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Chapter 18

The Caveal-Kahf ( الكهف )

110 verses • revealed at Meccan

»The surah that mentions the wondrous story of a group of youthful believers who retreated from their unbelieving people to the hills and the seclusion of The Cave wherein God caused them to sleep for three hundred and nine lunar years as a sign to their people that God shall, indeed, raise the dead—and that also mentions the narratives of other marvels beyond ordinary human conception. Its name is derived from the story of the “Companions of the Cave” (aṣḥāb al-kahf) told at its beginning. This surah also deals with two other stories: Moses’ meeting with an unidentified figure (verse 60 ff.), and the story of Dhuʾl-Qarnayn (verse 83). A parable is put forward for the people of Mecca: the parable of the luscious gardens belonging to an arrogant and ungrateful man, which God reduces to dust. The surah opens and closes with references to the Quran itself.«

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

Ahmed Ali: In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful.

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الحَمدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذي أَنزَلَ عَلىٰ عَبدِهِ الكِتابَ وَلَم يَجعَل لَهُ عِوَجًا ۜ

Ahmed Ali

ALL PRAISE BE to God who has revealed to His votary the Book which is free of all obliquity,1
  • This is the most allegorical Surah and contains allegories within allegories, and many parables.