Al-Kahf^{1Sūrat al-Kahf takes its title from the story of the ‘Companions of the Cave’ (aṣḥāb al-kahf), which is narrated from 18:9–26. The story, which is terse, almost cryptic in its telling, is referred to in 18:9 as a marvel from among Our signs, and is therefore to be reflected on. It tells how a group of believing young men take refuge in a cave. There they pray for God’s mercy and to be granted [guidance to] the correct course of conduct (rashad) from Him in their affair or situation [18:10]. God makes them sleep in the cave for a number of years [18:11], then rouses them, and strengthens their hearts so that they can attest to the oneness of God, and denounce the calling upon other gods besides Him [18:14]. It becomes clear that the Companions of the Cave have isolated themselves from their people, who have become polytheists [18:15]. We are told of the dog, as it were standing guard at the entrance of the cave [18:18]. One of the young men is eventually sent to the city by the others to procure the purest food and bring them a supply of it, but is warned that he should do it in such a way that no one is made aware of him [18:19]. The reason for this caution is then given: For indeed if they should come to know of you, they will [either] stone you, or make you return to their creed, and then you will never prosper [18:20]. The story of the cave has been a subject of particular interest in Sufi exegesis, since the Companions of the Cave are seen as prototypes of the spiritual wayfarer, both in their retreat from worldliness and in their dependence upon God’s guidance.}

His words:

…that We may try them, as to which of them is best in conduct.^{1The verse in full reads: Truly We have made all that is in the earth as an adornment for it, that We may try them as to which of them is best in conduct.}

He said:

That is, as to which of them is best in their relinquishing of this world and all that leads to distraction (ishtighāl) from God, Exalted is He, and in their humbling themselves (ikhbāt) before Us, their tranquil reliance (sukūn) on Us, their complete trust (tawakkul) in Us, and their advancing (iqbāl) towards Us.

He was asked about His word:

…the inscription (al-raqīm)…

He said:

Al-Raqīm is their leader who is called ‘the dog’ but they do not actually have a dog.^{1Interestingly, Tustarī follows this statement with a citation of 18:18, and he does later speak of the dog of the Companions of the Cave in his commentary on 31:15. Perhaps his meaning is that they did not own a dog. According to Thaʿlabī, the dog belonged to a shepherd who joined the Companions of the Cave and led them to the cave on the mountain where they hid. To begin with, the young men drove the dog away, being afraid that its bark would reveal their whereabouts, but then the dog got up and spoke to them, and made the attestation of divine oneness and they let him alone. Thaʿlabī includes a number of views about the dog’s appearance and its name. See Thaʿlabī, ʿArāʾis al-majālis, pp. 452–3; trans. Brinner, pp. 695–6.} God, Exalted is He, said Their dog [lay] stretching his two forelegs on the threshold [18:18]. That is, stretching his two forelegs in command and prohibition. ʿIkrima said, ‘al-raqīm is the word for inkwell in the Byzantine tongue.’ Ḥasan said, ‘al-Raqīm is the valley in which the Cave is situated’, while Kaʿb^{2Kaʿb al-Aḥbār.} said, ‘al-raqīm is a lead tablet on which is inscribed their names, their genealogies, their religion and from whom they fled.’^{3These interpretations of ‘al-Raqīm’ are among those which Ṭabarī presents in his commentary on 18:9 in his Jāmiʿ al-bayān. Other opinions are that it was the name of a village (qarya) or the name of the mountain (jabal) on which the cave was situated. He does not include the view that al-Raqīm is the name of the dog. In his long commentary on 18:9, Ṭabarī does, however, include the view that there was a dog which lay at the entrance to the cave.} Al-waṣīd, however, is the threshold.

His words, Exalted is He:

…‘Give us mercy from Yourself…’

That is, ‘Keep us in the state of Your remembrance (dhikr).’

His words, Exalted is He:

…They were indeed young men who believed in their Lord…

Sahl said:

He called them young men (fitya) because they believed in Him without [the aid] of any intermediary (wāsiṭa), and they devoted themselves to Him by ridding themselves of all other attachments (ʿalāʾiq).^{1On the word fitya see also Tustarī’s commentary on the word fatayān (12:36) and p. 96, n. 10.}

His words, Exalted is He:

…And We increased them in guidance.

That is, in insight (baṣīra) concerning faith.

His words, Exalted is He:

…whomsoever He leads astray, you will not find for him a guiding friend.

If God wishes to manifest His [prior] knowledge of a person’s ill-fortune (shaqāwa) by lifting His protection (ʿiṣma) from them, you will not find for that person anyone who can protect them from that.

His words, Exalted is He:

…If you had observed them you would have turned away from them in flight, and would have been filled with awe…

This means: ‘If you had observed them through your self, you would have run away from them in fear, but if you had observed them through God, you would have come to know (waqafta) in them the realities of unicity (ḥaqāʾiq al-waḥdāniyya) from Him.’

His words, Exalted is He:

…Those who prevailed regarding their affair said…

He said:

Its outward meaning is a reference to authority [and the power of those who held sway] (wilāya), and its inner meaning refers to the spiritual self (nafs al-rūḥ), the understanding of the intellect (fahm al-ʿaql) and discernment of the heart (fiṭnat al-qalb) [which hold sway] through the remembrance of God, Mighty and Majestic is He.

