Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: Then a righteous man named Baidarūs became king over the people of those lands. He remained in power for sixty-eight years. During his reign, the people split into factions: some believed in Allah and knew that the Hour was true, while others denied it. This weighed heavily upon the righteous king. He wept, supplicated Allah, and grieved deeply when he saw the people of falsehood increasing and prevailing over the people of truth, saying, “There is no life but the life of this world. Only souls will be resurrected; bodies will not be resurrected.”

Baidarūs began summoning those whom he considered virtuous and leaders among the people, but they too began denying the Hour, until they nearly turned people away from the truth and the faith of the disciples. When the righteous king saw this, he entered his house, shut himself inside, put on sackcloth, spread ashes beneath himself, and sat upon them. For a time, he persisted day and night in supplicating Allah Most High and weeping, saying, “My Lord, You see the division among these people; so send them a sign that will make clear to them (1) the falsity of what they follow.”

Then the Most Merciful, the Ever-Merciful—who abhors the destruction of His servants—willed to bring forth the young men, the Companions of the Cave, to make their case clear to the people, and to make them a sign and a proof against them, so that they might know that the Hour is coming, about which there is no doubt; to answer His righteous servant Baidarūs; to perfect His favor upon him; and to reunite the believers who had been scattered.

So Allah inspired a man from the people of the town in which the cave was located, whose name was Ulyānūs, to demolish the structure built over the mouth of the cave and use its stones to build a sheepfold. He hired two young laborers, and they (2) began removing those stones and building the sheepfold, until they had removed what covered the mouth of the cave and opened its entrance. Allah kept the people away from them by means of terror.

When they opened the entrance to the cave, Allah—the Possessor of might and authority, the Giver of life to the dead—gave the young men leave to sit up within the cave. They sat up rejoicing, their faces radiant and their hearts at ease. They greeted one another, as though they had merely awoken at the usual hour when they would rise in the morning after their night’s sleep. Then they stood for prayer and prayed as they had formerly done. No change could be seen in their faces or complexion that they found unfamiliar; they were as they had been when they lay down to sleep. They still believed that Decius was searching for them.

When they had finished their prayer, they said to Yamlīkhā, who was in charge of their provisions, “Tell us: what did the people say about our case yesterday evening before this tyrant?” They thought that they had slept as they usually slept, though they sensed that they had slept longer than usual, and so they asked one another, “How long have you remained asleep?” They said, “We have remained a day or part of a day.” Then they said, “Your Lord knows best how long you have remained.” Yet all of this seemed slight to them.

Yamlīkhā said to them, “You were sought in the city but could not be found. He intends that you be brought before him today, so that you may sacrifice to the idols; otherwise, he will kill you. Thereafter, Allah will do whatever He wills.”

Then Maksalmīnā said to them, “My brothers, know that you will meet Allah, so do not disbelieve after your faith when the enemy of Allah summons you.”

Then they said to Yamlīkhā, “Go to the city and listen carefully to what is being said there about us, and what is being mentioned before Decius. Be discreet, and do not let anyone become aware of you; and buy us some food,”