CHAR XVIII.
Inttiled, The Cave3; revealed at M e c c a 15.
In the name of the moft merciful G od.
PR A I S E be unto G o d , who hath fent down unto his fervant the book
o f the Koran, and hath not inferted therein any crookednefs, but hath made
it a ftrait rule: that he fhould threaten a grievous puniihment unto the unbelievers,
from his prefence ; and fliould bear good tidings unto the faithful
who work righteoufnefs, that they lhall receive an excellent reward, namely,
paradife, wherein they lhall remain for ever: and that he fhould warn
thoie who fay, G o d hath begotten ilfue s of which matter they have no
knowledge, neither had their fathers. A grievous faying it is, which pro-
ceedeth from their mouths : they fpeak no other than a lie. Peradventure
thou wilt kill thy felf with grief after them, out o f thy earnefi zeal fo r their
cbnverfion, if they believe not in this new revelation o f the Koran. Verily we
have ordained whatfoever is on the earth for the ornament thereof, that we
might make trial of men, and fee which of them excelleth in works : and we
will furely reduce whatever is thereon, to dry dull:. Doll thou confider that
the companions of the cave', and A l R a k im d, were awe of our figns, and
a great miracle ? When the young men took refuge in the cave, they faid,
O L o r d , grant us mercy from before thee, and difpofe our bufinefs for us
to a right ijfue. Wherefore we ftruck their ears with deafnefs, fo that they
Jlept without dijlurbance in the cave for a great number of years : then we
• awaked
* The chapter is thus infcribed becaufe it makes
mention of the cave wherein the feven fleepers
cencealed themfelves.
D Some except one verfe, which begins thus,
Behave tbyfelf with conjlancy, See.
c The companions of the cave ;j Thefe were
certain Chrijlian youths, of a good family in E-
pbefus, who, to avoid the perfecution of the emperor
Decius, by the^r^ writers called Decs anus,
hid themfelves in a cave, where they flept for
a great number of years 1.
This apocryphal ftory (for Baronius 2 treats it
as no better, and Father Marracci 3 acknowledges
it to be partly falfe, or at leaft doubtful,
tho’ he calls Hottinger a monfter of impiety, and
the ojf-feum of heretics, for terming it a fable +,)
was borrowed by Mohammed from the Chrijlian
traditions % but has been embellifhed by him
and his followers with feveral additional circum-
ftances 6.
J Al Rakim ;] What is meant by this word the
commentators, cannot agree. Some will have it
to be the name of the mountain, or the valley;
wherein the cave was; fome fay it was the;
name of their dog ; and others (who feem to
come neareft the true lignification) that it was
1 A l Beidawi, Jallalo’ddin, (Ac. 2 In Martyrol. ad 27. Julii. 3 In Alcor.
p. 425. & in Prodr. part. 4. p. 103. 4 Hotting. Hift. Orient. ^.40. 5 V. Greg.
T uron, Simeon. Metaphrast. 6 V . D’Herbelot, Bibl. Orient, p. 189.
awaked them, that we might know which of the two parties1 was mote ex-
aft in computing the fpace which they had remained-there. We Will relate
unto thee their hiflory with truth. Verily they were young men who had
believed in their L o r d ; and we had abundantly direfted them : and we fortified
their hearts with conftancy when they flood before the tyrant; and they
faid, Our L o r d is the L o r d of heaven and earth: we will by no means
call on any god befides him ; fo r then fhould we furely utter an extravagance.
Thefe our fellow people have taken other gods, befides him ; although they
bring- no demonftrativa argument for them :. and who is more unjufl than
hewho5devifeth a lie concerning G o d ? And they'faid the one to the other,
When ye fhall feparate yourfelves from them, ana from the deities which they
worlhip, except G od b, fly into the cave: your L o r d will pour his mercy
on you abundantly, and will difpofe your bufinefs for you to advantage. And
thou mightefl have feen the fun, when it had rifen, to decline from their
cave towards the right hand ; and when it went down, to leave them on the
lefthand': and they were in the fpacious part of the cave*. This was one of
the figns of G o d . Whomfoever G o d fhall direft, he fhall be rightly direfted;
and whomfoever he fhall caufe to err, thou fhalt not find any to defend or to
direft. And thou wouldft have judged them to have been awakee, while they
were fleeping ; and we caufed them to turn themfelves to the right hand, and
to the l e f t A n d their dog 6 flretched forth his fore-legs in the mouth of
the
a brats plate, or ftone table placed near the mouth
of the cave, on which the names of the young
men were written.
There are fome’, however, who take the companions
of al Rakim to be different from the feven
fleepers: for they fay the former were three
men who were driven by ill weather into a cave
for fhelter,' and were fhut in there by the falling
down of a vaft ftone, which flopped the cave’s
mouth; but on their begging G od’s mercy, and
their relating each of them a meritorious a&ion
which they hoped might intitle them to it, were
miraculoufly delivered by the rock’s rending in
funder to give .them paffage 1.
3 The two parties;] viz. O f the fleepers themfelves,
or others, who were divided in opinion
as to the length of their flay in the cave.
b Except G od;] For they, like other idolaters,
worfhipped the true G od and idols alfo 2.
c The fun declined from their cave, &c.] Left
it fhould be offenfive to them, the cave opening
towards the fouth 3 •
d In the fpacious part of the cave ] i. e. In the
nudftof it, where they were incommoded neither
by the heat of the fun nor the clofenefs of the
cave 4.
e Thou wouldejl have judged them to have been
awake;] Becaufe of their having their eyes open,
or their frequent turning themfelves from one
fide to the other5.1
f And they turned themfelves, &e.] Left their
lying fo long on the ground fhould confume
their flefh 6.
s Their dog ;] This dog had followed them
as they pafled by him when they fled to the cave,
and they drove him away; whereupon G od
caufed him to fpeak, and he faid, I love thofe
who are dear unto G od ; go to feep therefore> and
I will guard you. But fome fay, it was a dog
belonging to a fhepherd who followed them, and
that the dog followed the fhepherd; which o-
pinion is fupported by reading-, as fome do, ca-
lebohom, their dogs mafter, inftead of calbohom,
their dog7. yallalo'ddin adds, that the dog behaved
as his matters did, in turning him felf,.
in fleeping, and in waking.
The Mohammedans have a great refpeit for
this dog, and allow him a place in paradife with
fome other favourite brutes: and they have a fort
of proverb which they ufe in fpeaking of a covetous
perfon, that he would not throw a bone to the
dog of the feven fleepers: nay it is faid that they have
1 ^/Beidawi, ex trad. Noomân Ebn Bajhir. 2 Idem» 3 Idem. A Idem*
Idem. 6 idem, ƒ a llalo’ddin. 7 Idem.