Surah Al-Kahf (18) — Ayah 9

(Ayah 9) ➊ {اَمْ حَسِبْتَ …:’’ الْكَهْفِ ‘‘} A spacious cave in the mountain. {’’ الرَّقِيْمِ ‘‘} means {’’مَرْقُوْمٌ‘‘}, that is, a written tablet or slab or those who possess a book. These people are called "Ashab al-Raqeem" because when they suddenly disappeared and could not be found despite much searching, their names were written on a tablet or slab and kept safe in a treasury, or it is because they had a written book containing the rulings of the Shariah. (Shanqiti) Or it is that after they woke up, people installed a tablet on the cave on which their names were written.

➋ { اَمْ حَسِبْتَ اَنَّ اَصْحٰبَ الْكَهْفِ … :} The interpretation of this verse, which most commentators such as Tabari, Ibn Kathir, Shanqiti (may Allah have mercy on them) have given, is that {’’ اَمْ ‘‘} is for disjunctive negation. Shanqiti (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Allah Almighty is saying to His Prophet: Have you considered the story of the People of the Cave to be a very wondrous sign among Our signs? Surely, people consider it a very great and wondrous thing, but in comparison to Our power and great signs, it is not so wondrous, because Our creating the heavens and the earth, then creating every adornment in the earth, then on the Day of Resurrection making it a barren plain, is much more wondrous than the matter of the People of the Cave, whom We made to sleep for three hundred and nine (309) years, then raised them up again. The evidence for this is found in many verses; one is that Allah Almighty, before mentioning the People of the Cave, mentioned the creation of the earth and its adornment, then making it a barren plain. From this, it is understood that this story is not as wondrous as those things which are much greater than it. In many places in the Noble Qur'an, people are reminded that the creation of the heavens and the earth is a much greater matter than the creation of people, as He said: «لَخَلْقُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ اَكْبَرُ مِنْ خَلْقِ النَّاسِ وَ لٰكِنَّ اَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُوْنَ » [ المؤمن : ۵۷ ] "Surely, the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of mankind." And see also An-Nazi'at (27 to 33). Remember that "Ashab al-Kahf" and "Ashab al-Raqeem" are names for the same group, and the three men mentioned in Sahih Bukhari who took refuge in a cave have a very distant connection to this incident, among whom one was dutiful to his parents, one was chaste, and one was an employer who hired a laborer. And remember that regarding the story of the People of the Cave, their names, and in which part of the earth they were, nothing is proven from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) except what is in the Qur'an. The commentators have narrated many Isra'ili traditions about them, which, due to their unreliability, we have not paid attention to." (Shanqiti summarized)

Another interpretation, besides the first, which the author of Ruh al-Ma'ani and Ibn Ashur (may Allah have mercy on them) and others have mentioned, is that {’’حِسْبَانٌ‘‘} comes in the sense of both assumption and knowledge, but {’’ اَمْ ‘‘} is not for negation but for affirmation, that is, to indicate that indeed these people were truly wondrous. As if it is being said: {’’اِعْلَمْ أَنَّهُمْ عَجَبٌ‘‘} "Know that indeed those people were very wondrous." Just as you say: {’’ أَعَلِمْتَ أَنَّ فُلاَنًا فَعَلَ كَذَا ‘‘} "Do you know that so-and-so did such and such." That is, indeed he did such and such. These commentators say that after mentioning the wondrous nature of their story, Allah Almighty is narrating the incident in detail, so that the listener's interest is aroused. This interpretation is also possible.