And they said the one to the other, When ye shall separate yourselves from them, and from the deities which they worship, except GoD,* fly into the cave: your LORD will pour his mercy on you abundantly, and will dispose your business for you to advantage. And thou mightest have seen the sun, when it had risen, to decline from their cave towards the right hand; and when it went down, to leave them on the left hand :' and they were in the spacious part of the cave." This was one of the signs of God. Whomsoever God shall direct, he shall be rightly directed: and whomsoever he shall cause to err, thou shalt not find any to defend or to direct. And thou wouldest have judged them to have been awake," while they were sleeping; and we caused them to turn themselves to the right hand, and to the left. And their dog stretched forth his fore-legs in the mouth of the cave: if thou hadst come suddenly upon them, verily thou wouldest have turned thy back and fled from them, and thou wouldest have been filled with fear at the sight of them. And so we awaked them from their sleep, that they might ask questions of one another. One of them spake and said, How long have ye tarried here? They answered, We have tarried a day, or part of a day. The others said, Your LORD best knoweth the time ye have tarried: and now send one of you with this your money into the give unto us no eminent proofs of their power. What can be more impious than to attribute falsehood to God?"-Savary.

For they, like other idolaters, worshipped the true God and idols also." 'Lest it should be offensive to them, the cave opening towards the south.

i. e. In the midst of it, where they were incommoded neither by the heat of the sun nor the closeness of the cave.s

B

Because of their having their eyes open, or their frequent turning themselves from one side to the other."

Lest their lying so long on the ground should consume their flesh."

This dog had followed them as they passed by him when they fled to the cave, and they drove him away; whereupon God caused him to speak, and he said, I love those who are dear unto God; go to sleep, therefore, and I will guard you. But some say, it was a dog belonging to a shepherd who followed them, and that the dog followed the shepherd; which opinion is supported by reading, as some do, câlebohom, their dog's master, instead of calbohom, their dog. Jallalo'ddin adds, that the dog behaved himself as his masters did, in turning himself, in sleeping, and in waking.

9

The Mohammedans have a great respect for this dog, and allow him a place in paradise with some other favourite brutes; and they have a sort of proverb which they use in speaking of a covetous person, that he would not throw a bone to the dog of the seven sleepers nay it is said that they have the superstition to write his name, which they suppose to be Katmîr, (though some, as is observed above, think he was called al Rakîm) on their letters which go far, or which pass the sea, as a protection, or kind of talisman, to preserve them from miscarriage.'

For that God had given them terrible countenances; or else because of the largeness of their bodies, or the horror of the place.

It is related that the Khalif Moawiyah, in an expedition he made against Natolia, passed by the cave of the seven sleepers, and would needs send somebody into it, notwithstanding Ebn Abbas remonstrated to him the danger of it, saying, That a better man than him (meaning the prophet) had been forbidden to enter it, and repeated this verse; but the men the Khalif sent in had no sooner entered the cave, than they were struck dead by a burning wind.❜

As they entered the cave in the morning, and waked about noon, they at first imagined the had slept half a day, or a day and a half at most; but when they found their nails and hair grown very long, they used these words."

• Al Beidâwi. • Idem. • Idem. 'La Roqué, Voy. de l'Arabie Heur. p. 74. • Idem.

' Idem.

Idem, Jallalo'ddin. • Idem. Vide D'Herbel. ubi sup. 2 Al Beidâwi.

city; and let him see which of its inhabitants hath the best and cheapest food, and let him bring you provision from him; and let him behave circumspectly, and not discover you to any one. Verily if they come up against you, they will stone you, or force you to return to their religion; and then shall ye not prosper for ever. And so we made their people acquainted with what had happened to them; that they might know that the promise of God is true, and that there is no doubt of the last hour;t when they disputed among themselves concerning their matter." And they said, Erect a building over them: their LORD best knoweth their condition. Those who prevailed in their affair answered, We will surely build a chapel over them. Some say, The sleepers were three; and their dog was the fourth and others say, They were five; and their dog was the sixth; guessing at a secret matter: and others say, They were seven; and their dog was the eighth." Say, My LORD best knoweth their number: none shall know them, except a few. Wherefore dispute not concerning them, except with a clear disputation,* according to what hath been revealed unto thee and ask not any of the Christians concerning them. Say not of any matter, I will surely do this to-morrow; unless thou add, If God please.a And remember thy LORD, when thou forgettest, and say, My LORD is able to direct me with ease, that I may draw near unto the truth of this matter rightly. And they remained in their cave three hundred years, and nine

• Which some commentators suppose was Tarsus.

b

The long sleep of these young men, and their waking after so many years, being a representation of the state of those who die, and are afterwards raised to life.

