Surah al-Kahf, 11
The ears remain active in sleep
The Quran describes how the Companions of the Cave were put to sleep for many years with the words “We struck upon their ears”. Science has found that the ear is the only sense organ that keeps working during sleep.
فَضَرَبْنَا عَلَىٰٓ ءَاذَانِهِمْ فِى ٱلْكَهْفِ سِنِينَ عَدَدًۭا ١١
So We sealed their ears [ with sleep ] in the cave for a number of years.
The original Arabic of the phrase " We sealed their ears " in the Qur'an is the verb daraba . This bears the metaphorical meaning of "We have made them sleep." Used in reference to the ears, daraba means "preventing the ears from hearing." The fact that only the sense of hearing is mentioned here is very significant.
According to recent scientific discoveries, the ear is the only sensory organ active while a person is sleeping. This is why we need an alarm clock to wake up.1
The wisdom of the phrase " We sealed their ears " is, in all probability, that Allah closed the hearing of the young people in question, for which reason they remained asleep for many years.
(Allah knows best.)
Footnotes
- Kazi, 130 Evident Miracles in the Qur’an , 108. ↩
