The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 652
CH. 18 AL-KAHF PT. 15 long they tarried. ' "To Him belong the E قُلِ اللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا لَبِثُوا لَهُ غَيْبُ Say, “Allah knows best how. 27 السَّمُوتِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَبْصِرُ بِهِ وَأَسْمِعْ secrets of the مَا لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ مِنْ وَلِي وَلَا يُشْرِكُ !Seeing is He! and how Hearing فِي حُكْمِةٍ أَحَدًا heavens and the earth. How They have no helper beside Him, and He does not let any one share 2067 government. 2 in His "11:124; 16:78; 35:39. 19:39. popular belief but in 309 A. D. , as history shows. The astonishing fact that the Christian Calendar now in use is not free from chronological anachronisms has been admitted by Christian scholars themselves. Archbishop Ushers and Dr. Kitto in their well-known books, "Chronology" and "Daily Bible Illustrations," after elaborate research into the chronology of early Christianity, have been compelled to admit that chronological data show that Jesus was five and not thirty- three years old at the time when the Crucifixion is supposed to have taken place i. e. the tragedy of the Crucifixion took place 28 years later than is generally believed. Thus subtracting 28 from 337 it becomes established that the year of Constantine's conversion was 309 A. D. , when with Christianity becoming the State religion of the Roman Empire persecution of Christians completely ceased. So even Christian historical records support the Quran in stating that early Christians continued to be persecuted, off and on, for 309 years. The verse incidentally impresses upon Muslims who, like now are and may, also in future, be the victims of similar persecution, the desirability of bearing with patience and fortitude their trials and tribulations so that they may become entitled to Divine favours. 2067. Commentary: The words, Say, Allah knows best how long they tarried, purport to say that histories written by Christian writers assign 337 years as the period of the persecution of early Christians and therefore seem to contradict the Quranic statement that this period was 309 years. But this calculation as shown in the previous verse is at fault because the Quran is the revealed word of God and God cannot err in His calculations. Later research into old historical records as explained elsewhere has also supported the Quran. The present verse does not contradict the words, And they stayed in their Cave three hundred years and added nine more (v. 26). These words do not refer to the popular view about the period for which early Christians took refuge in caves but are God's own 1860