polytheism and outright disbelief, and they could not accept that. Therefore they dissociated themselves from their people and migrated from their town— for it had become a center of idolatry and unbelief— and sought refuge in a cave. Concerning them Allah Most High says: “Indeed, they were youths who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance, and We strengthened their hearts when they stood up and declared, ‘Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth; never shall we invoke any deity apart from Him, for then we would have uttered an outrageous falsehood. These, our people, have taken gods other than Him—why do they not produce for them a clear proof? Who is more unjust than one who fabricates a lie against Allah? And when you have withdrawn from them and from whatever they worship besides Allah, then seek refuge in the cave; your Lord will unfold for you something of His mercy and will make easy for you your affair’” [Q 18:13-16].

So they repaired to the cave— a spacious hollow in the mountain, as we have noted— and its entrance opened to the north-east, such that neither the morning sun nor the setting rays penetrated it directly. Allah facilitated this for them, for He says, “Whoever is mindful of Allah, He will make his affair easy” [Q 65:4]. These young men departed solely for Allah’s sake, and He eased their way. They settled in the cave, and Allah cast sleep upon them. He describes this, saying, “You would have seen the sun, when it rose, incline away from their cave toward the right, and when it set, pass away from them toward the left” [Q 18:17]— that is, the sun did not shine fully on them so that they would suffer its heat; rather, only a slight touch of sunlight reached them, just enough to keep the cave from becoming damp and ruined— “while they lay in its spacious hollow.”