the cave : if thou hadft come fuddenly upon them, verily thou wouldeft have
turned tHy back and fied from them, and thou wouldeft have been filled
with fear at the fight of them *. And fo we awaked them from their fleep
that they might afk queftions of one another. One of them fpake and faid’
How long have ye tarried here ? They anfwered, We have tarried a day, or
part of a day. The others faid, Your L ord beft knoweth the time ye have
tarriedb: and now fend one of you with this your money into the city'
and let him fee which of its inhabitants hath the beft and cheapeft food, and
let him bring you provifion from him •, and let him behave circumfpedlly,
and notdifcover you to any one. Verily, if they come up againft you, they
will ftone you, or force you to return to their religion ; and then ihall ye
not profper for ever. And fo we made their people acquainted with what had
happened to them ; that they might know that the promife of G od is true
and that there is' no doubt of the laft _ houri ; when they difputed among
themfelves concerning their matter e. And they faid, Ere£t a building over
them : their L o rd beft knoweth their condition. Thofe who prevailed in
their affair anfwered, We will furely build a chappel over them f. Some
fay, The fieepers were three ; and their dog was the fourth *: and others fay,
i^ T b e j
the fupdrftition to write his name, which they
fuppofe to be Katmir, (tho’ fome, as is obfcrved
above, think he was called al Rakim) on their
letters which go far, or which pafs the fea, as
a proredtion, or kind of talifman, to preferve
them from mifcarriage 1.
a Thou wouldeft have been filled with fear at
the fight of them;] For that G od had given
them terrible countenances; or elfe becaufe of the
largenefs pf their bodies, or the horror of the
place.
It is related that tht Khali/ Moawiyah, in an
expedition he made againft Natalia, palled by the
cave of the feven fleepers, and would needs
fend fomebody into it, notwithftanding Ebn Abbas
remonftrated to him the danger of it, faying,
That a better man than him, (meaning the prophet)
ha.d been forbidden to enter it, and repeated
this verfe 5 but the men the Kbaliff, fent in had
no fooner entred the cave, than they were ftruck
dead by a burning wind 2.
b Tour L ord beft knoweth the time ye have tarried;]
As they entred the cave in the morning,
and waked about noon, they at firft imagined
they had ilept half a day, or a day and a half at
moft; but when they found their nails and hair
grown very long, they ufed thefe words 3.
c Into the city;] Which fome commentators
fuppofe -was Tar Jus.
d That there is no doubt of the laß hour ;] The
long fleep of thefe young men, and their waking
after fo many years, being a reprefentation of the
ftate of thofe who die, and are afterwards raifed
to life.
e Concerning their matter j] i. e. Concerning
the refurreftion; fome faying that the fouls only
fhould be raifed, others, that they fhould be raifed
with the body: or, concerning the fleepers,
after they were really dead ; one faying, that
they were dead, and another, that they were
only afleep: or elfe concerning the eredling a
building over them, as it follows in the next
words ; fome adviflhg a dwelling-houfe to be
built there, and others a temple 4.
ƒ ybofe, who prevailed faid,, We will build a
chappel diver, them ;] When the young man who
was fent into the city, went to pay for the pro-:
viiion he had'bought, his money was fo.old, being
the coin of Decianus, that they imagined he
had found a treafure, and carried him before the
prince, who was a Chriftiany and having heard his
ltory, fent fome with him to tlie cave, who faw
and fpoke to the others : after Which they fell
afleep again and died ; and the prince ordered
them to be buried in the fame place, and built a
chappel over them.
g Some jay. They were three, &c,J .This was
the opinion of alSeyid,-a Jacobite Chriftian of
Najrdn.
1 L a Roque, Voy. de VArable heur.p. 74. V. D’H erbel. Mifup.
, Idem.
Jl hey were five; and their dog was the fixtha 3 guefiing at a fecret matter: and
others fay, They were feven *, and their dog was the eighthb. Say, My
Lord beft knoweth their number: none (hall know them, except a few.
