The True Story of the People of the Cave
They are also known as ‘the Seven Sleepers of the cave’ in various sources
The story of the seven sleepers or people of the cave, as they are called, were people in the past who hid inside a cave, which is not known to us exactly, from the tyranny of the Roman Emperor, most probably, Trajan Decius, who persecuted Christians for their new belief.
When Decius became emperor of the Roman Empire in 249 A.D. his ambition to strengthen his rule and state religion led to the persecution of Christians under Decian persecution. The Emperor mass persecuted the Christians and everyone who questioned his authority or state religion. He wanted to wipe out Christianity from his state so he persecuted prominent Christian scholars and learned men that included the persecution of Pope Fabian too.
So, to avoid the emperor’s wrath, the people of the cave decided to hide somewhere away from society. Therefore, they headed towards an unknown cave where they took shelter.
When they reached the cave, they rested and slept because of the exhaustion they faced during the journey to the cave. God prolonged their sleep and there they remained for 300 years and were awakened to their amazement and the world.
Since then, various historians and religious scholars have discussed the story and offered their various interpretations. That’s why we have various sources that narrate the story with minor variations. However, the essence of the story has long been neglected: that why they were put to such a long sleep and why they were resurrected?
Who were the Sleepers of the Cave?
This is still unknown to us that who were the Sleepers of the cave. The Christian sources are varied in their dealing with the people of the cave and no one knows exactly who were they or what was their origin. Where they came from?
Were they from Rome, Palestine, Syria, Jordon, or some other country? We do not know that as it was not either recorded or the true sources are lost to history.
However, they were Roman citizens and accepted Christianity and worshipped their creator and were not of those who relinquished their belief because of fear of death.
Almost every source is agreed to this.
Why they went to the cave?
The pagans believed in many gods while Christianity taught the oneness of God.
So, the Christians questioned their belief and invited them to accept Christianity. By doing so, they questioned the authority of the emperor and his polytheist religion. These young men also asked people to stop worshiping many deities and to worship their true Creator.
This made them the center of the emperor’s wrath, so he sent soldiers after them to arrest them and put them to death. When they found out that their life is at stake, they asked their Creator to show them the right path as narrated in the Quran (The Holy book of Islam) in Chapter 18 Al-khaf (the cave) verse no 10,
˹Remember˺ when those youths took refuge in the cave, and said, “Our Lord! Grant us mercy from Yourself and guide us rightly through our ordeal.”
The Christian sources are also narrating the same story that these youths did not obey the emperor’s orders to recant their belief or to bow in front of the pagan idols. This enraged the emperor, so he ordered to put them to death. Before they went to the cave, they gave up their worldly possessions to the poor.
When they went to the cave, they fell asleep. When they were found, the emperor ordered the disbelievers to seal the mouth of the cave so to kill them from hunger.
Where they went to the cave?
This is the most heated debate even in modern times. This is so because many nations claim that the cave of the seven sleepers is located in their countries. The location of the cave has been claimed by many countries such as Jordon, Palestine, Turkey, and even Syria claim that the cave is located there.
However, many sources have agreed that it was the cave of Ephesus — located in modern-day Turkey. This was an old city built in 11th BC by the Ionian prince Androcles. Since then, the city has fallen to various conquerors and invaders, still, the remains of the city survived.
How many were they?
Again historians are not sure about their numbers. Still, various historians and scholars are debating about their numbers but no one knows their exact number.
According to Christians and Jews of Najran, the sleepers were three brothers who went to the cave. The church of the East Syriac believed they were five in number.
According to Gregory of Tours, they were seven in number and he named them Diomedes, Diogenes, Sambatus, Quiriacus, Stephanus, Probatus, Achillides.
According to the list of Bartłomiej Grysa, they were seven in number and their names were Martinian, John, Constantine, Dionisius, Serapion, Maximian, Malchus.
According to Michael the Syrian, they were six in number and their names were Istifanos, Sebastos, Dionisios, Ikilios, Fruqtis, Qiryaqos.
The number and the names vary among various historians. Some of them are claiming that they were 10, 9, 8 and even according to one legend, they were 80 in numbers.
How long they slept in the cave?
This is again disputed among historians. Many historians have claimed that they slept for 300 hundred solar years.
But Gregory of Tours has claimed that they slept for 373 years. Other sources are citing various other sources and claim that they slept for 372 years.
According to Jacobus da Varagine, the sleepers were in the cave from 252 to 448. Upon counting, it makes 196 years. He believed all his life that his numbers were true.
However, the Holy Book of Islam, The Quran, recounts the story in Chapter18 verse no 25 and tells us about the number of years they have slept in the cave,
“And they remained in their cave for three hundred years and exceeded by nine.”
The years the Quran has mentioned are lunar years and when we convert it to Solar years, they make 300 years.
When the sleepers went to the cave, Christianity was a persecuted religion. The pagan Romans were not tolerating the Christians and their new faith. So, the emperor persecuted Christians, threatened them to renounce their new faith or face horrible punishments and death. However, the believers remained firm and willingly accepted death and persecution instead of recanting their religion.
The people of the cave were young believers and were among those who did not recant their religion. The Emperor Trajan Decius threatened them with a horrible death, but they stood fast. They prayed to their God to save them and God showed them the way to the cave.
According to some legends, they didn’t know each other before coming to the cave. Each of them was alone but they had many similarities. They were all young, true believers and were brave and openly questioned the polytheistic belief of the Romans. Thus God brought them to one place. However, some sources are of the view that they knew each other right from the start.
Quran mentioned them in this way:
“And We strengthened their hearts when they stood up and declared, “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We will never call upon any god besides Him, or we would truly be uttering an outrageous lie.” — Al-Quran Chapter 18 Verse No 14.
