “Now, p!y your bellows." They did so tiU that (iron-wall)
became redhot and he said, “Now let me pour molten brass upon it".
This was such a barrier that Gog and Magog could not scale over it,
nor were they able to dig through it. Zul-Qamain said, “This is a
mercy from my Lord; but when the time of my Lord's promise shall
come, He will lcvel it to dust71 and the promise of my Lord is true."7*

And on that Day,73 We wiU let loose the people to come close 99-101
together tumultuously (like the waves of an ocean), and the trumpet
shall be blown, and We will gather together ali mankind. On that Day
Hell shall be brought beforc Ute unbelievers who had become blind to
My adraonition and cumed a deaf ear to it.

What,74 do these peoplc, who have disbelieved, presume that 102

they would make My servants their helpers beside Me75 ? We have
prepared Hell for the hospitality of such people.

O Muhammad, say to thera, “Should We teU you who are the 103-108
most unsuccessful people and miserable failures in regard to their
deeds? They are those, whose endeavours, in the worldly life, had all
gone astray from the Right Way76 but all along they were under the
delusion that evcrything they were doing, was rightly directed: those
are che people who rejected the Signs of their Lord and did not believe
that they would ever go before Hiin: Therefore alTtheir deeds were
lost, for We will assign no weight to thera on the Day of ■
 46 The Meaning otthc Qur 'an

Resurreciion.77 Their recompense is Heil for the disbelief they showed

and for the mocker>' they adopted in regard 'to My Signs and My
Messengers. However, for the hospitality of tbose people who did
rightcous deeds, ihere will be gardens of Paradise wherein they will
abide for ever and they will never desire to go anywlicrc oui of
them.”78

109 . O Muhammad, say to them, MIf the w'aters of the ocean were to
become ink to write the Words79 of my Lord, it would cxhausi but ihe
Words of my Lord will nol exhaust: nay, even if We brought as much
ink again, it will not suffice for that".

CunUt. fn»n p 43}

first of these eharacterisucs is easily applicable to Cyrus, tor

Tlic
accordiog io ihe Bible Prophet Damel 8aw in his visio)i that (he unilcd kingdom of
Media and Persia was like a two-homed ram before ihe rise of ihe Grccks. (Dan.
8: 20). The Jews had a vcry higb opinion of "The Two-bomed’ one, because ii
was his iiwasion which broughi aboui ibe downfall of ihe kingdora of Babylon and
the liberaiion ot the Israelites (Please also refer io F..N. 8 of Cbapler XVII).

The secoud characteriscic is applicablc to him to a greai extem but not

complctely. Tliougli his conques(s spread to Syria and Asia Minor in the Wesi and
(0 Bakhtar (Balkh) in ihe East, there is no twcc of auy of his great expeditions (o
ihe Nortli or to the South, whereas the Qur'an makes an explici! memion of his
thcrd cxpcdilion. Nuvertheless, this ihird expedidon is not wholly out of question
tor history tells us Ihat his kingdom exiended io Caucasia iu the Norlh. Ab regards
Gog and Magog. i( has beeu neaily established that they were ihe wild tribes of
Ceniral Asia who wcre known by different names: Tartars. Mongols, Huns and
Scylbians.who had been making inroads on sellled kingdoms and empires trom
very ancient (imes. It is also known that strong buJwarks liad been buili in soulheni
rcgiom» of Caucasia. though it has no( becn as yet historicajly esiablished ihai these
werc built by Cyms.

As regards (hc lasi characleristic. Cyrus is (he only kjwwn conqueror

among the ancient rulers, to whom diis may be applicable, for cven his enemies
have been full of praise for hiin for his justice. and, Ezrd, a book ot‘ the Bible,
asseris diai he was a God-worshipper 3nd a God-fearing king who set tfee the
Israelites because of his God-worship, and ordered that the Temple of Solomon
should be rebuiit for (he worship of Allah, Who has no partner.
• • * 4

In the light of (he above. we admit that of aiJ the conquerors. who had
passed away hefore ihe revelaiion of (he Qur*an, Cyrus alone is the one lo whom
 Af-Kahf 47

Ihe diaracierisiics of ,'Zul-Qarnain" arc inost applicable. but we nced nmre

evidence 10 determine specifically iii£t Cyms is detinitely “Zul-Qarnain."
Anyliow, diere is no other conqucror to whom the charactcristics stated in the
Qur‘an are as much applicable as to Cyrus.