Wherefore difpute not concerning them, unlefs with a clear difputation, according
to what hath been revealed unto thee: and afk not any of the Chriftians concerning
them. Say not of any matter, I will furely do this to morrow j unlefs
thou add, If G od pleafe c. And remember thy L o r d , when thou forget-
teft d, and fay, My L o rd is able to dired me with eafe, that I may draw
near unto the truth o f this matter rightly. And they remained in their cave
three hundred years, and nine years over e. Say, G od beft knoweth how
long they continued the re : unto him are the fecrets of heaven and earth
known? do thou make him to fee and to hear f. The inhabitants thereof
have no prote&or befides him; neither doth he fuffer any one to have a fhare
in the eftablijhment or knowledge o f his decree. Read that which hath been
revealed unto thee, of the book of thy L o rd, without prefuming to make any
change therein B: there is none who hath power to change his words ; and thou
fhalt not find any to fly to, befides him, i f thou attempt it. Behave thy felf
with conftancy towards thofe who call upon their L o rd morning and evening,
and who feek his favour; and let not thine eyes be turned away from them,
feeking the pomp of this life b 3 neither obey him whofe heart we have cauf-
ed to negledt the remembrance of us % and who followed! his lufts, and
I i leaveth
3 Others fay they were five, &c.] Which was en by the Chriftians, who differed among them-
the opinion of certain Chriftians, and particular- felves about the time; one faying it was three
ly of a Neftorian prelate. hundred years, and another, three hundred and
b Others fay, They were feveny &c.] And this nine years3. The interval between the reign
is the true opinion 1. of Decius, and that of Theodoftits the younger,
c Say not of any thing, I will do this to morrow; in whofe time the fleepers are laid to have awak-
unlefs thou add, I f G o d pleafe;] It is faid, that ed, will not allow them to have flept quite two
when the Koreijhy by the diredtion of the Jews, hundred years; tho’ Mohammed is fomewhat ex-
put the three queftions abovementioned to Mo- cufable, fince the number afligned by Simeon Me-
hammedy he bid them come to him the next day, taphraftes4 is three hundred and feventy two
and he would give them an anfwer, but added years.
not, i f it pleafe God j for which reafon he had f Do thou make him to fee, and to bear;] This
the mortification to wait above ten days, before is an ironical expreflion, intimating the folly and
any revelation was vouchfafed him concerning madnefs of man’s prefuming to inftrudl God 5.
thofe matters, fo that the Koreijh triumphed, and g Read that which hath been revealed unto thee,
bitterly reproached him as a liar: but at length without making any change therein;] As the un-
Gabriel brought him diredtions what he fhould believers would perfuade thee to do 6,
fay; with this admonition however, that he h Let not thine eyes be turned away from them,
fliould not be fo confident for the future 2. &c.] That is,'Defpife not the poor believers,
d Remember thy L o r d , & c . ] i. e. Give the becaufe of their meannefs, nor honour the rich
glory to him, ana ask pardon for thy omilfion, in becaufe of their wealth and grandeur,
cafe thou forget to fay, I f it pleafe God. 1 Whofe heart we have can fed to negleft the ree
Three hundred and nine years ;] Jallalo'ddin membrance of us(\ The perfon more particularly
fuppofes the \yhole fpace was three.hundred folar intended here, it is faid, was Qmmeya Ebn Khalfy
years, and that the odd nine are added to reduce who defired Mohammed to difeard his indigent
them to lunar years. companions, out of refpeft to the Koreijh. See
Some think thele words »reintroduced as fpok- chap. 6. p. 103.
1 Idemy J a l l a l o ’ d d i n . * ^ / B e i d a w i . 3 Idem. 4 JJbi fup. 5 Al B e i d a w i
Ja l l a l o ’d d in . 6 Idem.