Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:17
And [had you been present], you would see the sun when it rose, inclining away from their cave on the right, and when it set, passing away from them on the left, while they were [laying] within an open space thereof. That was from the signs of Allah. He whom Allah guides is the [rightly] guided, but he whom He leaves astray - never will you find for him a protecting guide.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: وَتَرَى الشَّمْسَ إِذَا طَلَعَتْ تَزَاوَرُ عَنْ كَهْفِهِمْ ذَاتَ الْيَمِينِ وَإِذَا غَرَبَتْ تَقْرِضُهُمْ ذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ وَهُمْ فِي فَجْوَةٍ مِنْهُ ذَلِكَ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ مَنْ يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَنْ تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُرْشِدًا (verse 17)
Allah the Exalted says: وَتَرَى الشَّمْسَ — you see, O Muḥammad, إِذَا طَلَعَتْ تَزَاوَرُ عَنْ كَهْفِهِمْ ذَاتَ الْيَمِينِ — by تَزَاوَرُ He means: turning away and inclining. It is derived from al-zawr: bending and inclining. One says: in this land there is zawar, when it is crooked; and in that person there is, with respect to that person, izziwrār, when he turns away from him. So too in the words of Bishr ibn Abī Khāzim:
'The shepherds drive them to the waters of Nakhl, and in it there is an izziwrār (turning away) from the two Abān mountains' —
that is to say: a turning away and veering off.
The Qurʾān reciters differed over its reading. The general reciters of Medina, Mecca, and Basra read: 'tazzāwaru' with doubling of the zāy, with the meaning: tatawāzaru with two tāʾs, one of which is assimilated into the zāy, just as one says: taẓẓāharūna ʿalayhim. Most of the reciters of Kufa read (tazāwaru) with weakening of the tāʾ and the zāy, as though one intends tafāʿala from zawr. It is reported that some read: 'tazwarr' with weakening of the tāʾ, a sukūn on the zāy, and doubling of the rāʾ, like taḥmarr; and others: tazwārr, like taḥmārr.
The correct view concerning its reading is that there are two readings — namely (tazāwaru) with weakening of the zāy, and (tazzāwaru) with doubling — which are both well-known and current among the reciters of the urban centers and closely related in meaning; whichever of the two any of the reciters reads, he has hit upon what is correct. The two other readings, however, are readings that I do not recommend, even though they have an intelligible basis in Arabic, because of their deviation from what the reciters of the urban centers follow.
And according to the purport of what we have said concerning the explanation of تَزَاوَرُ عَنْ كَهْفِهِمْ , the exegetes spoke.
* Mention of those who said this:
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Waḍḍāḥ related to us, on the authority of Sālim al-Afṭas, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said concerning وَتَرَى الشَّمْسَ إِذَا طَلَعَتْ تَزَاوَرُ عَنْ كَهْفِهِمْ ذَاتَ الْيَمِينِ : it inclines.
ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning تَزَاوَرُ عَنْ كَهْفِهِمْ ذَاتَ الْيَمِينِ : he says: it inclines away from them.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his words وَتَرَى الشَّمْسَ إِذَا طَلَعَتْ تَزَاوَرُ عَنْ كَهْفِهِمْ ذَاتَ الْيَمِينِ وَإِذَا غَرَبَتْ تَقْرِضُهُمْ ذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ : he says: it inclines away from their cave to the right and to the left.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his words وَتَرَى الشَّمْسَ إِذَا طَلَعَتْ تَزَاوَرُ عَنْ كَهْفِهِمْ ذَاتَ الْيَمِينِ : he says: it inclines to the right and leaves them behind to the right.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his words تَزَاوَرُ عَنْ كَهْفِهِمْ ذَاتَ الْيَمِينِ : he said: it inclines away from their cave to the right.
It was related to me through Yazīd ibn Hārūn, on the authority of Sufyān ibn Ḥusayn, on the authority of Yaʿlā ibn Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: if the sun were to rise upon them, it would burn them; and if they were not turned over, the earth would consume them. He said: that is the meaning of His words وَتَرَى الشَّمْسَ إِذَا طَلَعَتْ تَزَاوَرُ عَنْ كَهْفِهِمْ ذَاتَ الْيَمِينِ وَإِذَا غَرَبَتْ تَقْرِضُهُمْ ذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ .
Muḥammad ibn Sinān al-Qazzāz related to me, saying: Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Muslim ibn Abī al-Waḍḍāḥ related to us, on the authority of Sālim al-Afṭas, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said concerning تَزَاوَرُ عَنْ كَهْفِهِمْ : it inclines.
