“Had you looked at them, you would have turned away from them in flight and been filled with terror.” No one dared linger near them.

Among the miracles Allah bestowed on them is that, during the entire span of 309 years, not a single nail, hair, or any other part of their bodies changed. Ordinarily hair and nails continue to grow, but theirs did not; they remained exactly as though they had fallen asleep only the night before. Hence Allah, exalted be He, says: “Likewise We roused them so that they might question one another. One of them asked, ‘How long have you stayed?’ They replied, ‘We have stayed a day, or part of a day.’” They spoke this way precisely because nothing about them had altered.

What some people claim—that their hair and nails had grown extremely long—is therefore mistaken; had that been the case, they would have realized that many years had elapsed, whereas nothing of the sort occurred.

Another miracle is that Allah kept them in that deep sleep until He replaced the tyrannical king who had ruled their land with a righteous one. When they finally awoke, they sent one of their number into town to buy food, carrying with them the same coins that had been current 309 years earlier. When he offered those coins, the townspeople were astonished: “Where did these come from?”—and through this Allah made their story known to everyone. Such are among the miracles Allah granted them.

It is beneficial to gather these verses and others, reflect upon them, and draw out the miracles they contain, for they testify to Allah’s power and to the fact that He is more generous to His servants than they ever could be to themselves. When a person worships Him in a way that pleases Him, Allah grants him what pleases him. Allah alone grants success.