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They were in the cave for 309 years (Surah 18)

Episode 19: They were in the cave for 309 years

Surah 18: The Cave (Al-Kahf)

Warn those who say: Allah has chosen a son

1 Praise be to Allah who has revealed the Scripture to his slave and hasn't put any crookedness in it. 2 He's made it straight, to give warning of stern punishment. 4 And to warn those who say he has chosen a son. 5 The word that comes out of their mouths is dreadful.

They were in the cave for 309 years

9 Do you think the people of the cave are a wonder among our [Allah's] signs? 10 When some young me hid in a cave. We sealed up their ears for a number of years.

12 Then we woke them to see which of the two groups could calculate how long they'd been in the cave. 19 When they awoke, they asked each other, “How long have we been sleeping?” One group said, "About a day." Another group said, "Allah knows best."

22 Some say there were three in the cave (four, if you count their dog); others guess at random that there were five (six, counting the dog); and still others say there were seven (eight with their dog).

23 Say Muhammad: “Allah knows best how many there were. Only a few people know for sure. So don't argue about it.” I [Allah] will tell you tomorrow.

25 They were in the cave for 309 years.

26 Allah know best how long they were there. He's invisible, but he sees and hears really well.

The men in the cave (and their dog)

A molten lead shower (to burn their faces)

27 No one can change his [Allah's] words.

29 Let people believe or disbelieve whatever they want. But we've prepared a fire for disbelievers. If they ask for a shower, we'll shower them with molten lead to burn their faces.

A tale of two gardens

32-33 Here's a parable. There were two men. One man had gardens of grapes and date palms, and a river running through it.

34 He said to the other man, “I have more stuff than you, and people respect me more than you.”

37 The other man said to him,

So you disbelieve in him who created you from dust and a drop of seed? 38 He is Allah. He has no partners. 39 You say I have less than you. 40 But Allah may give me a garden that is better than yours. And maybe he'll destroy your garden.

42 And the first man's garden was destroyed. He began to wring his hands and say, “Darn! I shouldn't have said Allah has partners.”

Allah and Iblis

50 Remember when we said unto the angels, “Fall prostrate before Adam. And they all did, except for Iblis, who is a jinn.”

Iblis (upper right) refuses to prostrate before Adam

Confronted with the Doom

52 Someday Allah will say, “Call those pretended partners of mine.” And they'll cry, but they won't hear their prayer.

53 Then the guilty will see the fire and know they are about to fall therein, with no way of escape.

55 Nothing prevents people from believing. So they have no excuse when they see the doom.

57 The worst wrong is to forget or reject Allah's revelations. Allah covers their hearts and makes them deaf so that they will never believe the truth.

58 He [Allah] would hasten the doom for them, from which they will find no escape.

59 All those townships we have destroyed!

Allah's slave kills a boy

60 Moses said to his servant, “I won't give up until I reach the point where the two rivers meet.”

61 When they got there, they found that they had forgotten their fish. But the fish got into the water anyway.

62 They went a little further and Moses said to his servant, “Bring our breakfast.”

63 The servant said, “Satan made me forget the fish. It's strange that it got into the water anyway.”

64 So they retraced their steps. 65 Then they found one of our slaves.

66 Moses said to him, “May I follow you, so you can teach me right conduct?”

67 He said, “You wouldn't understand.”

69 Moses: “Please. I'll be patient.”

70 Allah's slave: Well, OK. But be quiet until I speak to you.

71 So they boarded a ship, and Allah's slave made a hole in it. Moses said, “Did you make the hole to drown everyone on the ship? You have done a dreadful thing.”

74 As they continued their journey, they met a boy. Allah's slave killed the boy, and Moses said, “Why did you kill an innocent child? You have done a horrid thing.”

75 Allah's slave said, “Didn't I tell you to be quiet?”

77 As they continued their journey, they came to a town and asked for some food. But the people refused. Then they found a decrepit wall, and Allah's slave repaired it.

78 Allah's slave said to Moses,

OK. Now I'll explain why I did those things on our journey.

79 The ship belonged to poor people, so I put a hole in it to punish the king who was trying to take it by force.

80 The boy's parents were believers and we [Allah and I] feared that he would rebel and become a disbeliever. So I killed him.

82 The wall belonged to two orphan boys. There was a treasure underneath. Their father was righteous, so Allah wanted the boys to have the treasure. I hope it all makes sense to you now.

Dhu'l-Qarneyn builds a wall (to exclude Gog and Magog)

83 People will ask you about Dhu'l-Qarneyn. Here's what you should tell them.

84-85 We [Allah] made him strong. And he followed a road until the sun set in a muddy spring. 86 There were people there, and we said to him, “Punish them or be kind to them.”

87-88 Dhu'l-Qarneyn said, “We'll punish the wrong-doers, then we'll bring them back for Allah to punish with an awful punishment. But those who believe and do right will be rewarded.”

90 He went on to the place where the sun rises. He found it rising on people who had no shelter from it. 93 Then between two mountains, he found some people whose language he couldn't understand.

94 They said, “Oh Dhu'l-Qarneyn, God and Magaog are spoiling the land. We'll pay you to build a barrier between us and them.”

95 Dhu'l-Qarneyn said, “OK. I'll build a barrier.”

So he built a barrier out of iron and copper. 97 And God and Magog couldn't get through the wall.

Dhu'l-Qarneyn (Alexander the Great) building the wall between Gog and Magog

Allah welcomes unbelievers to hell

99 On that day the trumpet will blow, 100 And we'll show hell to the disbelievers. 102 We've prepared hell as a welcome for disbelievers.

103 Who are the greatest losers?

104 Those who mess up in this life, while thinking they're doing good work. 105 That is, the disbelievers. Their works are vain, and we place no value on them. 106 They'll be rewarded with hell, because they disbelieved and made fun of our revelations and messengers.

A few more words about this episode

They were in the cave for 309 years (18:9-26)
Remember when we said unto the angels, “Fall prostrate before Adam"? (18:50a)
Yes, we remember, Allah. You repeat it often. (See 2:34, 7:11-21, 15:26-43, 17:61, 20:116, and 38:73-85)<
They all did, except for Iblis, who is a jinn. (18:50b)
Is Iblis an angel or a jinn?
Moses said to his servant (18:60)
Most Muslim intepreters believe Moses's unnamed servant is Joshua, but there's no evidence for this in the Quran itself.
Then they found one of our slaves. (18:65)
Muslim interpreters often give Allah's slave in this story the name "Khidr", but the slave is never named in the Quran.
People will ask you about Dhu'l-Qarneyn. (18:83)
Some say Dhu'l-Qarneyn ("The Two-Horned Lord") is Alexander the Great, who is here presented as a devout Muslim. Others say he's Cyrus the Great, but no one really knows.
God and Magaog are spoiling the land. (18:94)
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