۞ وَتَرَى الشَّمْسَ إِذَا طَلَعَت تَّزَاوَرُ عَن كَهْفِهِمْ ذَاتَ الْيَمِينِ وَإِذَا غَرَبَت تَّقْرِضُهُمْ ذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ وَهُمْ فِي فَجْوَةٍ مِّنْهُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ ۗ مَن يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِ ۖ وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُّرْشِدًا
Al-Kahf, Ayah 17
And you might have seen the sun, when it rose, declining to the right from their Cave, and when it set, turning away from them to the left, while they lay in the midst of the Cave. That is (one) of the Ayaat (proofs, evidences, signs) of Allah. He whom Allah guides, is rightly guided; but he whom He sends astray, — for him you will find no Wali (guiding friend) to lead him (to the right Path).
[Translation: Dr Muhammad Hilali, Dr Muhammad Mohsin Khan]
In Q18:17 quoted above, we come across a strange description of the Sun’s movement, in order to protect the youth asleep in al-Kahf, in response to their prayer (Q18:10-12).
Surah Al-Kahf is the eighteenth surah in The Quran. Word-wise, this surah falls in the middle of The Quran, with
Q18:19:34 as the middle word of the entire Arabic Quranic Corpus.
The word al-Kahf is generally translated as The Cave. However, in Q9:40 The Quran uses the word (الْغَارِ) to describe the cave Thawr, the place where Muhammad ﷺ and his companion Abū Bakr Siddiq رضی اللہ عنہ hid in during their escape from Makkah to Medina:
When the Sun rose (طَلَعَت), you might have seen it going to the right, and when it set, passing to their left, while they lay in the (فَجْوَةٍ (open space / in the midst / open space in the middle)) in the al-Kahf (pit-cave, cavern, canyon??? some kind of cave which had an opening at the top), yet the Sunlight couldn’t reach them???
1) the Sun must have been low on the horizon for sunlight to not reach them in the open space; rather it must be at an angle that it could only strike the walls of the cave
2) anti-clockwise motion: when it rose, it moved to their right, and when it set, it passed to their left
This indicates that the Sun rose in the West , moved Southwards, to set in the East, moving up North till it reached its place of rising in the West.
Another clue that this was an open space with high walls is the word اطَّلَعْتَ in the next ayat, which shares its
root (ط ل ع) with the word for rising (طُلُوعِ). So, the only approach to even look into al-Kahf was to look in from above.
This phenomenon probably lasted for 300 solar years, or for 309 lunar years, the length of time they slept in al-Kahf (Q18:25).
3) the ayat begins with the statement that you might have seen (تَرَى) …
So, are there any who saw such a phenomenon? Are there any ancient witnesses?
The Sun features prominently in all mythologies. There are myriads of stories. One common theme is that it has behaved differently, erratically, erroneously, at some point in the ancient past, much to the woe of those witnessing its change in path.
As per some website on the internet, I understand that:
According to the controversial book World in Collision, by Immanuel Velikosvsky, there is ancient evidence for the change in Sun’s path across the sky. There are four flips in record, and in chapter 5 of the book, titled East and West, he quotes some ancient Egyptian records of it. He also reads the Egyptian Celestial Diagram in the Tomb of Senemut to match that assertion.
——
The Sun in Scriptures
In The Torah’s first book Bereshit (titled Genesis in The Bible), we read the creation details. In Genesis 1:16, we are informed that Sun is a creation, created after the creation of the Light (1:3) of the Day (1:5). So, the Sun is a greater light for the day, but the daylight is a creation ancient to it.
The Quran also speaks of the Day and Night, and the Sun and the Moon, in several ayaat, such as Q10:5-6 and Q41:38. The Sun is a creation, and is subject to the command and guidance of its Creator.
So, if my reading of Q18:17 is correct, the Sun has risen from the west in the ancient past; and as per the hadith of our dear Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, it is expected to do the same during end times.
He ﷺ also advised us to recite Surah al-Kahf every Friday….
To quote from Surah al-Kahf ayaat 55-56, translation: Saheeh
وَمَا مَنَعَ النَّاسَ أَن يُؤْمِنُوا إِذْ جَاءَهُمُ الْهُدَىٰ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّهُمْ إِلَّا أَن تَأْتِيَهُمْ سُنَّةُ الْأَوَّلِينَ أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمُ الْعَذَابُ قُبُلًا
And nothing has prevented the people from believing when guidance came to them and from asking forgiveness of their Lord except that there [must] befall them the [accustomed] precedent of the former peoples or that the punishment should come [directly] before them.
