The Holy Quran 18:22 — Surah Al-Kahf

Arabic text

سَيَقُولُونَ ثَلَـٰثَةٌ رَّابِعُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ خَمْسَةٌ سَادِسُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ رَجْمًۢا بِٱلْغَيْبِ ۖ وَيَقُولُونَ سَبْعَةٌ وَثَامِنُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ ۚ قُل رَّبِّىٓ أَعْلَمُ بِعِدَّتِهِم مَّا يَعْلَمُهُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ ۗ فَلَا تُمَارِ فِيهِمْ إِلَّا مِرَآءً ظَـٰهِرًا وَلَا تَسْتَفْتِ فِيهِم مِّنْهُمْ أَحَدًا

Translation

Some people said, "They (the men in the cave) were three, their dog being the fourth." Others said, "They were five, their dog being the sixth.” They are merely guessing. Others say, "They were seven and their dog was the eighth." Say, "My Rabb knows best what their number was and (besides Allaah) only a few people know them (only a few know precisely how many people they were. Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Abbaas رضي الله عنه has mentioned that he is of those few who know the correct number. He then said that they were seven and their dog was the eighth). So do not fall into debate regarding them (because it makes no difference to your Imaan), except for superficial discussion (if someone asks about them, merely tell them what the Qur'aan says without involving yourself in deep discussion that may cause disputes to arise). And do not even ask anyone about them (because the lesson drawn from the incident is clear. You need not know more because this will distract you from the lesson and dilute your energies)."

Tafsir (excerpt) — Tafsir Usmani

The number of the People of the Cave: that is, the listeners, on hearing the story of the People of the Cave, will, as is people's habit, shoot arrows of conjecture: someone will say that they were three and the fourth was the dog; someone will state five and count the dog as the sixth.

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