Surah Al Kahf Tafseer

The Length of their Stay in the Cave

Allah says:

وَلَبِثُوا فِي كَهْفِهِمْ ثَلَثَ مِايَةٍ سِنِينَ وَازْدَادُوا تِسْعًا

And they stayed in their cave three hundred years, adding nine.

Here Allah tells His Messenger the length of time the people of the Cave spent in their cave, from the time when He caused them to sleep until the time when He resurrected them and caused the people of that era to find them. The length of time was three hundred plus nine years in lunar years, which is three hundred years in solar years. The difference between one hundred lunar years and one hundred solar years is three years, which is why after mentioning three hundred, Allah says, `adding nine.'

قُلِ اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا لَبِثُوا

لَهُ غَيْبُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالاَْرْضِ أَبْصِرْ بِهِ وَأَسْمِعْ مَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلَا يُشْرِكُ فِي حُكْمِهِ أَحَدًا