11فَضَرَبنا عَلىٰ آذانِهِم فِي الكَهفِ سِنينَ عَدَدًاMuhammad AsadAnd thereupon We veiled their ears in the cave1 for many a year,I.e., God caused them to remain cut off - physically or metaphorically - from the sounds and the bustle of the outside world. The classical commentators take the above phrase to mean that God "veiled their ears with sleep".