His words وَإِذَا غَرَبَتْ تَقْرِضُهُمْ ذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ — Allah the Exalted says: and when the sun sets, it leaves them behind on their left side. The actual meaning of the phrase is: you see the sun, when it rises, turn away from their cave, so that it rises from the right side so that it does not strike the youths — for if it were to rise directly upon them, it would burn them and their garments, or fade them. And when it sets, it leaves them behind on the left side, so that it does not strike them. One says: qaraḍtu makāna kadhā, when you pass by it and pass it and leave it behind you. So said some of the linguists among the people of Basra. The Kufans, however, claimed that it has the meaning of standing alongside, and they reported that they had heard from the Arabs: qaraḍtuhu qubālan wa-duburan, and ḥadhawtuhu dhāta al-yamīni wa-l-shimāli, qubālan wa-duburan — that is to say: I stood alongside him. They said: al-qarḍ and al-ḥadhw have the same meaning. The origin of al-qarḍ is cutting — one says: qaraḍtu al-thawb when you cut it; hence also al-miqrāḍ (scissors), because it cuts; hence the gnawing of the mouse at the garment; and hence the words of Dhū al-Rumma:
'Toward women who cut along (yaqriḍna) the bends of Mushrif, on the left side, and on their right side the riders' —
By 'yaqriḍna' he means: they cut along.
And according to what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
* Mention of those who said this:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his words وَإِذَا غَرَبَتْ تَقْرِضُهُمْ ذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ : he says: it leaves them behind.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Waḍḍāḥ related to us, on the authority of Sālim al-Afṭas, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said concerning وَإِذَا غَرَبَتْ تَقْرِضُهُمْ : it leaves them behind on the left side.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us — and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words of Allah the Almighty (taqriḍuhum): he said: it leaves them behind.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of the above.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَإِذَا غَرَبَتْ تَقْرِضُهُمْ ذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ : he says: it leaves them behind on the left side.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his words تَقْرِضُهُمْ ذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ : he said: it leaves them behind on the left side.
Ibn Sinān al-Qazzāz related to us, saying: Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Muslim Abū Saʿīd ibn Abī al-Waḍḍāḥ informed us, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning وَإِذَا غَرَبَتْ تَقْرِضُهُمْ : he said: it leaves them behind.
His words وَهُمْ فِي فَجْوَةٍ مِنْهُ — he says: the youths who had taken refuge therein were in a spacious area (mutawassaʿa) of it. The plural of fajwa is fajawāt and fijāʾ (with lengthening).
And according to the purport of what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
* Mention of those who said this:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَهُمْ فِي فَجْوَةٍ مِنْهُ : he says: in an open space of the cave. Allah said: ذَلِكَ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ .
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Waḍḍāḥ related to us, on the authority of Sālim al-Afṭas, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning وَهُمْ فِي فَجْوَةٍ مِنْهُ : he said: the inner space.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَهُمْ فِي فَجْوَةٍ مِنْهُ : he said: the open space therein.
Ibn Sinān related to me, saying: Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Muslim Abū Saʿīd ibn Abī al-Waḍḍāḥ related to us, on the authority of Sālim al-Afṭas, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning فِي فَجْوَةٍ مِنْهُ : he said: in an inner space.
His words ذَلِكَ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ — Allah the Almighty says: This which We did with those youths whose story We have told you — namely that, when We willed to strike upon their ears, We placed them in a spot where the sun, upon rising, turns away from their sleeping places to the right, and upon setting leaves them behind on the left side, without striking them, while they were in the broad open space of the place, so that the sun does not burn and scorch them, and over the long duration of their sleep their garments do not wear out, and do not rot away upon their bodies — that is among the proofs and signs of Allah for His creation, and among the indications from which people of understanding infer the greatness of His power and dominion, and that nothing He wills is beyond Him.
His words مَنْ يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِ — Allah the Almighty says: whoever Allah grants the capacity to find, through His signs and proofs, the way to the Truth — those proofs which He has made as indications thereto — he has found the right way. That is to say: he has reached the path of the Truth. وَمَنْ يُضْلِلِ — that is to say: whoever Allah causes to stray from His signs and indications, and does not grant him the capacity to derive from them the way of right guidance — فَلَنْ تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُرْشِدًا — that is to say: you, O Muḥammad, will not find for him a friend and ally who helps him find the right way, for the granting of success and the abandoning to one's fate (al-khidhlān) lie in the hands of Allah: He grants success to whom He wills of His servants, and abandons to his fate whom He wills. He says: let the departure of those of your people who have departed from you, and their declaring you a liar, not grieve you — for had I willed, I would have guided them and they would have believed. Guidance and misguidance are in My hands.
