The Companions of the Cave and Bilqis, the Queen of Yemen! أصحاب الكهف وبلقيس ملكة اليمن!

Praise be to APraise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.

As to what follows:

In response to your question, we say, and with Allah Almighty lies all success:

The People of the Cave were youth from the Children of Israel. Allah Almighty related their news to us for contemplation and receiving admonition: 

“There is certainly in their stories a lesson for those of understanding.” [Yusuf 12:111]

Most of that which has been reported regarding who they were, which era they lived in, how many they were and the details of their conditions are from the reports of the Children of Israel. If there was any benefit in that, Allah Almighty would have explained it to us. So there is no need to search for something that there is no benefit acquired from, or something whose benefit does not help in achieving and receiving admonition. 

As for how Allah concealed them from the rest of the world, that is something we have no knowledge of, because information relating to the question of “how” is restricted to what Allah and His Messenger have informed of; and nothing has been reported, from what I know, in the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace be upon him), that explains to us how He concealed them. 

But my dear brother, your knowledge that Allah Almighty is powerful over everything, and that everything is easy for Him is sufficient for you. This is if we were to presume that their concealment was problematic, otherwise I see no problem in that, for much of that which is on this earth remained concealed for a long period of time, then it was discovered and became known, and that was either due to it being distant or inaccessible, or due to other reasons.

As for the transportation of the throne of Bilqis, it is as Allah has related to us in Surah al-Naml. The transportation was real, and not delusional. Furthermore, it was among the signs that proved the prophethood of Sulayman (peace be upon him), and which made Bilqis to believe along with him.

As for what you have called it, “a visual delusion,” this was what Bilqis had thought when she entered the Sarh, i.e. the palace which Sulayman had built of glass and caused water to flow beneath it, to show what Allah had given him of strength, ability and dominion. So when she was told to enter the Sarh, she thought it was a pool, i.e. a body of water that she would wade into. There was no visual delusion, rather it was a real palace.

These points are not a cover to hide the reality, rather what hides the reality is ignorance of the meanings of the words of Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him). The more one increases in knowledge and acts according to his knowledge, the realities will appear to him and the clouds of doubts will disappear from his heart. We ask Allah, the Generous, to grant us of His bounty.

llah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.

As to what follows:

 In response to your question, we say, and with Allah Almighty lies all success:

The People of the Cave were youth from the Children of Israel. Allah Almighty related their news to us for contemplation and receiving admonition:

“There is certainly in their stories a lesson for those of understanding.” [Yusuf 12:111]

 Most of that which has been reported regarding who they were, which era they lived in, how many they were and the details of their conditions are from the reports of the Children of Israel. If there was any benefit in that, Allah Almighty would have explained it to us. So there is no need to search for something that there is no benefit acquired from, or something whose benefit does not help in achieving and receiving admonition.

 As for how Allah concealed them from the rest of the world, that is something we have no knowledge of, because information relating to the question of “how” is restricted to what Allah and His Messenger have informed of; and nothing has been reported, from what I know, in the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace be upon him), that explains to us how He concealed them.

 But my dear brother, your knowledge that Allah Almighty is powerful over everything, and that everything is easy for Him is sufficient for you. This is if we were to presume that their concealment was problematic, otherwise I see no problem in that, for much of that which is on this earth remained concealed for a long period of time, then it was discovered and became known, and that was either due to it being distant or inaccessible, or due to other reasons.

 As for the transportation of the throne of Bilqis, it is as Allah has related to us in Surah al-Naml. The transportation was real, and not delusional. Furthermore, it was among the signs that proved the prophethood of Sulayman (peace be upon him), and which made Bilqis to believe along with him.

As for what you have called it, “a visual delusion,” this was what Bilqis had thought when she entered the Sarh, i.e. the palace which Sulayman had built of glass and caused water to flow beneath it, to show what Allah had given him of strength, ability and dominion. So when she was told to enter the Sarh, she thought it was a pool, i.e. a body of water that she would wade into. There was no visual delusion, rather it was a real palace.

 These points are not a cover to hide the reality, rather what hides the reality is ignorance of the meanings of the words of Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him). The more one increases in knowledge and acts according to his knowledge, the realities will appear to him and the clouds of doubts will disappear from his heart. We ask Allah, the Generous, to grant us of His bounty.