Tafsir of Surah Al-Kahf - Verse 27

The Command to recite the Qur'an and to patiently keep Company with the Believers

Commanding His Messenger to recite His Holy Book and convey it to mankind, Allah says,

لاَ مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَـتِهِ

(None can change His Words,) meaning, no one can alter them, distort them or misinterpret them.

وَلَن تَجِدَ مِن دُونِهِ مُلْتَحَدًا

(and none will you find as a refuge other than Him.) It was reported that Mujahid said, "A shelter," and that Qatadah said, "A helper or supporter." Ibn Jarir said: "Allah is saying, `if you O Muhammad, do not recite what is revealed to you of the Book of your Lord, then you will have no refuge from Allah."' As Allah says:

يَـأَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ بَلِّغْ مَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ وَإِن لَّمْ تَفْعَلْ فَمَا بَلَّغْتَ رِسَالَتَهُ وَاللَّهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاسِ

(O Messenger! Proclaim (the Message) which has been sent down to you from your Lord. And if you do not, then you have not conveyed His Message. Allah will protect you from mankind.)5:67

إِنَّ الَّذِى فَرَضَ عَلَيْكَ الْقُرْءَانَ لَرَآدُّكَ إِلَى مَعَادٍ

(Verily, He Who has given you the Qur'an, will surely bring you back to the place of return.) 28:85 meaning, `He will call you to account for the duty of conveying the Message which He entrusted you with. '

وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُم بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِىِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ

(And keep yourself patiently with those who call on their Lord morning and afternoon, seeking His Face;) meaning, sit with those who remember Allah, who say "La Ilaha Illallah", who praise Him, glorify Him, declare His greatness and call on Him, morning and evening, all the servants of Allah, whether rich or poor, strong or weak. It was said that this was revealed about the nobles of Quraysh when they asked the Prophet to sit with them on his own, and not to bring his weak Companions with him, such as Bilal, `Ammar, Suhayb, Khabbab and Ibn Mas`ud. They wanted him to sit with them on his own, but Allah forbade him from doing that, and said,

وَلاَ تَطْرُدِ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِىِّ

(And turn not away those who invoke their Lord, morning and afternoon.) Allah commanded him to patiently content himself with sitting with those people (the weak believers), and said:

وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُم بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِىِّ

(And keep yourself patiently with those who call on their Lord morning and afternoon...) Imam Muslim recorded in his Sahih that Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas who said: "There was a group of six of us with the Prophet . The idolators said, `Tell these people to leave so they will not offend us.' There was myself, Ibn Mas`ud, a man from Hudayl, Bilal and two other men whose names I have forgotten. Allah's Messenger ﷺ thought to himself about whatever Allah willed he should think about, then Allah revealed:

وَلاَ تَطْرُدِ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِىِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ

(And turn not away those who invoke their Lord, morning and afternoon.) Only Muslim reported this; excluding Al-Bukhari.

وَلاَ تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا

(and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of the world;) Ibn `Abbas said, `(this means) do not favor others over them, meaning do not seek the people of nobility and wealth instead of them.'

وَلاَ تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُ عَن ذِكْرِنَا

(and obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance) means, those who are distracted by this world from being committed to the religion and from worshipping their Lord.

وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا

(and whose affair (deeds) has been lost.) means, his actions and deeds are a foolish waste of time. Do not obey him or admire his way or envy what he has. As Allah says elsewhere:

وَلاَ تَمُدَّنَّ عَيْنَيْكَ إِلَى مَا مَتَّعْنَا بِهِ أَزْوَجاً مِّنْهُمْ زَهْرَةَ الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا لِنَفْتِنَهُمْ فِيهِ وَرِزْقُ رَبِّكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَى

(And strain not your eyes in longing for the things We have given for enjoyment to various groups of them, the splendor of the life of this world, that We may test them thereby. But the provision of your Lord is better and more lasting.) 20:131

Yet another question arises here about the People of Kahf. During their time and then within the blessed period of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، the Jews and Christians had their differences about two things - the number of the People of Kahf and the duration of their sleep in the Cave. The Qur'an does describe both. However, it has done so with a difference. The number was not mentioned explicitly. Rather, only a hint has been given by not refuting the view which was correct. But, the fixed duration was declared in very clear words: وَلَبِثُوا فِي كَهْفِهِمْ ثَلَاثَ مِائَةٍ سِنِينَ وَازْدَادُوا تِسْعًا (And they stayed in their Cave for three hundred years and added nine -25). The reason is that this very remarkable diction of the Qur'an strongly suggests that this debate on the number of the people of Kahf is virtually useless. No worldly or religious issue relates to or depends on it. Yes, this unusual sleep for such a long period of time, being healthy and fit without food and drink and then sitting up in good shape after such a long time is certainly a working model of Resurrection. That there is a Day of Judgment and that there is a Hereafter can be argued on this basis. Therefore, the period of sleep was stated very clearly.

People who deny the extraordinary miracles, or people who are in the habit of explaining them away overawed by the objections of modern day Jewish and Christian orientalists, have not spared even the Qur'an. For example, in the case of this verse (25), they have tried to use the explanation of Qatadah as a prop to reject the duration of three hundred nine years as the saying of those very people who were differing among them-selves. But, they have erred. The statement: (for a number of years - 11) which appears in an earlier sentence of the Qur'an cannot be called the saying of anyone other than Allah Ta’ ala! To prove the miraculous nature of the event even this much is sufficient that someone remains asleep for years and years and then rises and sits up all intact, fit and alive. Allah knows best.

In ancient Makkah, for those who supported the Prophet Muhammad and who had embraced a religion free from any human interpolation, it was not an easy task. This amounted to renouncing a system which served their interests and accept a belief which appeared to be quite the reverse. The believers had almost become strangers in the society, while those who denied the truth drew strength from the firm ground of the established order of the day. The believers’ thinking is God-oriented, the importance of which would be known only in the Hereafter. As opposed to this those who deny the truth have a worldly approach. Their concern is this world, not the Hereafter. As such they are more successful than the believers in this present life. They are surrounded with worldly glory. But a preacher of truth should not be impressed by the worldly glamour of these people. A dayee is not allowed to compromise on the matter of truth at any cost. If he does so, he will be deprived of God’s succour. In God’s world he will be so isolated that no tree will give him shade, and no water will quench his thirst. Ibn Jarir, commenting on this verse, writes, ‘God says, O Muhammad, if you do not recite (or convey) the Quran to the people, then you will have no refuge against God.’