Table of Contents

No.18

110 verses in 12 sections

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful

This Surah contains one hundred and ten verses, all of which were revealed in Mecca, except verse 28. In this holy Surah, the story of the Companions of the Cave (Kahf), the story of Moses and Khidr (a.s), the story of Zulqarnayn, and some awakening materials about Origin and End have been discussed.

The pagans of Quraysh sent some persons from Mecca to Medina to ask the reality of the event of the advent of Hadrat Muhammad Mustaf a (S) and the signs of his truthfulness from the scholars of the Jews who were living there.

The Jewish scholars told those persons, who were sent by the pagans, that they would ask him (S) about three subjects. The Jewish scholars said if Muhammad (S) answered two subjects and restrained from answering the third one, he would be True. Those subjects were about: the Companions of the Cave, Zulqarnayn, and the Soul.

They said: if Muhammad (S) could answer the questions of ‘the Companions of the Cave’ and ‘Zulqarnayn’, but he did not answer the question about the Soul, he was a Divine Prophet.1

The Virtue of the Recitation of This Surah

There are many traditions recorded upon the virtue of this Surah and the effects of its recitation. Among them is that: whoever recites this Surah by the night before Friday, it causes his sins to be forgiven, and he will be involved in Allah’s Mercy.

Of course, as it has been repeatedly said, recitation of the holy verses of the Qur’an accompanied with understanding and fulfilling them accordingly, is the secret of obtaining the blessings of the Qur’an.

Section 1

Surah Al-Kahf - Verses 1-3

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ‌ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلی‌ عَبْدِهِ الْكِتابَ وَ لَمْ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ عِوَجاً (1) قَيِّماً لِيُنْذِرَ بَأْساً شَدِيداً مِنْ لَدُنْهُ وَ يُبَشِّرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ الَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ الصَّالِحاتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ أَجْراً حَسَناً (2) ماكِثِينَ فِيهِ أَبَداً (3)

In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful

1. “(All) praise is (only) Allah’s, Who sent down upon His servant the Book (the Qur’an) and did not make in it any crookedness.”

2. “(A Book which is, over other heavenly Books,) a guardian, to give warning of a severe punishment from Him, and to give good tidings unto the believers who do righteous deeds, that there will be for them a goodly reward.”

3. “Where in they will abide forever.”

At the beginning of this Surah, Allah, the Pure, has taught His servants how to praise Him for His greatest bounty. He has pointed out that His most important bounty is the very Qur’an which He has revealed to His Messenger, and it is the only cause of their salvation.

As well as some other Suras of the Qur’an, Surah Al-Kahf has begun with Allah’s praise; and since praise and thanksgiving is usually for an important quality and a praiseworthy thing, here, the holy verse has stated it for the revelation of the Qur’an which is far from any crookedness and obliquity.

The verse says:

“(All) praise is (only) Allah’s, Who sent down upon His servant the Book (the Qur’an) and did not make in it any crookedness.”

Then, the next verse adds, implying that it is fixed, straight, and guardian over other heavenly Books:

“(A Book which is, over other heavenly Books,) a guardian…”

This word, /qayyiman/, which has been applied as an epithet for the Qur’an, is both an emphasis on the straightness and temperance of the Qur’an which is free from any contradiction, and a hint to the eternity of this great Book.

It is also an example for: the protection of authenticities, the improvement of obliquities, guarding the Divine ordinances and human beings’ justice and excellence.

This epithet, /qayyim/(guardian), is, in fact, a derivation of the guardianship of Allah by which He is the protector and guardian of all existing things of the world.

Then, the verse continues saying:

“…to give warning of a severe punishment from Him…”

Immediately after that meaning, the verse indicates that this Book gives glad tidings unto those true believers who always do praiseworthy and righteous deeds for which they will be recompensed a good reward.

It says:

“…and to give good tidings unto the believers who do righteous deeds, that there will be for them a goodly reward.”

This reward will be the eternal Paradise, wherein they will dwell forever.

Here is the statement of the verse:

“Wherein they will abide forever.”

Explanations

1. Among all the suras of the Qur’an only the following suras begin with the holy phrase:

“(All) praise is (only) Allah’s)”;

in three of which the speech is upon the creation of the world of existence:

Al-Hamd, Al-’An‘am, Saba, Fatir, and Al-Kahf. In Surah Al-Hamd, training is spoken of, while here, in this verse, the words are upon the heavenly Book. As if, existence and creation accompanied with ‘the Book of Law’ are two wings for training the human beings.

2. The Arabic word /’i‘wijaj/ in context means: ‘deviation, and crookedness’. In Arabic, the term /‘awaja/ is used for physical phenomena while the term /‘iwaja/ is applied for non-physical phenomena. The author of Tibyan, a book of , has applied the term /‘awaja/ for human beings and the term /‘iwaja/ for other than human beings.

In this course, the Qur’anic term /qayyim/has been used in the sense of: ‘an erector, and arranger’.

3. The previous Surah has begun with the holy phrase:

“Glory be to Him Who…”,

and this Surah with the holy phrase:

“(All) praise is (only) Allah’s…”.

Glorification and praise are usually mentioned beside each other.

4. Wherever the word /‘abdahu/ is mentioned absolutely in the Qur’an, it means the holy Prophet (S).

Its example are such as: Surah Al-Furqan, No.25, verse one, where it says:

“…Who sent down the Furqan upon His servant…”;

Surah An-Najm, No. 53, verse 10, where it says:

“And He revealed to His servant…”;

Surah Al-Hadid, No.57, verse 9, which says:

“…Who sends upon His servant…”;

and Surah Az- Zumar, No.39, verse 36 says:

“Is not Allah sufficient for His servant?…”

5. The bounty of ‘the Book and Law’ is so important that Allah has praised Himself for it.

6. The Qur’an is the guardian of other heavenly Books and it contains all the necessary expedients of the servants. There is no contradiction, excess and defect, and deviation in it. It invites both to raising and has raised to invite, (qayyiman).