The Cave (Al-Kahf)
Verses 19-20 GROUP_674 18.19-20
19
وَكَذَلِكَ بَعَثْنَاهُمْ لِيَتَسَاءلُوا بَيْنَهُمْ قَالَ قَائِلٌ مِّنْهُمْ كَمْ لَبِثْتُمْ قَالُوا لَبِثْنَا يَوْمًا أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ قَالُوا رَبُّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا لَبِثْتُمْ فَابْعَثُوا أَحَدَكُم بِوَرِقِكُمْ هَذِهِ إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ فَلْيَنظُرْ أَيُّهَا أَزْكَى طَعَامًا فَلْيَأْتِكُم بِرِزْقٍ مِّنْهُ وَلْيَتَلَطَّفْ وَلَا يُشْعِرَنَّ بِكُمْ أَحَدًا
In the course of time, We raised them up again so that they might question one another. One of them asked, ‘How long have you stayed [here]?’ They said, ‘We have stayed a day, or part of a day.’ But others said, ‘Your Lord knows best how long you have stayed here. Let one of you go then with these silver coins to the town, and let him find out what food is purest there, and bring you back a supply of it. Let him conduct himself with caution and not disclose your whereabouts to anyone:
20
إِنَّهُمْ إِن يَظْهَرُوا عَلَيْكُمْ يَرْجُمُوكُمْ أَوْ يُعِيدُوكُمْ فِي مِلَّتِهِمْ وَلَن تُفْلِحُوا إِذًا أَبَدًا
for if they find you out, they will stone you to death, or force you back into their faith. In that case you would never prosper.’
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) When the Men of the Cave woke up from their sleep, they naturally started discussing the duration of their sleep. But, time had stopped for them by God’s order and as such the period which was spread over centuries for others appeared to be just one day for the Men of the Cave. After getting up they felt hungry. Still having some silver coins in their possession, they sent one of their number out with a coin. They insisted on his searching for clean food thinking that perhaps ‘halal’ food would be available in the Christian localities of the city. Moreover, they advised the concerned person to handle the matter cautiously and wisely, because, on the basis of past experience, they were afraid that if their opponents came to know of their existence, they would try to persuade them to return to polytheism and, on their refusal, they would kill them.