Historicaliy it is euough to say that Cyrus was a Persian ruler. whose rise
hegan about 54-9 B.C. tn a few yeaTs, he conquered the kingdom of Media and
Lydia and atterwards conguered Babylon itt 539 B.C. After this no powertul
kiugdom was left to oppose hini. His conquests ex(ended to Sind aiid the territory
known as Turkistan on one side. and to Bgypi and Libya and to Thracc and
Mauedonin and to Caucasia and Khawarzam in the North. In fact, the whole
civilized world was under his sway

63. "The limic where thc sun sct" does not mean the “place" of Ihe setting
of the suil.

Acconling to Ibn Kadiir. it nieans diat he marched to tlie West conqucring

one country after the other till he reached the last boundary of the land. beyond
which there was ocean.

64. “He found thc sun setung ra black muddy waters of the sea": if Zul-
Qamain was Cyrus, thcu that place would be the westem limit of Asia Minor and
Ihi* “black waiers" would be thc Aegean Sea This intcrpreution is suppirrted by
ilie use of the word instead of “bahr*in the Qur'kn.

C5. “We said to liim'’ does not necessarily mean that AJIah directly
revealed to him these words, and (bat Zul-Qanunn was a PKiphet or was the oue
who received inspiration from Allah, and the same is the reasonable conjectute.
Tltis concems the time when Zul*Qanum had taken possession of the land as a
conqueror and the conquered pcople were utterly at your mercy. Then AUah posed
a question bdore hie conscicnce. as if to say. ‘Now is the time of your trial. Hiese
people are uttetiy ai your mercy, and you have the option either to bchave unjusdy
lowards theni or to treat them generously.**

66. That is. "When he advanced towards the East, conquenng one couutry
atter tlie otlier. he reachcd a territory where the limits of llie civilizcd world had
ctmie to an end and beyond which was the territory of barbaric people. who had no
sltelrer ai all of tents or buildings. ”

67. The "two mountains'’ must have been parts of that mountain range
wliich nins between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea (as stated in v. 96). This
must bc so because beyond thcm was the territory of Gog and Magog.

65. .That is, “It was difficu!t to communicate with them: cheir language
was alinosi toreign to Zul-Qamam aud bis companions, and, as the>r were quite
 48 The Meaning of ths Qur'an

barbaric, none could understand iheir language. oor were tlicy acquainted with any
loreign language."
/

69. As has already bccn pointed oui in E.N. 62, Gog and Magog were the
wild tribes of Jiorth Eastem Asw which. from the very eariy times had been
makmg inroads on settled kingdoms and empires io Asia and Europe and ravaging
them. According to Genesis (Chapter 10). they were ihe descendants of Japheth.
the snn of Noah, and the Mualim historians have also accepted this. And according
to the book. of Ezekiel (Chapters 38. 39). they inhabited the territories of Meshecli
(Moscow) and Jubal (Tubalsek). According to the Israelite historian Josephus,
they were the Scythums aod their territory spread to the north and rhc east of the
Black Sea. According to Jerome. Magog inhabiied ihc ierritory to the norlh of
Caucasia near the Caspian Sca.

70. That is, “As a ruJer it is niy duty to protect you from the ravages of
ynur enemies: therefore il is not lawtul for mc (o levy any extra ta*es on you for
this purpose. The treasury that Allah has placed in niy custody. suttices for this
purpose. You shall. howcver. have to help me with your mamml labour.’’

7!. That is. "Though I bave built a very strong Iron-wall, as far as it was
|x»ssible for me. it h not ever-lastiog. for it will last only as long as Allali wills,
and will fal1 down to pieccs wheu the time of my Lord’s promise shaU come. Then
no power in the world sha» be able to kecp it safe and secure.-

As regards thc time of Allah's promise, it has two meaniugs: (!) It may
mean thc time of the destruction of the wall, and (2) it may also mean rtie time of
rhe death and dcstrucdon ot everytliing destined by Allah at the end of the world
i.c., the Hour of Resurrection.

