The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 649
PT. 15 AL-KAHF CH. 18 ابْنُوا عَلَيْهِمْ بُنْيَانًا رَبُّهُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِهِمُ when people disputed among قَالَ الَّذِينَ غَلَبُوْا عَلَى أَمْرِهِمْ لَنَتَّخِذَنَّ عَلَيْهِمْ مَّسْجِدًا سَيَقُولُونَ ثَلَثَةٌ رَّابِعُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ themselves concerning them, and said, 'Build over them a building. ' Their Lord knew them best. Those who won their point said, 'We will, surely, build a place of worship over them. '2062 23. Some say, 'They were three, the fourth was their dog,' and b E وَيَقُولُونَ خَمْسَةٌ سَادِسُهُمْ كَلْبُهُم others say, “They were five the sixth was their dog,' guessing at "They were seven, the eighth رَجْمًا بِالْغَيْبِ وَيَقُولُونَ سَبْعَةٌ random. And yet others say وَثَامِنُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ قُلْ رَّبِّي أَعْلَمُ was their dog. Say, “My Lord knows best their number. None بِعِدَّتِهِمْ مَّا يَعْلَمُهُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيْلٌ فَلَا knows them except a few. So تُمَارِ فِيهِمْ إِلَّا مِرَاءً ظَاهِرًا وَلَا تَسْتَفْتِ فِيهِمْ مِّنْهُمْ أَحَدَاةً seek argue not concerning them except with arguing that is overpowering, nor information about them from any one of them. 2063 2062. Commentary: In this verse we are told that these people who had remained aloof from the world for a long time will become known to the ends of the earth, and thus the truth of the prophecy about the rise to great power and dominion of Christian nations in the Latter Days will become established and then the promised hour of which these people were warned will come to pass. In the words, We will surely build a place of worship over them, the Quran reverts again to the early history of the Dwellers of the Cave and mentions one of their distinctive & 1857 marks which is that their successors, the Christian nations, will build churches in memory of their dead saints. Muslims or Jews have never erected mosques or synagogues to the memory of their departed saints. Christians are the only people who erect churches to perpetuate the memory of their dead saints; they even bury their dead in churchyards. It is worthy of note that many such churches have been found in the catacombs. 2063. Important Words: is derived تمار. So argue not) فلا تمار from 5. They say i. e. he