ONE AYAT A DAY
وَتَحْسَبُهُمْ اَيْقَاظًا وَّهُمْ رُقُوْدٌ ۖوَّنُقَلِّبُهُمْ ذَاتَ الْيَمِيْنِ وَذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ ۖوَكَلْبُهُمْ بَاسِطٌ ذِرَاعَيْهِ بِالْوَصِيْدِۗ لَوِ اطَّلَعْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ لَوَلَّيْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِرَارًا وَّلَمُلِئْتَ مِنْهُمْ رُعْبًا
Wa taḥsabuhum aiqāẓaw wa hum ruqūd(un), wa nuqallibuhum żātal-yamīni wa żātasy-syimāl(i), wa kalbuhum bāsiṭun żirā‘aihi bil-waṣīd(i), lawiṭṭala‘ta ‘alaihim lawallaita minhum firāraw wa lamuli'ta minhum ru‘bā(n).
And you would think them awake, while they were asleep. And We turned them to the right and to the left, while their dog stretched his forelegs at the entrance. If you had looked at them, you would have turned from them in flight and been filled by them with terror.
Their Sleep in the CaveSome of the scholars mentioned that when Allah caused them to sleep, their eyelids did not close, lest disintegration took hold of them. If their eyes remained open to the air, this would be better for the sake of preservation. Allah says:وَتَحْسَبُهُمْ أَيْقَاظًا وَهُمْ رُقُودٌ(And you would have thought them awake, whereas they were asleep.) It was mentioned that when the wolf sleeps, it closes one eye and keeps one eye open, then it switches eyes while asleep.وَنُقَلِّبُهُمْ ذَاتَ اليَمِينِ وَذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ(And We turned them on their right and on their left sides,) Ibn `Abbas said: "If they did not turn over, the earth would have consumed them."وَكَلْبُهُمْ بَـسِطٌ ذِرَاعَيْهِ بِالوَصِيدِ(and their dog stretching forth his two forelegs at the Wasid) Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr and Qatadah said: "The Wasid means the threshold." Ibn `Abbas said: "By the door." It was said: "On the ground." The correct view is that it means on the threshold, i.e., at the door.إِنَّهَا عَلَيْهِم مُّؤْصَدَةٌ (Verily, it shall be closed upon them) 104:8 Their dog lay down at the door, as is the habit of dogs. Ibn Jurayj said, "He was guarding the door for them." It was his nature and habit to lie down at their door as if guarding them. He was sitting outside the door, because the angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog, as was reported in As-Sahih,…