004-3c The Cave 18:12-13 A mark to the world

Translation, Commentary & Explanation of Chapter 18 Al-Kahfi.

Translation of Verse 12.
Then We awakened them so that We know which of the two parties is more accurate regarding their staying period.

Tafsir Jalalain
Then We awakened them so that We know and witness with clarity which of the two groups, who differed in opinion regarding their stay in the cave, is more accurate and more acceptable, regarding the period of their stay in the cave.

Tafsir Muhammad Asad
And then We awakened them. We did all this so that We might mark out to the world which of the two points of view showed a better comprehension of the time-span during which they had remained in this state.

They were awakened to return to the active life of this world.

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Translation of verse 13.
We narrate their story to you with truth. Verily, they were youths who had faith in their Lord and We increased to them guidance.

Tafsir Jalalain.
We narrate and read their story to you with truth and enthusiasm. Verily, they were youths who had faith in their Lord and We increased to them guidance.

Tafsir Muhammad Asad.
And now We shall truly relate to you their story, without fictitious additions.
Behold they were young men who had attained to faith in their Sustainer, and so We deepened their consciousness of the right way.

============to be continued============

004-2c Al-Kahfi 18 : 10 - 11 Hear,see and do nothing.

Translation, Commentary & Explanation of Chapter 18 Al-Kahfi.

Translation of verse 10.
The youth hid in the cave and said "Our Lord shower upon us mercy from You, and accomplish our affair with the right guidance.

Tafsir Jalalain.
Remember that when the youth were finding a hiding place in the cave, they were worried of their faith being influenced by the unbelieving people around them. So they prayed, "Our Lord shower upon us mercy from You, and accomplish and make good our affair with the right guidance"

Tafsir Muhammad Asad.
When those youth took refuge in the cave, they prayed, "O our Sustainer, bestow on us Your grace, and endow us, whatever our outward condition, with consciousness of what is right."

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Translation of verse 11.
Then We covered their ears in the cave for a number of years.

Tafsir Jalalain.
Then We covered their ears by putting them to sleep for a number of years in the cave.

Tafsir Muhammad Asad.
And thereupon We veiled their ears in the cave for many a year.
God caused them to remain cut-off, physically ormetaphorically, from then sounds and the bustle of the outside world. The classical commentators take the above phrase to mean that God "veiled their ears with sleep".

Tafsir Abdullah Yusuf Ali.
Covered their ears means a veil sealing their ears, so that they hear nothing. As they were in the cave, they saw nothing . They were completely cut off from the outer world, as if they had died. Their knowledge and ideas stopped at the point they entered the cave.

UEFA 014 – Call home

During the training days, I did made phone calls back home to my wife and children in Singapore, but, the calls were expensive, if originating from Switzerland.

Therefore, my wife and I made arrangements for her to call me at Hotel Heerbruggerhof, only at 12noon in Singapore, which will be about 7am in Switzerland. That was the ideal time, because I just woke-up to get ready for breakfast, and the housekeeper, Anne, is ready, to call me.

Heerbruggerhof is a family-run hotel, where ‘hof’ means ‘house’. As such, there were not enough facilities in the room.

Telephone calls can only be made or received from a public telephone at the first level.

For incoming calls, Anne, wife of the owner or her children will run up the stairs and knock our rooms, to inform us of the incoming calls. I think their bedrooms are at Level 4 or 5.

Therefore, it would be too much trouble for them to attend to incoming calls at night. Morning was the only perfect time.

Only in case of urgency or emergency, I allowed my wife to call me at 12 midnight in Singapore, which is about 7pm in Switzerland. During my stay there, it happened only once.

In the evenings, Heerbruggerhof was very busy with groups of old folks. They were playing cards and chatting in the restaurant of the hotel. Once, I saw there were about 30 of them. The cards they played were narrow and long about the size of 3 ice-cream sticks join together.

Due to language barrier, I only managed to give courtesy smiles, while watching them playing.
They seemed to be fond of my presence and interest. I was then 33 while they were all above 60.

On the walls of Heerbruggerhof were paintings of the old images of the Heerbruggerhof and the vicinity around it. I learned from the paintings that the present pedestrian tunnel had replaced the surface railway crossing.

========will be continued=========
~drafted on 07.12.2006
~edited on 19.03.2007
~at Woodlands avenue 5
~21:30 hrs