Some people havc entertained the misuuderstandipg that die wa» attributed
here to ZuTQarnain refers to the famous Wall of Chiiia. whereas thig wall was
built between Derbeat and Dar’yal. two cities of DaghesUm in tbe Caucasus, the ’
bud that iies beiween the BJack Sea and the Caspiao. Tbere are high mountains
betwccii the Biack Sea and Dar yal having deep gorges which cannot allow large
acjnies to pa.ss through them. Betwccn Derbem and Dar’yal, however, there arc no
such mountains and the passes also are wide and passable. In ancient times savage
hordes from the north invaded and ravaged southern lands through these passes
and the Persian mlers who were scared oi them had tobuild a strong wall, 50
miles iong, 29 feet liigh and 10 feet widc, for fortification purposes, ruius of which
cau stiil be seen. Though it has not yet been established historlcally who built this
wall in the beginning, the Muslim historians and geographers assign u to ZuJ-
Qarnain because its remains correspond with the description of it given bi the
Qur’an.
 Ai-Kahf 49

Ibo Jarir Tabari and Ibn Kaihir bave recorded Ihe event. and YaqGt has
mentioned it in his Mu'jam-ui-Buidan that when atter the conqueat of AzerbaijanT
Hadrat *Umar sent Suiaqah bin ‘Amr, in 22 A.H. on an expedjtion to Derbent, the
latter appointed ‘Abdur Rehman bio Rabi‘ah as the chief of his vanguard. When
‘Abdur Rehman entered Armeiiia, the ruler Shehrbraa surrendered without
Hghting. Theo when ‘Abdur Rehman wanted to advance towanls DerbeDt,
Shehrbraz informed him that he had already gathered fnU information about the
wa» built by Zul-Qamain, tbrough a man, who could supply ali the necessary
details and then the man was actually presented before ‘Abdur RehmSn. (Tatwi,
Vol. in, pp. 235-239; AJ Bidiyah wan-Nihiyah. Vol. VII, pp. 122-125, and
Mu 'jam-ui-BuJdSn, under Bab-tiJ-Abwib: Derbent).

Two hundred years later, the Abbasid Caliph Wathiq (227-233 A.H.)
dcspatched a party of 50 men undcr Sallam-uJ-Tarjuraan to srndy the wall of Zul-
Oarnain. whose observations have beqi rccorded in great detail by YaqQt ii)
Mu ‘jam-ul-Buidio and by Ibn KaAir in Ai-B/dayah. They write that this expedidon
reached Samarroh ffom where they reached TiAl* (tbe presem JbiM) and then
through As-Sarir and Al-L4n, they reached Fllinshah, fiom where they entered the
Caspuui territory. From there they arrived at Derbcnt and saw the waU. (Ai-
Bidayah VoI. II. p. III, Voh VH, pp. 122-125; MWjaiu-ul-BuIdin:iiDdcrBdb-ui-
Abwib). This clearly shows that even up riJl the third century ofM/>wAthe
Muslim scholars regarded this waU of the Caucasus ax thc waU of Zul-Qarnam.

Yaqut in his MuJam-ui-Buid&n bas further confimied the sanie view at a

liumber of places. For buttoce. under Khazar (Caspiao) he writes:

“This territory belongs to tlic Turks. which adjoins the WallofZul-

Oarimin just behind Bab-uJ-Abwad. whicli i« also called Dcrbent ’in the same
connection, he records s report by .Mpnad bin Fadlan, the ambassador of Caliph
Al-Muqtadar-biUah, who ha$ given a full description of tbe Casplan land, saying
diat Caspian is the name of a country whose capital is ltU (near the present
Astrakhan) right through which flows River Itil, which joms the Caspian frorti
Russia and Bulghar.

Regaiding Bab-ui-Abwah be says that this city is called both Al-Biib and
Derbent, wlikh is a highly difficult passage for the people coming 1'rom the
northem lands towards thc south. Once this territory was a part of the kingdom of
Nausherwan, and the Persian rulers paid particular attention to strengthening dicir
frontiers ou tbat side. '

72. Here the story of ZuJ-Qamain comes to an end. Though this story has
been related in answer to the questioas put by tbe disbelievers of Makkah as a test
along with the stories of the “Sleepers of the Cave" aod “Moses and IOiidj\ the
 50 The Meanjng of the Qur‘an

Qur'an has uiilized this story, roo. for its own aim and object, as if 10 say, “Zul“
Qaraam, aboul whoie giory you iiave heard froni ihc people of Uie Book. was not
merely a conqueror. bui-also a believer ol ihe doctrines of Tnuhidnud Ihe lite-
after-death and acied upon thc principles of jusuce and generosiiy. He was not a
mcaii person 1-ikc you who have beeo puffed up by (he possession of petty esiates,
aitd give yoursdvcs airs of superiority."

