Surah al-Kahf: Explanation and Commentary

The miraculous Arabic text of the Qur’ān cannot be translated to any language, hence this book offers explanations of all the verses of the Sūrah, as well as eschatological commentary. No one can possibly study Islamic eschatology without studying this Sūrah of the Qur’ān. How should the poor respond to those who unjustly
acquire the wealth of the world, and then use that wealth to impose their messianic rule over all of mankind from Jerusalem? Sūrah al-Kahf responded with the morale-boosting parable of the rich man and the poor man. The story of the young men of the Cave, from which the Sūrah takes its title, illustrates, according to Muhammad Asad, “the principle of world-abandonment for the sake of faith.” But the story also functions as a morale-booster
since it ends with the triumph of truth (i.e., in the decision to build a Masjid to commemorate the miraculous event). This Sūrah also takes us to Khidr (السلام عليه ,(and hence to the supreme importance of Basar, i.e., internal intuitive spiritual insight, for penetrating reality in Ākhir al-Zamān. The scholar of Islam who can be a guide in Ākhir al-Zamān, must have the scholarship of Majmaul Bahrain which integrates knowledge externally acquired with knowledge internally received. Such a scholar must sit on a rock, rather than on shifting sand, and
hence have a profile of courage and fearlessness. The Sūrah also takes us to Dhūl Qarnain, and to Gog and Magog, and thus to an explanation of the return of the Jews to the Holy Land today.