9 Preface أَم حَسِبتَ أَنَّ أَصحابَ الكَهفِ وَالرَّقيمِ كانوا مِن آياتِنا عَجَبًاYusuf AliOr dost thou reflect1 that the Companions of the Cave2 and of the Inscription3 were wonders among Our Sign?A wonderful story or allegory is now referred to. Its lessons are: (1) the relativity of Time, (2) the unreality of the position of oppressor and oppressed, persecutor and persecuted, on this earth, (3) the truth of the final Resurrection, when true values will be restored, and (4) the potency of Faith and Prayer to lead to the Right. Wonderful though such things may seem to be, they happen every day on God’s earth!The unbelieving Quraish were in the habit of putting posers to the Prophetquestions which they got from Christians and Jews, which they thought the Prophet would be unable to answer. In this way they hoped to discredit him. One of these questions was about the floating Christian legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. The prophet not only told them the main story but pointed out the the variations that were current, and rebuked men for disputing about such details (18:22). Most important, he treated the story (under inspiration) as a parable, pointing to spiritual lessons of the highest value. This is Revelation in the highest sense of the term. The story is recapitulated in n. 2337 below.Raqim = Inscription. So interpreted by the Jalalayn, and the majority of Commentators agree. See. n. 2337, below. Others think it was the name of the dog: see 18:18, and n. 2350 below.