Ala-Maududi
(18:13) We narrate to you their true story.[9] They were a party of young men who had
faith in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance[10]
9. The oldest evidence of this story is found in a homily written in Syriac by Jacob of Sarug, a
Christian priest of Syria, who was born in A.D. 452, a few years after the death of the
companions of the cave. The homily which describes the legend in great detail was composed by
him in or about A.D. 474. On the one hand, this same Syriac version came into the hands of our
early commentators, and Ibn Jarir Tabari cited it in his commentary with various authorities.
And on the other hand, it reached Europe where its translations and abridged versions were
published in Greek and Latin. The abridged story as told by Gibbon in Chapter 33 of his The
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire under the heading, “The Seven Sleepers”, so closely
resembles the story told by our commentators that both the versions seem to have been drawn from
the same source. For instance, the name of the king, whose persecutions made the Seven Christian
youths of Ephesus take refuge in the cave, was Emperor Decius according to Gibbon. He ruled the
Roman Empire from A.D. 249 to 251 and whose reign is very notorious because of his persecution
of the followers of Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him), while our commentators call him Decanus
or Decaus, etc. The city, where this event happened was Aphesus or Aphesos according to our
commentators, while according to Gibbon it was Ephesus, which was the biggest Roman city and
seaport on the west coast of Asia Minor. The ruins of this city can still be seen 20 to 25 miles
south of the modern Turkish city of Izmir. Again the name of the king, during whose reign the
companions of the cave awoke, was Tezusius according to the Muslim commentators and Theodosius
II according to Gibbon. He ruled over Rome from A.D. 408 to 450, after the Roman Empire had
accepted Christianity.
The resemblance between the two versions is so close that even the name of the companion whom the
sleepers sent to the city to buy food after waking up has been mentioned as Jamblicha by the
Muslim scholars and Jamblichus by Gibbon. The details of the story in both the versions are also
similar which are briefly as follows.
When during the reign of the Emperor Decius, the followers of Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him)
were being mercilessly persecuted, the seven Christian youths hid themselves in a cave and fell
into a sleep. Then in the 38th year of the reign of the Emperor Theodosius II (approximately in
A.D. 445 or 446) they awoke when the entire Roman Empire had become Christian. Thus, they slept
in the cave for nearly 196 years.
On this ground some orientalists have rejected that the above mentioned story is the same as that
given in the Quran because the period of their stay in the cave according to the Quran (Surah Al-Kahf, Ayat 25) was 309 years.
We have, however, answered this objection in (Surah Al-Kahf, ayat 25) note 25.
There are a few minor differences between the Quranic and Syriac versions, on the basis of which
Gibbon has charged the Prophet (peace be upon him) with ignorance. However, the Syriac version,
on the basis of whose authenticity he has committed this gross insolence, was even according to
him written thirty to forty years after the event by a Syrian. He has not taken the trouble to
consider the fact that verbal versions of events do change a bit during such a long time while
they are communicated from one country to the other. Therefore it is wrong to take such a
version of the story for granted and literally true and to charge the Quran with discrepancy for
any main difference with it. Such an attitude is worthy only of those people who are so blinded
by religious prejudices that they discard even the most ordinary demands of reason.
The city of Ephesus where the event of the sleepers of the cave took place, was built about 11th
century B.C. and became a great center of idol worship, its chief deity being the moon goddess,
Diana, whose temple was regarded as a wonder of the ancient world. Most of her devotees belonged
to Asia Minor and the Roman Empire also had accepted her as one of its deities. After Prophet
Jesus (peace be upon him) when his message started reaching different parts of the Roman Empire,
a few youths of Ephesus also gave up idol worship and accepted God as their only Lord. Gregory
of Tours has collected details about these Christian youths in his Meraculorum Liber, which are
briefly as follows.
They were seven youths. When the Emperor Decius heard of their change of faith, he summoned them
and questioned them about their new religion. In spite of knowing that the Emperor was deadly
against the followers of Christ, they frankly admitted before him that their Lord is the Lord of
the earth and heavens, and that they recognized none else as Deity for if they did so, they
would be committing a grave sin. The Emperor became furious to hear this, and warned that he
would have them killed, but then considering their tender age, he granted them three days in
which they were counseled to revert to their old faith, otherwise they would be put to death.