"i. e. Concerning the resurrection; some saying that the souls only should be raised, others, that they should be raised with the body: or, concerning the sleepers, after they were really dead; one saying, that they were dead, and another, that they were only asleep or else concerning the erecting a building over them, as it follows in the next words; some advising a dwelling-house to be built there, and others a temple.*

▾ When the yonng man who was sent into the city went to pay for the provision he had bought, his money was so old, being the coin of Decianus, that they imagined he had found a treasure, and. carried him before the prince, who was a Christian, and having heard his story, sent some with him to the cave, who saw and spoke to the others: after which they fell asleep again and died: and the prince ordered them to be buried in the same place, and built a chapel over them.

This was the opinion of al Seyid, a Jacobite Christian of Najrân.

Which was the opinion of certain Christians, and particularly of a Nestorian prelate. And this is the true opinion.'

* 46 Speak not of them but with knowledge, and relate not their history to the unbe. lievers."-Savary.

It is said, that when the Koreish, by the direction of the Jews, put the three questions above-mentioned to Mohammed, he bid them come to him the next day, and he would give them an answer, but added not, if it please God; for which reason he had the mortification to wait above ten days, before any revelation was vouchsafed him concerning those matters, so that the Koreish triumphed, and bitterly reproached him as a liar: but at length Gabriel brought him directions what he should say; with this admonition, however, that he should not be so confident for the future."

("The Turks act strictly up to this maxim of their prophet. They never give a positive answer. If they are asked, will you come? Will you go? Shall you complete this business? they always end their reply with en cha Allah, If God please.”—Savary.) i. e. Give the glory to him, and ask pardon for thy omission, in case thou forget to say, If it please God.

years over.*c

Say, GOD best knoweth how long they continued here: unto him are the secrets of heaven and earth known; do thou make him to see and to hear. The inhabitants thereof have no protector besides him; neither doth he suffer any one to have a share in the establishment or knowledge of his decree. Read that which hath been revealed unto thee, of the book of thy LoRD, without presuming to make any change therein: there is none who hath power to change his words; and thou shalt not find any to fly to, besides him, if thou attempt it. Behave thyself with constancy towards those who call upon their LORD morning and evening, and who seek his favour; and let not thine eyes be turned away from them, seeking the pomp of this life; neither obey him whose heart we have caused to neglect the remembrance of us, and who followeth his lusts,† and leaveth the truth behind him. And say, The truth is from your LORD; wherefore let him who will, believe, and let him who will, be incredulous. We have surely prepared for the unjust hell fire, the flame and smoke whereof shall surround him like a pavilion: and if they beg relief, they shall be relieved with water like molten brass, which shall scald their faces; O how miserable a potion, and how unhappy a couch! As to those who believe, and do good works, we will not suffer the reward of him who shall work righteousness to perish for them are prepared gardens of eternal abode, which shall be watered by rivers; they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold, and they shall be clothed in green garments of fine silk and brocades; reposing themselves therein on thrones. O how happy a reward, and how easy a couch! And propound unto them as a parable two men :1 on the one of whom we had bestowed two vineyards, and had surrounded them with palm-trees, and had caused corn to grow between them. Each of the These youths remained three hundred and seven years in the cave."-Savary. Jallalo'ddin supposes the whole space was three hundred solar years, and that the odd nine are added to reduce them to lunar years.

Some think these words are introduced as spoken by the Christians, who differed among themselves about the time; one saying it was three hundred years, and another, three hundred and nine years. The interval between the reign of Decius, and that of Theodosius the younger, in whose time the sleepers are said to have awaked, will not allow them to have slept quite two hundred years: though Mohammed is somewhat excusable, since the number assigned by Simeon Metaphrastes is three hundred and seventy-two years. This is an ironical expression, intimating the folly and madness of man's presuming to instruct God."

As the unbelievers would persuade thee to do.10

That is, Despise not the poor believers because of their meanness, nor honour the rich because of their wealth and grandeur.

The person more particularly intended here, it is said, was Ommeya Ebn Khalf, who desired Mohammed to discard his indigent companions, out of respect to the Koreish. See chap. 6, p. 103.

Follow not him whose heart hath forgotten us, and who hath no other guide than his desires and his unbridled passions."-Savary.

h Literally of Eden. See chap. 9, p. 157.

"Possessor of the garden of Eden, through which rivers flow, adorned with golden bracelets, clothed in green garments woven in silk and in gold, resplendent with glory, he shall repose on the nuptial couch, the happy reward of the abode of delights."-Savary. Though these seem to be general characters only, designed to represent the different end of the wicked, and of the good; yet it is supposed by some, that two particular per10 lidem.

་

'Al Beidâwi.

Ubi sup.

'Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin.

k

1

gardens brought forth its fruit every season, and failed not at all; and we caused a river to flow in the midst thereof: and he had great abundance. And he said unto his companion by way of debate, I am superior to thee in wealth, and have a more powerful family. And he went into his garden, being guilty of injustice against his own soul, and said, I do not think that this garden will decay for ever; neither do I think that the last hour will come and although I should return unto my LORD, verily I shall find a better garden than this in exchange. And his companion said unto him, by way of debate, Dost thou not believe in him who created thee of the dust, and afterwards of seed; and then fashioned thee into a perfect man? But as for me, God is my LORD; and I will not associate any other deity with my LORD. And when thou enterest thy garden, wilt thou not say, What God pleaseth shall come to pass; there is no power but in GoD alone? Although thou seest me to be inferior to thee in wealth and number of children, my LORD is well able to bestow on me a better gift than thy garden, and to shoot his arrows against the same from heaven, so that it shall become barren dust; or its water may sink deep into the earth, that thou canst not draw thereof. And his possessions were encompassed with destruction, as his companion had forewarned him; wherefore he began to turn down the palms of his hands out of sorrow and regret for that which he had expended thereon; for the vines thereof were fallen down on their trails and he said, Would to God that I had not associated any other deity with my LORD! And he had no party to assist him besides GOD,* neither was he able to defend himself against his vengeance. In such case protection belongeth of right unto God alone; he is the best rewarder, and the best giver of success. And propound to them a similitude of the present life. It is like water which we send down from heaven; and the herb of the earth is mixed therewith, and after it hath been green and flourishing, in the morning it becometh dry stubble, which the winds scatter abroad: and GOD is able to do all things. Wealth and children are the ornament of this present life but good works, which are permanent, are better in the sight of thy LoRD, with respect to the reward, and better with respect to hope. On a certain day we will cause the mountains to pass away," and thou shalt see the earth appearing plain and even; and we will gather mankind sons are here meant. One says they were two Israelites and brothers, who had a considerable sum left them by their father, which they divided between them; and that one of them, being an unbeliever, bought large fields and possessions with his portion, while the other, who was a true believer, disposed of his to pious uses; but that in the end, the former was ruined, and the latter prospered. Another thinks they were two men of the tribe of Makhzûm; the one named al Aswad Ebn Abd'al Ashadd, an infidel; and the other Abu Salma Ebn Abd'allah, the husband of Omm Salma (whom the prophet married after his death,) and a true believer.'

Carrying his companion with him, out of or.entation, and to mortify him with the view of his large possessions."

Vainly imagining that his prosperity was not so much the free gift of God, as due to his merit.

"His numerous slaves stopped not the hand of the Almighty. He was unable to defend himself."—Savary.

For being torn up by the roots, they shall fly in the air, and be reduced to atoms.

1 Al Beidâwi.

⚫ Idem. • Idem. Idem. See the Prelim. Dise sect. iv. p. 59.

together, and we will not leave any one of them behind. And they shall be set before thy LORD in distinct order, and he shall say unto them, Now are ye come unto us naked, as we created you the first time: but ye thought that we should not perform our promise unto you. And the book wherein every one's actions are recorded shall be put into his hand; and thou shalt see the wicked in great terror, because of that which is written therein, and they shall say, Alas for us! what meaneth this book? it omitteth neither a small action nor a great one, but it compriseth the same; and they shall find that which they have wrought, present before their eyes and thy LORD will not deal unjustly with any one. Remember when we said unto the angels, Worship ye Adam: and they all worshipped him, except Eblis," who was one of the genii, and departed from the command of his LORD. Will ye therefore take him and his offspring for your patrons besides me, notwithstanding they are your enemies? Miserable shall such a change be to the ungodly! I called not them to be present at the creation of the heavens and of the earth, nor at the creation of themselves, neither did I take those seducers for my assistants. On a certain day, God shall say unto the idolaters, Call those whom ye imagined to be my companions, to protect you and they shall call them, but they shall not answer them; and we will place a valley of destruction between them: * and the wicked shall see hell fire: and they shall know that they shall be thrown into the same, and they shall find no way to avoid it. And now have we variously propounded unto men, in this Korân, a parable of every kind; but man cavilleth at most things therein. Yet nothing hindereth men from believing, now a direction is come unto them, and from asking pardon of their LORD, excepting that they wait until the punishment of their predecessors come to be inflicted on them, or that the chastisement of the next life come upon them publicly. We send not our messengers, but to bear good tidings, and to denounce threats. Those who believe not dispute with vain arguments, that they may thereby render the truth of no effect; and they hold my signs, and the admonitions which have been made them, in derision. And who is more unjust than he who hath been acquainted with the signs of his LORD, and retireth afar off from the same, and forgetteth that which his hands have formerly committed? Verily we have cast veils over their hearts, lest they should understand the Korân, and into their ears thickness

See chap. 2, p. 5, and chap. 7, p. 118, &c.

Hence some imagine the genii are a species of angels: others suppose the devil to have been originally a genius, which was the occasion of his rebellion, and call him the father of the genii, whom he begat after his fall; it being a constant opinion, among the Mohammedans, that the angels are impeccable, and do not propagate their species. Pi. e. Between the idolaters and their false gods. Some suppose the meaning is no more than that God will set them at variance and division.

"We will place the river of woe between them."-Savary.

"When the truth appeared, the wicked denied it. They did not have recourse to the divine mercy; but the sentence which was denounced against their predecessors, or a signal punishment, shall be the reward of their unbelief."—Savary.

Jallalo'ddin, &c.

See the Prelim. Disc. sect. iv. p. 51, &c.