Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Kahf Verse 9

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Do you think that the People of Kahf (the Cave) and Raqīm (inscription) were unusual out of Our signs?

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Have you ˹O Prophet˺ thought that the people of the cave and the plaque[[ Ar-Raqîm is the plaque that was placed at the entrance of the cave with the names and story of the People of the Cave. This is the story of a group of Christian youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus around 250 C.E., to escape persecution at the hands of pagans during the reign of the Roman emperor Decius. The Quran does not give an exact number of the youths, although many scholars believe there were seven in addition to a dog. The youths slept for 300 years, plus nine (300 solar years equal 309 lunar years). ]] were ˹the only˺ wonders of Our signs?

Ruwwad Translation Center

Do you think that the people of the Cave and the Inscription were of Our only wondrous signs?

A. J. Arberry

Or dost thou think the Men of the Cave and Er-Rakeem were among Our signs a wonder?

Abdul Haleem

[Prophet], do you find the Companions in the Cave and al-Raqim so wondrous, among all Our other signs?

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Deemest thou that the people of the cave and the inscription were of Our signs a wonder?

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Or dost thou reflect that the Companions of the Cave and of the Inscription were wonders among Our Sign?

Abul Ala Maududi

Do you think that the people of the Cave and the Inscription were one of Our wondrous signs?

Ahmed Ali

Do you think the men of the cave and Ar-Raqim were so strange among Our signs?

Ahmed Raza Khan

Did you know that the People of the Cave and People close to the Woods, were Our exceptional signs?

Ali Quli Qarai

Do you suppose that the Companions of the Cave and the Inscription were among Our wonderful signs?

Ali Ünal

Or do you reckon the People of the Cave and the Inscription as something strange among Our signs (manifesting the truth, and too extraordinary to believe)?

Amatul Rahman Omar

Do you think that the People of the Place of Refuge and of the Inscriptions were a wonder among Our signs.

English Literal

Or (have) you thought/supposed that (E) the cave`s and The Book`s/inscription`s owners/company , were (in) astonishment/amazement from Our verses/signs/evidences? (Did you think that the cave`s and The Book`s people were strange or amazing?)

Faridul Haque

Did you know that the People of the Cave and People close to the Woods, were Our exceptional signs?

Hamid S. Aziz

Have you considered that the Fellows of the Cave and of the Inscription are a wonder amongst Our Signs?

Hilali & Khan

Do you think that the people of the Cave and the Inscription (the news or the names of the people of the Cave) were a wonder among Our Signs?

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And We shall surely make what is on it dust, without herbage.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Or, do you think that the Fellows of the Cave and the Inscription were of Our wonderful signs?

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Or deemest thou that the People of the Cave and the Inscription are a wonder among Our portents?

Muhammad Sarwar

Do you not think that the story of the Companions of the Cave and the Inscription was one of Our marvelous miracles?

Qaribullah & Darwish

Or, do you think the companions of the Cave and the tomb stone were a wonder among Our signs?

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Do you think that the people of Al-Kahf and Ar-Raqim were a wonder among Our signs

Wahiduddin Khan

Do you think that the Men of the Cave and the Inscription were one of Our wondrous signs?

Talal Itani

Did you know that the People of the Cave and the Inscription were of Our wondrous signs?

Tafsir jalalayn

Or did you think, did you suppose, that the Companions of the Cave, the cavern in the mountain, and the Inscription, the tablet wherein their names and lineages had been inscribed -- the Prophet (s) had been asked about their tale -- were, with regard to their tale, a [unique] marvel from among, the entirety [of], Our signs? (`ajaban, `a marvel' is the predicate of [the defective verb] kna [sc. kn], the preceding [min ytin, `from among Our signs'] being a circumstantial qualifier). In other words, [did you suppose] that they were a marvel exclusively from among all [Our] other signs, or that they were the most marvellous among them? Not so.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Story of the People of Al-Kahf

Here Allah tells us about the story of the people of Al-Kahf in brief and general terms, then He explains it in more detail.

He says;

أَمْ حَسِبْتَ

Do you think, -- O Muhammad --

أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا مِنْ ايَاتِنَا عَجَبًا



that the people of Al-Kahf and Ar-Raqim were a wonder among Our signs!

meaning, their case was not something amazing compared to Our power and ability, for the creation of the heavens and earth, the alternation of night and day and the subjugation of the sun, moon and heavenly bodies, and other mighty signs indicate the great power of Allah and show that He is able to do whatever He wills. He is not incapable of doing more amazing things than the story of the people of the Cave.

Similarly, Ibn Jurayj reported Mujahid saying about,
أَمْ حَسِبْتَ

أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا مِنْ ايَاتِنَا عَجَبًا
(Do you think that the people of Al-Kahf and Ar-Raqim were a wonder among Our signs),

"Among Our signs are things that are more amazing than this."

Al-Awfi reported that Ibn Abbas said;
أَمْ حَسِبْتَ

أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا مِنْ ايَاتِنَا عَجَبًا
(Do you think that the people of Al-Kahf and Ar-Raqim were a wonder among Our signs),

"What I have given to you of knowledge, the Sunnah and the Book is far better than the story of the people of Al-Kahf and Ar-Raqim."

Muhammad bin Ishaq said;

"(It means) I have not shown My creatures a proof more amazing than the story of the people of the Al-Kahf and Ar-Raqim."
Al-Kahf refers to a cave in a mountain, which is where the young men sought refuge.

With regard to the word Ar-Raqim, Al-Awfi reported from Ibn Abbas;

"it is a valley near Aylah."

This was also said (in another narration) by Atiyah Al-`Awfi and Qatadah.

Ad-Dahhak said;

"As for Al-Kahf, it is a cave in the valley, and Ar-Raqim is the name of the valley."

Mujahid said,

"Ar-Raqim refers to their buildings."
Others said it refers to the valley in which their cave was.
Abdur-Razzaq recorded that Ibn Abbas said about Ar-Raqim;
"Ka`b used to say that it was the town."
Ibn Jurayj reported that Ibn Abbas said,
"Ar-Raqim is the mountain in which the cave was."
Sa`id bin Jubayr said,
"Ar-Raqim is a tablet of stone on which they wrote the story of the people of the Cave, then they placed it at the entrance to the Cave."

إِذْ أَوَى الْفِتْيَةُ إِلَى الْكَهْفِ فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا اتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّيْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا