His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿And they remained in their cave three hundred years and increased by nine﴾ ﴿Say, Allah knows best how long they remained. His is the unseen of the heavens and the earth. How clear of sight is He and how well does He hear! They have no protector from Him, nor does He share in His judgment with anyone﴾ ﴿And recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. There is no changer of His words, and you will not find in other than Him a refuge﴾. Qatadah, and Matar the scribe, and others said: ﴿And they remained in their cave﴾ is a narration from the Children of Israel that they said this, and they argued that the reading of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud in his Mushaf is: "And they said, they remained in their cave," and that is according to Qatadah - contrary to the reading of Abdullah - an addition to ﴿They will say, three﴾ [Al-Kahf: 22], as mentioned by Al-Zahrawi. Then Allah, the Exalted, commanded His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to return the knowledge to Him in response to their statement and to refute them. Al-Tabari said: "Some of them said: If this were a report from Allah, there would be no understood reason for His saying: ﴿Say, Allah knows best how long they remained﴾." The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Where did this speaker go with this? And what is the understood reason except that the verse is a report about their duration of stay? Then it was said to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, ﴿Say, Allah knows best how long they remained﴾ with His report. This is the truth from the unseen realm, so let your disagreement cease, O you who are fabricating. And the scholars said: Rather, His saying, the Exalted, ﴿And they remained in their cave﴾ is a report from Allah, the Exalted, about the duration of their stay. Then there was a disagreement about the meaning of His saying after the report: ﴿Say, Allah knows best how long they remained﴾ - Al-Tabari said: The Children of Israel disagreed about what had passed for them of the duration after it was made known to them until the time of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. Some of them said: They remained three hundred years and nine years. And Allah, the Exalted, informed His Prophet that this duration was while they were asleep, and that what came after that is unknown to mankind. So Allah, the Exalted, commanded him to return that knowledge to Him. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: So His saying, the Exalted - according to this interpretation -: "They remained" the first refers to: in the sleep of the cave, and "they remained" the second refers to: after being made known dead until the time of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, or until the time of their being consumed by decay, according to the disagreement that we will mention later. And some of them said: When He said: ﴿And they increased by nine﴾, the people did not know whether it was hours, or days, or weeks, or months, or years, and the Children of Israel disagreed according to that. So Allah, the Exalted, commanded him to return the knowledge to Him, meaning: about the nine, and it is - according to this - ambiguous.

The apparent words of the Arabs and the meaning from them is that they are years. The apparent matter from them is that they arose and entered the cave shortly after Jesus, peace be upon him, and there remained a remnant of the disciples. Al-Naqqash narrated what means that they remained for three hundred solar years by the calculation of the nations. When the news here was for the Arab Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, the nine were mentioned; for the understanding with him is from the lunar years. This addition is what is between the two calculations.

The majority read: "Three hundred years" with the tanween on "years" and the accusative of "years" as a substitute for "three hundred" or as an apposition. It was said: as a clarification and distinction. Hamzah, Al-Kisai, Yahya, Talhah, and Al-Amash read by adding "years" to "three hundred" and leaving the tanween, as if they made "years" equivalent to "year"; for the meaning of both is one. Abu Ali said: These numbers that are added in months to the units, like three hundred men or garments, can be added to the plurals. Abu Hatim inclined towards this reading. In the Mushaf of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, it is: "Three hundred years." And Al-Dahhak read: "Three hundred years" with a waw. Abu Amr read differently: "Nine" with the opening of the ta, while the majority read: "Nine" with the kasra of the ta.

And His saying, exalted is He: "See with it and hear with it," means: what He made him see and hear. Qatadah said: No one sees better than Allah, exalted is He, nor hears better.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: These are expressions of perception. It is possible that the meaning is: "See with it" meaning: with His revelation and guidance, your guidance, your proofs, and the truth of matters, and "hear with it" the world, so there would be two matters not in the sense of astonishment. And His saying, exalted is He: "They have no protector besides Him" may imply that the pronoun in "them" refers to the companions of the cave, meaning: this is His power alone; no one else has been gentle with them, nor has anyone shared with Him in this judgment. It may also imply that the pronoun in "them" refers to the contemporaries of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, from the disbelievers and those who oppose him, and the verse would be an interruption with a threat.

The majority read: "And no one is associated in His judgment" with the ya from below, meaning the news about Allah, blessed and exalted is He. Ibn Amer, Al-Hasan, Abu Rajaa, Qatadah, and Al-Jahdari read: "And do not associate" with the ta from above, in the sense of prohibition for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. And His saying: "And do not associate" is an addition to His saying, glorified is He: "See with it and hear with it." Mujahid read: "And let no one associate" with the ya from below and in the jasm. Ya'qub said: I do not know its meaning.

Al-Tabari narrated from Al-Dahhak ibn Muzahim that he said: This verse: "And they remained in their cave three hundred" was revealed alone. The people said: Are they months, days, or years? Then the verse: "Years and they increased by nine" was revealed.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

As for whether the people of the cave remained and their bodies were preserved after death, the narrations differ on that. It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that he passed by the Levant during some of his battles with people at the location of the cave and its mountain. The people walked to it and found bones. They said: These are the bones of the companions of the cave. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said to them: No, those are a people who perished and have been gone for a long time. A monk heard him and said: I did not think that anyone from the Arabs would know this. It was said to him: This is the cousin of our Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. A group said: Indeed, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Surely, Jesus son of Mary will perform Hajj and with him will be the companions of the cave, for they have not performed Hajj yet.'

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And in the Levant - according to what I have heard from many people - there is a cave in which there are dead bodies, whose neighbors claim that they are the companions of the cave. There is a mosque and a building called Al-Raqeem over it, and with them is a dog that is a Rummat. In Andalusia, in the direction of Granada, near a village called Lushah, there is a cave with dead bodies and with them is a dog that is a Rummat. Most of them have decayed flesh, while some of them are intact. The past centuries have gone by and we have not found any knowledge of their affair. Some people claim that they are the companions of the cave. I entered upon them and saw them in the year four hundred and five hundred, and they were in this condition. There is a mosque over them, and near them is a Roman building called Al-Raqeem that is adjacent to the qiblah, and the remains of an ancient Roman city called the City of Diqnius. We found in its remains strange things in graves and similar to them.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The mention of this was made easy due to its remoteness because it is a wonder whose mention shall endure as long as Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, wills.

And His saying, the Exalted: 'And recite what has been revealed to you.' Whoever reads: 'And do not associate' in the negative, connects his saying: 'And recite' to it. And whoever reads: 'And do not associate' in the affirmative makes this a command that begins with another speech that is not from the first. It is as if this verse is in the meaning of admonition to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, following the admonition that was regarding his neglecting the exception. It is as if He is saying: These are the answers to the questions, so recite the revelation of Allah to you, meaning: follow in your actions, and it is said: continue with your recitation of what has been revealed to you from the Book of your Lord, there is no deficiency in His words, nor is there any changer of His words, and you have no other side to lean towards and depend upon.

'The multahid': the side to which one leans, and from it is the lhd, as if it is the inclination in one of the sides of the grave. And from it: the ilhad in the truth, which is the deviation from the truth. His saying: 'There is no changing of His words' does not invalidate the matter of abrogation. This is because the meaning can either be: there is no changer other than Him, so the words remain in their entirety, or it can mean that he intended by 'the words' the news and similar matters that are not subject to abrogation. The consensus is that what does not change is the speech that is self-subsisting, by which destiny occurs. As for the revealed books, the view of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, is that they are not changed except by interpretation. And among the scholars, there are those who say that the Children of Israel changed the words of the Torah.