The Quran

Preface

وَكَذٰلِكَ أَعثَرنا عَلَيهِم لِيَعلَموا أَنَّ وَعدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ وَأَنَّ السّاعَةَ لا رَيبَ فيها إِذ يَتَنازَعونَ بَينَهُم أَمرَهُم ۖ فَقالُوا ابنوا عَلَيهِم بُنيانًا ۖ رَبُّهُم أَعلَمُ بِهِم ۚ قالَ الَّذينَ غَلَبوا عَلىٰ أَمرِهِم لَنَتَّخِذَنَّ عَلَيهِم مَسجِدًا

Yusuf Ali

Thus¹ did We make their case known to the people, that they might know that the promise of God is true, and that there can be no doubt about the Hour of Judgment. Behold, they dispute among themselves² as to their affair. (Some) said, “Construct a building over them”: Their Lord knows best about them: those who prevailed over their affair said, “Let us surely build a place of worship over them.”

Thus: in this way, by these means, i.e., by the sending out of one of the Sleepers with the old money to the town to buy provisions. His old-fashioned dress, appearance, and speech, and the old uncurrent money which he brought, at once drew the attention of people to him. When they learnt his story, they realised that God, who can protect His servants thus and raise them up from sleep after such a long time, has power to raise up men for the Resurrection, and that His promise of goodness and mercy to those who serve Him is true and was exemplified in this striking way. On the other hand, to the men of the Cave themselves, it became clear that God can change the situation before we are aware, and our hope in Him is not futile, and that even when we are on the bring of despair, a revolution is surely working in the world before the world itself realises it.
The perversity of man is such that as soon as ever a glimpse of truth becomes manifest, men fall into controversies about it. The Sleepers could not judge about the duration of their stay in the Cave, but they wisely left the matter and attended to the urgent business of their lives. The townsfolk could not agree as to the significance of the event: they fell to discussing immaterial details. What sort of a memorial should they raise? - a house or a place of worship or a tablet? The place of worship was built. But the real significance of the spiritual meaning was missed until explained in the Qur-ān.