What is on the earth means what is suitable to be adornment for it and for its people from the adornments of this world and what is pleasing among them, so that We may test them which of them is best in deed. And the best deed is the renunciation of it and the abandonment of being deceived by it. Then He renounced inclining towards it by saying, 'And indeed, We will make what is upon it a barren plain,' meaning like a white land with no vegetation in it, after it had been green and grassy, in the removal of its splendor, and the taking away of its beauty, and the nullification of what made it an adornment: from the killing of animals and the drying up of plants and trees, and so on. He mentioned among the general verses the adornment of the earth from what was created above it from the kinds that cannot be counted, and the removal of all that as if it had never been. Then He said, 'Or did you think,' meaning that this is greater than the story of the People of the Cave and the prolongation of their lives. And the cave is the wide cavern in the mountain, and 'the Raqeem' is the name of all of them. Umayyah ibn Abi al-Salt said: 'And there is nothing there except the Raqeem, who is adjacent... and their prey, while the people in the cave are asleep.' It is said that it is a tablet of lead in which their names were inscribed and placed at the entrance of the cave. It is said that people inscribed their story in the mountain. It is said to be the valley in which the cave is located. It is said to be the mountain. It is said to be their village. It is said to be their place between Ghadban and Ailah, short of Palestine. They were a wondrous sign from Our signs, described with the source, or on: of wonder from You, a mercy, meaning mercy from the treasures of Your mercy, which is forgiveness, provision, and security from enemies. And prepare for us from our affair, which we are upon, of parting from the disbelievers, guidance, so that by it we may be guided, or make our affair all guidance, like saying: I saw from you a lion. And We struck upon their ears, meaning we struck upon them a barrier so that they would not hear, meaning: We made them sleep a heavy sleep in which sounds do not awaken them, as you see one who is heavily asleep being called and he does not hear or awaken. So the object that is the barrier was omitted, as it is said: he built upon his wife, meaning: he built the tent upon her. Years numbered, having a count, it is possible that he means abundance and it is possible that he means scarcity, for the abundant is few with Him, like His saying: 'They did not remain except for an hour of the day.' And Al-Zajjaj said: If few, he understands the amount of its number and does not need to count, and if many, he needs to count.