وَمَا نُرْسِلُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلَّا مُبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنذِرِينَ ۚ وَيُجَادِلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِالْبَاطِلِ لِيُدْحِضُوا بِهِ الْحَقَّ ۖوَاتَّخَذُوا آيَاتِي وَمَا أُنذِرُوا هُزُوًا
And We send not the messengers except as bringers of good tidings and warners. And those who disbelieve dispute by [using] falsehood to [attempt to] invalidate thereby the truth and have taken My verses, and that of which they are warned, in ridicule.
Hadith-e-Nabwi ﷺ
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3199
Sahih al-Bukhari 3199
Narrated Abu Dhar:
The Prophet (ﷺ) asked me at sunset, "Do you know where the sun goes (at the time of sunset)?" I replied, "Allah and His Apostle know better." He said, "It goes (i.e. travels) till it prostrates Itself underneath the Throne and takes the permission to rise again, and it is permitted and then (a time will come when) it will be about to prostrate itself but its prostration will not be accepted, and it will ask permission to go on its course but it will not be permitted, but it will be ordered to return whence it has come and so it will rise in the west. And that is the interpretation of the Statement of Allah: "And the sun Runs its fixed course For a term (decreed). that is The Decree of (Allah) The Exalted in Might, The All- Knowing." (36.38)
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ التَّيْمِيِّ، عَنْأَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم لأَبِي ذَرٍّحِينَ غَرَبَتِ الشَّمْسُ " تَدْرِي أَيْنَ تَذْهَبُ ". قُلْتُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ. قَالَ " فَإِنَّهَا تَذْهَبُ حَتَّى تَسْجُدَ تَحْتَ الْعَرْشِ، فَتَسْتَأْذِنَ فَيُؤْذَنَ لَهَا، وَيُوشِكُ أَنْ تَسْجُدَفَلاَ يُقْبَلَ مِنْهَا، وَتَسْتَأْذِنَ فَلاَ يُؤْذَنَ لَهَا، يُقَالُ لَهَا ارْجِعِي مِنْ حَيْثُ جِئْتِ. فَتَطْلُعُ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا، فَذَلِكَ قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى {وَالشَّمْسُ تَجْرِي لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَهَا ذَلِكَ تَقْدِيرُالْعَزِيزِ الْعَلِيمِ }".
As identified in Dhu al Qarnayn visited the Polar Regions? , the place of setting of the Sun is the North Pole, at Autumn Equinox (September 21).
So, this is pure speculation, perhaps the Sun will not set at the North Pole in a future September, but rather change course and rise again at the North Pole. This means the poles will flip, once again, as they have done in the past, or whatever is the true explanation of the phenomenon.
Recently, scientists have found evidence of the earth’s crust tilting without the magnetic poles shifting, a phenomenon named True Polar Wander (TPW). Though the dating of this event seems to be in the Cretaceous period, yet it is an important discovery. If it happened then, it may have happened again.
And Allah knows best.
Significance
Surah al-Kahf ayat 17 declares that the sun’s unusual path described in the ayat is from the signs of Allah.
There are many people who still worship the Sun.
According to modern science, the Sun drives the weather and other processes on Earth.
Among the signs of end-times, is the prophecy that Dajjal will be temporarily granted the ability to alter time and weather.
Surah al-Baqarah ayat 258, Abraham challenged the disbelieving King to make the Sun rise from the West if he is truly all-powerful.
Surah al-Kahf ayat 11 & 12 state that their ears were covered for a number of years to see who could more precisely calculate the time they had remained in the cave. Surah al-Kahf ayat 19 mentions their inability to estimate the time elapsed upon being raised up after their long sleep, guessing that it was just a day or part of a day. Surah al-Kahf ayat 25 gives the correct time elapsed in two numbers: 300 years, and add 9. Three hundred years calculated according to the solar calendar are 309 lunar years. The debate over the calculation of time continues till this day. Proponents of the solar calendar find it more reliable and precise, and is generally used all over the world. Lunar calendar is the calendar of choice for the believers.
Surah al-Kahf ayat 21 states that they were found, so that the people would know that Allah’s Promise is real, and The Hour will definitely be established.
Surah al-Kahf concludes with the end-time prophecy about the release of the corruption-causing Yajuj Majuj when Allah’s Promise comes to pass, so they are released to swarm the earth as wave upon wave. Soon after that, the matter will be concluded.
Related posts:
Gog Magog & The City that will Return
Detailed Guidance in Surah alKahf
Wronging the Nafs - III (The Calendar)
The Sustainer of the Worlds (رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ)
People of the Cave
Last updated: October 18, 2022
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