The seven youths took advantage of the situation and fled the city to conceal themselves in a
cave in the mountains. On the way a dog also followed them. They did their best to scare it
away, but it would not leave them. At last they found a spacious cave as a suitable refuge and
hid in it and the dog sat at the entrance. Being tired they soon fell into a deep slumber. This
happened in about 250 A.D. After about 197 years, in 447 A.D., during the reign of Emperor
Theodosius II, they awoke suddenly when the whole Roman Empire had embraced Christianity and the
Ephesians had given up idolatry.
At this time a fierce controversy was going on among the Romans regarding the reality of the life
after death and Resurrection, and the Emperor himself was anxious to eradicate somehow the
disbelief in the life after death from the minds of his people. So much so that one day he
prayed that God in His mercy may show a sign which may help restore and correct the people’s
belief. In precisely the same days the seven sleepers awoke in the cave.
After waking up, the youths started asking one another about how long they might have slept. Some
said it might have been a day, others said it was a part of a day. When they reached no
conclusion, they stopped arguing, leaving the knowledge of the exact period to God.
Then they sent Jean, a companion, to the city with a few silver coins to buy food, and warned him
to be on his guard lest the people should recognize him, for they feared that if they were
discovered the Ephesians would force them to bow before Diana. But when Jean came to the city he
was astonished to see that the world had changed. The entire population had embraced
Christianity, and there was nobody in the city to worship Diana. He came to a shop and wanted to
buy a few loaves of bread. When he paid in a coin bearing the image of Emperor Decius, the
shopkeeper could not believe his eyes and asked the stranger from where he had obtained that
coin. When the young man said that it was his own, a dispute began between them and soon a crowd
gathered around them, and the matter reached the chief officer of the city. The officer himself
was puzzled and wanted to know the whereabouts of the treasure house from where the young man
had taken the coin, but the latter insisted that it belonged to him. The officer did not believe
him because he thought that a young man like him could not possibly possess a centuries old coin
which had not even been seen by the elders in the city. When Jean came to know that the Emperor
Decius had died, he was pleasantly surprised. He told the crowd that he and his six companions
had fled the city only the other day and taken refuge in a cave to escape Decius’ persecution.
The officer was greatly surprised and followed the young man to see the cave where his
companions lay in hiding. And a great crowd followed behind them. When they came to the cave, it
was fully established that the youths really belonged to the Emperor Decius’ period.
Consequently, Emperor Theodosius was informed and he also visited the cave to receive grace.
Then the seven youths went back into the cave and lay down and breathed their last. Seeing this
clear sign the people’s belief in the life after death was restored, and a monument was ordered
to be built over the cave by the Emperor.
The story of the sleepers of the cave as narrated above, corresponds so closely with that
mentioned in the Quran that the seven youths can easily be regarded as Ashab-i- Kahf (the
companions of the cave). Some people, however, have raised the objection that this story
concerns a city of Asia Minor, and the Quran does not discuss or refer to any event that might
have taken place outside Arabia, therefore it would be against the Quranic style and spirit to
label this Christian story as the story of Ashab-i-Kahf. In our opinion this objection is not
correct. The Quran means to impress and warn the Arabs by relating stories concerning the
various ancient tribes who had transgressed from the right path and with whom they were
familiar, whether they lived and flourished inside Arabia or outside it. It is for this very
reason that a mention has been made of the ancient history of Egypt in the Quran, whereas Egypt
has never been a part of Arabia. The question is that when the history of Egypt can be mentioned
in the Quran, why cannot Rome and the Roman history with which the Arabs were as familiar as
with the Egyptian history? The Roman frontiers adjoined the northern Hijaz and the Arab caravans
traded with the Romans almost throughout the year. Then there were a number of Arab tribes who
were directly under Roman domination and the Roman Empire was in no way unknown to the Arabs, a
fact which is fully borne out by Surah Ar-Room. Another thing which should be borne in mind is
that the story of the sleepers of the cave has been related in the Quran in response to a query
raised by the disbelievers of Makkah, who had been prompted by the Jews and Christians to
question the Prophet (peace be upon him) on such matters as were wholly unknown to the Arabs in
order to test his Prophethood.
10. That is, when they had believed sincerely, Allah increased their faith in the guidance and
enabled them to become firm and steadfast on the way of the truth even at the risk of their
lives rather than surrender before falsehood.