When they found that the emperor is bent on putting them to death, they prayed to Allah to show them a true way and guide them to safety, as Quran recounts in Chapter no 18 verse 10;
˹Remember˺ when those youths took refuge in the cave, and said, “Our Lord! Grant us mercy from Yourself and guide us rightly through our ordeal.”
So, Allah guided them to the cave, and all of them went to it. There they saw each other and prayed to God. Then the God put them to sleep as Quran narrates in Chapter 18 verse no 16;
“Since you have distanced yourselves from them and what they worship besides Allah, take refuge in the cave. Your Lord will extend His mercy to you and accommodate you in your ordeal.”
When the Jews of Madeena asked the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) to tell them the story of the people of the Cave, then Allah revealed Surah Al-Kahf (Chapter of the Cave) and related their story.
The Jews were asking various irrelevant questions as to how they were sleeping, on which side each of them was lying, where was their dog, how the dog was standing, and many more. To answer these questions, Allah revealed this Chapter.
I will quote here from the chapter that how they slept in the cave:
And you would have seen the sun, as it rose, inclining away from their cave to the right, and as it set, declining away from them to the left, while they lay in its open space. That is one of the signs of Allah. Whoever Allah guides is truly guided. But whoever He leaves to stray, you will never find for them a guiding mentor. — Al-Quran Chapter 18 verse no 17
“And you would have thought they were awake, though they were asleep. We turned them over, to the right and left, while their dog stretched his forelegs at the entrance. Had you looked at them, you would have certainly fled away from them, filled with horror.” Al-Quran Chapter 18 Verse no 18.
Here, Quran tells us that they were sleeping, yet their eyes were wide open. And their dog was sitting at the entrance of the cave so that no one can enter it.
When they were awakened, they questioned each other that how long they have slept. A normal sleep pattern for a human goes about 8 hours, let's say some sleep for 10 hours or 12 hours? But beyond that! You need some sleeping pills or drugs to sleep. So, they thought that they went to normal sleep and said, they might have slept for a day or part of the day, but actually, they slept for 300 hundred years and thus Allah said in the Quran Chapter 18 verse no 19:
“And similarly, We awakened them that they might question one another. Said a speaker from among them, “How long have you remained [here]?” They said, “We have remained a day or part of a day.” They said, “Your Lord is most knowing of how long you remained. So send one of you with this silver coin of yours to the city and let him look to which is the best of food and bring you provision from it and let him be cautious. And let no one be aware of you.”
In Chapter 18 verse no 20, Allah says;
“For, indeed, if they find out about you, they will stone you ˹to death˺, or force you back into their faith, and then you will never succeed.”
Why they were resurrected?
Over the centuries, Christianity spread across the Roman empire and was declared the state religion.
It was no more a persecuted religion when the sleepers were resurrected. According to Christian sources, the Sleepers were awakened when Theodosius II was ruling the Eastern Roman Empire from 408–450 CE. They are said to have returned to the city during his reign when the people debated the idea of resurrection after death and mostly they didn’t believe in it.
However, there are two versions of the story:
The Christian version of the story relates that Emperor Trajan ordered the cave to be walled to let the sleepers die there and after many centuries, in the reign of emperor Theodosius II, a landowner or a farmer happened upon the cave and wanted to open the cave to use it as a cowshed. When he opened the cave, to his utter amazement, he found seven men are sleeping there.
When they woke up, one of them came down to the city to buy some food. Upon reaching the city to buy some food with the coins that were used some three centuries back and his clothing fashion was of an unknown century, the local called a bishop to look into the matter.
The Islamic version relates the same story but with little variance. In the Islamic story, as quoted above, the cave was not walled, instead, their dog was sitting in the entrance of the cave in a way that frightened men to venture there. When they woke up after 300 years, they questioned each other about their sleep duration, and according to their logic, they thought to have slept for a day or part of the day.
But when they closely looked at their condition, they were astonished. But somehow, they sent a man to the city, advising him not to be seen by pagans as they will catch him. When the man reached the city, the people found out that he does not belong to the contemporary age. The people gathered around him and questioned him about his whereabouts.
As we have discussed that during this time, people have questioned life after death as they couldn’t prove it logically. So Allah brought the sleepers back to life to His signs of greatness to the society that yes if Allah can create you once, he can surely bring you back to life after death.
In Chapter 18 verse no 21, Quran says,
“That is how We caused them to be discovered so that their people might know that Allah’s promise ˹of resurrection˺ is true and that there is no doubt about the Hour. When the people disputed with each other about the case of the youth ˹after their death˺, some proposed, “Build a structure around them. Their Lord knows best about them.” Those who prevailed in the matter said, “We will surely build a place of worship over them.”
Now, the question arises that why Allah did not disclose the number of the sleepers?
According to Islamic scholars, Allah did not disclose the number of the Sleepers because these were irrelevant questions. The true purpose of their sleep and the narration of the story in the Holy Book Quran is that ALLAH WILL RESURRECT YOU AGAIN AFTER DEATH as stated in the verse above.
That’s why the sleepers were brought back to life after 300 years to let the believers and non-believers see themselves that they will be brought back to life again and there is a life after death.
Now, as for the questions, so they were many. As people asked about the numbers of the sleepers, the color of the dog they had, the number of the years, and so on. So, most of the questions are irrelevant and Allah says in Quran that it is the Book of Hidayat and not a collection of aimless stories.
Allah says in Quran Chapter no 18 verse no 26,
Say, ˹O Prophet, ˺ “Allah knows best how long they stayed. With Him ˹alone˺ is ˹the knowledge of˺ the unseen of the heavens and the earth. How perfectly He hears and sees! They have no guardian besides Him, and He shares His command with none.”
