ﱕ ﱖ ﱗ ﱘ ﱙ ﱚ ﱛ ﱜ ﱝ ﱞ ﱟ ﱠ ﱡ ﱢ ﱣ ﱤ ﱥ ﱦ ﱧ ﱨ ﱩ ﱪ ﱫ ﱬ ﱭ ﱮ ﱯ ﱰ ﱱ ﱲ ﱳ ﱴ ﱵ ﱶ ﱷ ﱸ ﱹ ﱺ
And [had you been present], you would see the sun when it rose, inclining away from their cave on the right, and when it set, passing away from them on the left, while they were [laying] within an open space thereof. That was from the signs of Allah. He whom Allah guides is the [rightly] guided, but he whom He leaves astray - never will you find for him a protecting guide.
Tafsir
Verse range: 18:17
{تزاور} (tazawaru): It means to incline. Its original form is tatazawaru, which was lightened by assimilating the ta into the zay, or by deleting it. It has been recited in both ways. It has also been recited as tazawaru and tizwaru, following the patterns of tahmaru and tihmaru. All of these derive from al-zawr, which means inclining. From this comes the verb zārahu (he visited him), meaning he inclined toward him. Al-zawr also means deviating from the truth.
{ذات اليمين} (dhata al-yamin): The direction of the right, and its reality is the direction named "the right."
{تقرضهم} (taqriduhum): It means it passes by them and leaves them, not "approaching them," derived from the meaning of severance and cutting off. Dhu al-Rumma said:
Toward a caravan passing by the dunes of Musharraf, To the left, while the horsemen are to their right.
{وهم فى فجوة منه} (wa-hum fi fajwatin minhu): They were in a spacious part of the cave. The meaning is that they were in the shade throughout their entire day; the sun would not touch them at its rising nor its setting, even though they were in a wide, open place that would have been exposed to the sun had God not veiled it from them. It is also said: They were in a spacious area of their cave where they received the breeze of the air and the coolness of the wind, and did not feel the distress of the cave.
{ذالك من آيات الله} (dhalika min ayat Allah): That is, what God did for them by causing the sun to incline and pass by them—rising and setting—is one of His signs. It means that the fact that the sun would strike that direction but not strike them was a specific honor granted to them. It is also said: The door of the cave was northern, facing the Ursa Major (Banat Na'sh), so they were always in a shaded, cool place. The meaning of "that is from the signs of God" is that their affair and their story are among the signs of God.
{من يهد الله فهو المهتد} (man yahdi Allahu fahuwa al-muhtadi): This is a commendation of them, for they strove for the sake of God and surrendered their faces to Him. Thus, He was kind to them, aided them, and guided them to attain that sublime honor and the distinction of this great sign. It also means that whoever follows the path of the rightly guided is the one who has attained success and found the way to happiness, while whoever exposes himself to abandonment will never find anyone to protect or guide him after God has abandoned him.
{وتحسبهم أيقاظا وهم رقود ونقلبهم ذات اليمين وذات الشمال وكلبهم باسط ذراعيه بالوصيد لو اطلعت عليهم لوليت منهم فرارا ولملئت منهم رعبا}
