ONE AYAT A DAY
قُلِ اللّٰهُ اَعْلَمُ بِمَا لَبِثُوْا ۚ لَهٗ غَيْبُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالْاَرْضِۗ اَبْصِرْ بِهٖ وَاَسْمِعْۗ مَا لَهُمْ مِّنْ دُوْنِهٖ مِنْ وَّلِيٍّۗ وَلَا يُشْرِكُ فِيْ حُكْمِهٖٓ اَحَدًا
Qulillāhu a‘lamu bimā labiṡū, lahū gaibus-samāwāti wal-arḍ(i), abṣir bihī wa asmi‘, mā lahum min dūnihī miw waliyy(in), wa lā yusyriku fī ḥukmihī aḥadā(n).
Say, "Allāh is most knowing of how long they remained. He has [knowledge of] the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth. How Seeing is He and how Hearing! They have not besides Him any protector, and He shares not His legislation with anyone."
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…