His words, Exalted is He:

…And do not obey him whose heart We have made oblivious to Our remembrance…

He said:

Heedlessness (ghafla) is wasting time with futile things (biṭāla).^{1According to Lane, biṭāla can mean ‘being diverted from that which would bring profit in this world or in the life to come’. Thus we have translated it as ‘wasting time with futile things’.}

And he further said:

The heart has a thousand deaths, of which the ultimate is being cut off (qaṭīʿa) from God, Mighty and Majestic is He; and the heart has a thousand lives, of which the ultimate is the encounter (liqāʾ) with God, Mighty and Majestic is He. Furthermore, with each sinful act the heart undergoes a death, and with each act of obedience it receives [new] life.

His words, Exalted is He:

…Indeed, We do not let the reward of those of good deeds go to waste.

He said:

Goodness of conduct (ḥusn al-ʿamal)^{1Ḥusn also has the meaning of beauty, because what is good is fair and beautiful.} is maintaining rectitude (istiqāma) [in one’s conduct] by [adhering to] the Sunna. The similitude of the Sunna in this world is that of the Garden in the Hereafter. Whoever enters the Garden is safe. Likewise whoever adheres to the Sunna in this world is preserved from all ills. Mālik b. Anas رضي الله عنه said, ‘If a man had committed all the enormities (kabāʾir), but then harboured no desire for any of them nor any innovation,^{2By not having any innovation, he would be conforming to the Sunna.} I would be hopeful for him.’ Then he said, ‘Let whoever dies following the Sunna be of good cheer’, three times over.

Sahl said:

The veils will not be lifted from the servant until he buries his lower self in the earth.

He was asked, ‘How does he bury his lower self?’ He replied:

He slays it through the Sunna, and also buries it by adhering to the Sunna. This is because every station of the worshippers, such as fear, hope, love, longing, abstinence, contentment and trust, has a limit (ghāya) except for the Sunna, for it has no limit or end.

Mattā b. Aḥmad was asked about the meaning of the words: ‘The Sunna has no limit.’ He said, ‘No one has fear like the fear of the Prophet ﷺ, and [the same goes for] his love (ḥubb), his longing (shawq), his abstinence (zuhd), his contentment (riḍā), his trust (tawakkul), and his [noble] characteristics (akhlāq). Indeed, God, Exalted is He, has said: Assuredly you possess a magnificent nature [68:4].’

He [Sahl] was asked about the meaning of the words of the Prophet ﷺ, ‘Make yourselves hungry and denude yourselves.’^{3This saying appears in an extended form in Iṣfahānī, Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ, vol. 2, p. 370, attributed to Jesus عليه السلام, who says, ‘Make yourselves hungry, and thirsty, denude yourselves and wear yourselves out, that your hearts may come to know God.’} He replied:

Make yourselves hungry for knowledge and denude yourselves of ignorance.

His words:

…What God has willed.^{1Mā shāʾa’Llāh, which according to Islamic tradition, should be said when encountering or remarking on beauty or virtue, especially in a person, child or personal possession. The beginning of this verse makes it clear that these words should have been uttered on entering the garden. This verse is part of the story of two men, one of whom possesses two gardens which have abundant yield and are watered by a gushing stream. The latter boasts to the other that he has greater wealth and is stronger with respect to men. Then that same man looks at his garden, and expresses the view that it will never perish, and that the Hour will never come, and that even if it does, he will surely find an even better resort than this garden. In response, his companion reminds him of his lowly origin and that God has fashioned him, and he then expresses the admonition of the above verse, continuing by warning the man that God might grant him (the speaker) a better garden, or unleash on his companion’s garden [thunder] bolts, so that it becomes a barren plain.} There is no power except in God...

That is, whatever God has willed in His prior knowledge, with which no one is acquainted except God, Exalted is He. There is no power except with God means, ‘We have no power (quwwa) to perform what You commanded us in principle (fī’l-aṣl), nor do we have success in its practical application (farʿ), nor [can we be sure of having] a praiseworthy end, except with Your aid (maʿūna).^{2The words aṣl and farʿ here are probably allusions to the two aspects of the sacred law: its principles: (uṣūl) and its practical applications (furūʿ), lit. branches.} This is also a commentary on the words of the Prophet, ‘There is neither power nor strength except in God’,^{3Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, ‘Kitāb al-Tahajjud’.} — that is: ‘There is no means of security against ignorance concerning the principle, or against persistence [in transgression] resulting from that [ignorance], save through Your protection. Likewise, we have no power to perform what You have commanded us in principle (aṣl), nor security in putting that into practice (fī’l-farʿ), nor of a praiseworthy end except through Your aid’.

Sahl was asked, ‘What is the best thing that a servant can be given?’ He said:

Knowledge by which he increases in his sense of utter neediness (iftiqār) for God, Mighty and Majestic is He.

His words:

What has prevented people from believing, when the guidance has come to them?

He said:

Guidance (hudā) came to them but the ways of guidance (ṭuruq al-hidāya) had been blocked (masdūd) for them, for guidance (hudā) and faith (īmān) were barred from them by the pre-eternal decree (ḥukm) over them.

His words:

Say, ‘If the ocean were ink for [writing] the words of my Lord, it would run dry…’

That is, in recording the knowledge of my Lord and His wonders.

Then he said:

His Book is part of His knowledge, and if a servant was given a thousand ways of understanding each letter of the Qurʾān, he would not reach the end of God’s knowledge within it. This is because it is His pre-eternal speech, and His speech is one of His attributes, and there is no end to any of His attributes just as He has no end. All that can be comprehended of His speech is as much as He opens to the hearts of His friends.

His words:

So whoever hopes to encounter his Lord, let him do virtuous work and not associate anyone with the worship of his Lord.

He said:

A virtuous act is that which is free of ostentation (riyāʾ), and bound (muqayyad) by the Sunna. But God, Transcendent and Exalted is He, knows best.