73. “Gn thai Day”: “The Day of Resurreciion". As if to continue ihe

theme of life-atter deaih to which Zul-Qamaiu reterred as the utime of my Lord’s
promise ”. Ihe Qur‘an has added verses 99-101 to il.

74 Tliis is the concJusion of ihe whole Surah aod is not connected wiih
tlie siory of Zu]-Qaruain uidy l»ut with tbe subject-mauer of this Surah as a whole.
Tliat theme was enunciaied ai ihe begianing of the Surah (1-8): The Holy Prophei
invired his pcople (I) to give up shirk aud adopt the doctrine of Tauhidiuiiewl, (2)
to givc up ihe worship of the world and io belicve in thc life of the Herejftcr. But
the chiefs of liis people. who were puffed up wjth tlieir wcalth and grandeur, noi
only rejected his iiwitatiun but also persecuted and insultcd tliose rightcous people
who had accepted his iiwitaiiou. Thc discourse deaJs wiili ihc same ihcmcs and
uiili^s iii au excci(enr manner ihe ihrcc stories which were relaied in wuwer to the
guestions pui hy Uic opponeius of Islam as a iesi of his Prophcthood.

/5. Tliai Is, “Do they still stick to their presumption even after hearing »11
this. and bclicvc that iheir auitudc will bc protltable fbr iliem?"

/6. This verse has twn meanings The one is ilie same that we have
adopied in ihe translation. I he other meaning is Ihis: “...those who coufmed alt
tJicir endeavours lo ihe worldly life“. That is, whaievcr Ihey did. ihey did for diis
world witJiout payinj? any regard io God and the Hereafier. As they considered tlie
worldly Jife to bc ihe real life. ihey made ilie succcss and prosperity in this world
tlicir sole aim and objeci. Even if they professed dic cxistence of Allah, they nevcr
paid any heed to the iwo lmpllcations of tbis protession: lo lead their livcs in a way
lo please Allah aml to come out succe*$ful ou the Day they shall havc to render an
accoum of wliai ihey did in this world. This was because they considered
tliemselves to be mere rational animals who were absolulely independent and free
from every kind of responsibiJiiy aud had uothing else lo do but lo eujoy the good -
tliings of the world like animals in a meadow.

77. “All their deeds were loa" in ihe sense thai ihey will be of no avail io
tliem in Ihe life-afier-death. even though they might have considered theiii as tlieir
grcat achieveraents but the fact is that they wilJ lose all thcir value as soon as the
world shall come to an end. When ihcy wiU go betore their Lord. and a» their
deeds sha» be placed m the Scales. they wi» have no weight at all wliether they
 A!-Kahf.

O Muhammad say to them, “I am a human being like you: it 110

has been revealed to me that your Dehy is only One AUah. Therefore
the onc who cxpects to meet his Lord, should not associate with Him
any other deity in His worship."
4

IimcI built grcat palaces, establisbcd great universit:es and librarics, sct up great
factories and laboratorics, constructcd higbways and railways, in shorl, all tlieir ,
inveution5, industrics, sciences and arts and otlicr tliings i>f which Ihey were very
proud in tlii» world, will lose iheir weights in the Scales. The only thing which will
have weight there will be that wbich had becn done in accordance with the Divine
instructious and with the intention to plcase Allah. It is, therefbre, obvious ihat if
all of oiie’s eudaivour8 were confined to the worldly things and the achieveraent of .
worldly deslres whosc results one would see in tbis world, one should not
reasonably expect lo see their results in thc Hereaher, for they would have gone
waste with the end of this world. It i& equally obvious, that only the deeds of the
one, who performed them strictly in accordance with His instructions to win His
approvaI with a view to avail of their results in the Hereaher, will find Ihat his
deeds had weight io the Scales. On the contrary. such a one will find that all his
eildcavour.<i in the world had gone waste.

78. “...they will never desire to go anywhere (else)," because they will
find no place and no condition better tban those in Paradise.

79. By “Words” are meant °the marvellous works, the excc)lenccs and the
wouders of His Power and Wisdom".