[Pooya/Ali Commentary 18:7] The forests, the mountains, the rivers, the oceans, the valleys and all other natural resources created by Allah are useful for man, but He has placed the human beings on the earth amid these bounties so that He may try them to see which of them is best in deeds. Those who scramble for these bounties as if they shall have them for ever must know that one day the earth will become dust and waste, bare and barren. Refer to the commentary of Yunus: 10 and Hud: (9 to 22) Imam Jafar bin Muhammad As Sadiq said: "In order to test the Holy Prophet the pagans of Makka sent three men to Najran so that they might learn a few unknown episodes from the Jew scholars and confront him with them. They returned with the story of the "seven sleepers in the cave", and when the Holy Prophet was asked to narrate their story these verses were revealed ." The Quran, as usual, lays stress on the moral lessons of the story, and not on the exact identification of the persons concerned. The Holy Prophet not only told them the main story but pointed out the variations that were current, and admonished them for disputing about such details. The story is treated as a parable, containing spiritual lessons of the highest value. The ashab ul kahf (the dwellers of the cave) were seven young Christian men who lived in Ephesus, a city on the west coast of Asia Minor. They lived in a society which was completely idolatrous, although they themselves were believers in only one God, as the true followers of Prophet Isa. The city in which they lived was under the rule of the Roman emperor Decius who ruled from 249 to 251 A.D. Decius was a tyrant, and an idol-worshipper. All those who lived under his rule were forced to worship the idols. He issued an order saying that any citizen who refused to worship the idols was a traitor and was condemned to death. Soon the seven young men-the ashab ul kahf-realised that they were the only persons left who refrained from worshipping the idols. This forced them to re-evaluate their situation: either give in to the majority pressure to worship idols, or refuse and be killed. None of these alternatives seemed favourable. Man must not jeopardise his life but should take all precautions to save it because it is a trust, and then leave the matter to the will of Allah. Therefore, they decided to leave the city and seek refuge elsewhere, away from the reach of the tyrant emperor. So they left the city. Outside the city, a dog named Qatmir joined them. They went towards the hills and finally found a cave for themselves. They prayed for Allah's help, and Allah made them sleep for about 300 years. A party of investigators, headed by a minister of the emperor came to the cave. The minister, who went inside the cave and found them sleeping, was a believer, so he told the emperor that they were dead. The cave was closed and a tablet (raqim) whereon were inscribed the names of the ashab ul kahf, their religion, and what it was from which they fled was put upon the entrance of the cave. The cave is said to be in Damascus. Even today the pilgrims who call upon the shrine of Bibi Zaynab, pay a visit to this cave. They were raised up in the reign of Theodosius 11 (408 to 450 A.D.), who was a Christian. It is written in Hastings "Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics" that the cave was reopened when Allah suggested to Adolius, the proprietor of the field where the cave is, to build a sheepfold for his flock; for this purpose the workmen used the stones which closed the entrance of the cave. The long period of 300 years seemed to the ashab ul kahf, as if only a day or two passed by, or even less. So our ideas of time are fallacious. The Almighty Lord controls time and space. Even an animal who associated itself with the godly servants of Allah was rewarded. This event is an example of Allah's power to resurrect all human beings after their death on the day of judgement. There is another version in which it is stated that when the ashab ul kahf came out of sleep they found the mouth of the cave closed. One of them said: "O my Lord, once I hired a man to work for me for one full day, but he finished the work in half a day and left without taking the payment. With the amount payable to him I bought a calf. Soon it multiplied into a herd. It so happened that one day he came to see me. I told him what had happened. He did not believe. I swore in Your name and gave the whole flock to him. I did it in Your name and for Your sake. Please open the cave." One third portion of the cave opened. Another from them said: "O my Lord, a beautiful woman came to me for some food when there was a widespread famine in our land. I desired her very much as soon as I saw her beauty but she refused to yield to my carnal passion and went away. She came to me again and again but every time I put the same proposal to her. At last she agreed. When I held her in my arms I felt she was violently trembling. To my question she said she was trembling in fear of God. I at once freed her and gave her the provision she asked for. I did it to obtain Your pleasure. I wept and sought Your forgiveness. Now I beseech You to open the cave." Now the two third portion of the cave was open. Another from them said: "O my Lord, once I brought some milk for my parents, but found them asleep. I did not want to disturb them. So I waited beside them. The whole night passed and my flock of sheep perished in the field as I could not attend to them. In the morning my parents awoke and drank the milk. I did it to please You, O my l.ord; so open the cave." Now the whole cave lay open before them. Whatever is stated about the ashab ul kahf is a miracle of Allah. He is able to do all things. No one has yet found the bodies of ashab ul kahf who are said to be still sleeping. Allah has kept them invisible as He has kept Isa, Khizr, Idris and the living Imam Al Qa-im hidden from the sight of all people. Aqa Mahdi Puya says: When the people of the town found one of the ashab ul kahf in the market who went there to buy food they wanted to know who he was. He told them their story. They went with him to the cave. The man went inside in advance and informed his comrades that the emperor with his scholars is coming to see them. They fell prostrate before Allah and prayed that the sleep might come over them again. So when the royal entourage came in they were asleep. They decided to build a masjid over them. The act of giving recognition to the men of God has been appreciated by the Quran. To build a masjid over the graves of men of God or to treat the place where they are buried as a place of worship of Allah is permissible according to verse 21. On this basis the tawaf of hajr of Ismail, known as hajr al aswad, close to the Ka-bah, is obligatory during the performance of hajj. According to a few schools of thought in Islam the Holy Prophet issued orders contrary to the implication of this verse. They quote the following traditions: (i) Allah has cursed the Jews and the Christians for adopting the graves of their prophets as masjids (place of worship). Do not make my grave a place of worship. (ii) The Christians have chosen the place where their saints are buried as objects of worship. You should not do as they do. (iii) Do not glorify me as the Christians glorify Isa. Even if these traditions are authentic, they do not in any way repeal the permissibility of worshipping Allah near or on the grave of a chosen servant of Allah. They only warn the people not to treat the servants of Allah like the Lord to whom they had submitted unconditionally in their lives. The place where a chosen servant of Allah is buried becomes a sacred place which makes the worshipper of Allah remember Allah in a more favourable and spiritual environment than anywhere else. There is no restriction on the devotees of Allah to avoid any blessed place for His worship. In order to save the Muslims from falling into the pit of shirk (polytheism), it has been made obligatory to recite tashahud in every salat. There is no god save Allah and Muhammad is His servant and His messenger, and blessings of Allah be on Muhammad and his Ahl ul Bayt. There is no possibility of adopting any created being as an object of worship, beside Allah, when a Muslim repeats tashahud in every salat, which makes it clear that even the Holy Prophet and his Ahl ul Bayt, inspire of their highest status, are created beings, therefore there is none equal to Him and He alone is the sole object of worship. The Quran gives permission to remember the chosen servants of Allah as sincere worshippers of Allah. To pay homage to them, bowing and prostrating before them, as the angels were commanded to prostrate before Adam (Baqarah: 34) or the family of Yusuf prostrated before him (Yusuf: 100), is not prohibited, because worship (ibadat) depends on intention, and the intention of a true Muslim can never be their worship which is for Allah alone.