ONE AYAT A DAY
وَلَبِثُوْا فِيْ كَهْفِهِمْ ثَلٰثَ مِائَةٍ سِنِيْنَ وَازْدَادُوْا تِسْعًا
Wa labiṡū fī kahfihim ṡalāṡa mi'atin sinīna wazdādū tis‘ā(n).
And they remained in their cave for three hundred years and exceeded by nine.
The Length of their Stay in the CaveHere 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 لَبِثُواْ(Say: "Allah knows best how long they stayed...") `If you are asked about how long they stayed, and you have no knowledge of that and no revelation from Allah about it, then do not say anything. Rather say something like this:اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا لَبِثُواْ لَهُ غَيْبُ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ(Allah knows best how long they stayed. With Him is (the knowledge of) the Unseen of the heavens and the earth.)" meaning, no one knows about that except Him, and whoever among His creatures He chooses to tell. What we have said here is the view of more than one of the scholars of Tafsir, such as Mujahid and others among the earlier and later generations.وَلَبِثُواْ فِى كَهْفِهِمْ ثَلاثَ مِئَةٍ سِنِينَ(And they stayed in their cave three hundred years,) Qatadah said, this was the view of the People of the Book, and Allah ref…