The Companions of the Cave and How They Spent Three Hundred and Nine (309) Years in the Cave

◉ The abjad values of "as-haba alkahfi," meaning "The Companions of the Cave," is 238. (By minor abjad calculation)

◉ The number of syllables in the Surah up to the term "as-haba alkahfi" (Companions of the Cave) is also 238.¹

◉ The variety of letters used in the verse up to the term "as-haba alkahfi" (Companions of the Cave) is 7.²

◉ The number of words from "as-haba alkahfi" (Companions of the Cave) to the end of the verse is 7.

◉ Our Lord's name "Allah" is repeated 7 times in the story of the Companions of the Cave in the Surah.

◉ "As-haba alkahfi" (Companions of the Cave) is in the 7th clause on the page.

◉ This verse is the 7th from the top of the page.

In revealing how long the Companions spent in the cave, the Qur'an says "They stayed in their Cave for three hundred years and added nine." (Surat al-Kahf, 25) In interpreting this verse, commentators say that the Companions of the Cave slept for 300 solar years or 309 years by the lunar calendar.

◉ The number of syllables up to "sineena waizdadoo," meaning "number of years" is exactly 309.³

◉ There are 309 undotted letters in the Surah up to the term "sineena waizdadoo".

◉ This verse reveals that the reason the Companions of the Cave were woken was to establish which of the two groups would most accurately calculate how long the slumber had lasted. The number of syllables before this verse is exactly 309.⁴

Allah, in His Eternal Wisdom, does not directly mention the number “309” in this Surah. He does say exactly how long these companions remained in the cave. Rather, the Qur’an speaks of an additional nine years thus drawing attention to the difference between the solar and lunar years. (Allah knows the truth.)

The solar year refers to the Earth's revolution around the Sun, and 365.242217 complete revolutions of the Earth constitute a solar year. A lunar year consists of 354.36768 days, the time in which the Moon orbits the Earth 12 times. There is thus a difference of 10.874537 days between the solar and lunar years. In short, 100 solar years is thus equivalent to 103 lunar years.

In order to determine the equivalent of 300 solar years in terms of lunar years, we need to add on 9 more years – just as in the verse.

◉ The total of all the numbers in this Surah up to this verse is 300. (300 by the Gregorian calendar equates to 309 years by the Islamic calendar.)

◉ There are 309 pages from this page, the last to refer to the Companions of the Cave and their sleep, and the end of the Qur'an.