with his companion. Then each of them would disclose his secret to the other. They did so, and found that they were all believers. There was a cave in a mountain near them, so they said to one another, “Take refuge in the cave; your Lord will spread His mercy over you.” They entered the cave, accompanied by their hunting dog, and slept for three hundred years, plus nine more. Their people missed them and searched for them, but Allah concealed their tracks and their cave from them. So they recorded their names and lineages on a tablet: “So-and-so, so-and-so, and so-and-so, the sons of our kings, went missing in such-and-such a month, in such-and-such a year, during the reign of so-and-so son of so-and-so.” They placed the tablet (2) in the king’s treasury and said, “There must be some significance to this.” That king then died, and generation after generation came and went.
Wahb ibn Munabbih said: A disciple of Jesus, peace be upon him, came to the city of the Companions of the Cave and wished to enter it. But he was told, “There is an idol at its gate; no one enters the city without prostrating to it.” He disliked entering it, so he went to a bathhouse near the city. He hired himself out to its keeper and worked there. The owner of the bathhouse saw blessings in his bathhouse, and some young men of the city became attached to him. He began teaching them about heaven and earth and about the Hereafter, until they believed in him and affirmed his truthfulness.
He had stipulated to the bathhouse owner that the night was to be his alone: no one was to come between him and it, nor between him and his prayer. This continued until the king’s son came with a woman and entered the bathhouse with her. The disciple reproached him, saying, “You are the king’s son, and yet you enter with this woman?” The prince was ashamed and left, but then returned another time. The disciple said the same to him, so the prince insulted and rebuked him, paying no heed to what he said, until the two entered together and died in the bathhouse.
The king came and was told, “The bathhouse attendant has killed your son.” He was sought, but they could not seize him, and he fled. (3) The king asked, “Who used to accompany him?” They named the young men, and they too were sought. So they left the city and passed by a companion of theirs who shared their faith. He set out with them, accompanied by a dog, until nightfall brought them to the cave. They entered it (4) and said, “[Let us remain here until nightfall;] (5) then, Allah willing, we shall rise in the morning and decide what to do.” Thereupon Allah sealed their ears in sleep.
The king set out with his men in search of them, until they found them. They entered the cave, but when one of them tried to go in, he was terrified; no one was able to enter it. One of them said, “Had you been able to seize them, would you not have killed them?” He replied, “Yes.” The man said, “Then build up the entrance to the cave over them and leave them there to die of hunger and thirst.” So he did.
Wahb said: “[Then time after time passed] (6) after the entrance of the cave had been sealed over them. Then a shepherd was caught by rain near the cave and said, ‘If I were to open this cave and bring my sheep inside to shelter from the rain, that would be good.’ He continued working at it until it was opened, and on the following morning, when they awoke, Allah restored their souls to them.”