Surah 18
Al-Kahf
The Cave
الكهف
Editorial study · not independently reviewed.
- 1Part absent
- 2From a layer
- 3Absent
- 4Part absent
- 5Part absent
- 6Absent
- 7Part absent
- 8From a layer
- 9From a layer
From a layerPart supplied, part absentAbsent
Name and conventional translation
Part absent
Arabic name
الكهف
Source fact
Transliteration
Al-Kahf
Source fact
English name
The Cave
Source fact as Tanzil metadata gives it; Tanzil names no translator for it
Verse count and position
From a layer
Verses
110
Derived link
Words
1579
Derived link whitespace-separated tokens of the Uthmani text, the rule the morphology layer uses
Position in the mushaf order
18 of 114
Source fact
Position in a revelation ordering
69 of 114
Revelation order as encoded by the Tanzil metadata · Tanzil publishes an "order" value for each surah and documents the field only as "revelation order". It does not name which ordering it encodes, cite a scholar, or reference an edition. We have therefore not established whose ordering this is, and we do not name one. The major orderings disagree about dozens of surahs, so naming the likeliest candidate would be a guess presented as a citation.
Source fact
Place of revelation, as Tanzil classifies it
Meccan
Source fact Tanzil's classification, carried without a named authority
Juzʾ
Juzʾ 15 to 16; a new juzʾ begins at 18:75 (16)
Source fact juzʾ start verses from the banked Tanzil metadata file, digest-checked against its source record
Opening formula (basmala) in this edition
stands before verse 1 and is not numbered
Derived link
What the surah says of itself
Absent
Major movements and sections
Part absent
Rukūʿ divisions
| Rukūʿ | Verses | Opens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18:1-12 | ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ … |
| 2 | 18:13-17 | نَّحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ نَبَأَهُم … |
| 3 | 18:18-22 | وَتَحْسَبُهُمْ أَيْقَاظًا وَهُمْ رُقُودٌ … |
| 4 | 18:23-31 | وَلَا تَقُولَنَّ لِشَا۟ىْءٍ إِنِّى … |
| 5 | 18:32-44 | وَٱضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلًا رَّجُلَيْنِ … |
| 6 | 18:45-49 | وَٱضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ … |
| 7 | 18:50-53 | وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ ٱسْجُدُوا۟ … |
| 8 | 18:54-59 | وَلَقَدْ صَرَّفْنَا فِى هَٰذَا … |
| 9 | 18:60-70 | وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِفَتَىٰهُ … |
| 10 | 18:71-82 | فَٱنطَلَقَا حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا رَكِبَا … |
| 11 | 18:83-101 | وَيَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَن ذِى ٱلْقَرْنَيْنِ … |
| 12 | 18:102-110 | أَفَحَسِبَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ أَن … |
Source fact rukūʿ start verses from the banked Tanzil metadata file, digest-checked against its source record; each runs to the verse before the next; opening words are the first 4 words of its first verse
Repeated words and themes
Part absent
Verses repeated word for word
Derived link verses of this surah whose Uthmani text is byte-identical to another verse of it
Phrases repeated word for word
| Times | Words | Phrase | Verses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 5 | إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِىَ صَبْرًا | 67, 72, 75 |
| 3 | 3 | حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ | 86, 90, 93 |
Derived link runs of at least 3 consecutive words, inside one verse, occurring at least 3 times in this surah, kept only where no longer run has the same occurrences; a run that is only ever a whole repeated verse is listed above instead
Roots carried by the most words
1579 words609 with one root, counted113 conflicting roots244 no root recorded613 not analysed
| Root | Words, at least | Verses | Forms in this surah |
|---|---|---|---|
| ق.و.ل | 43 | 40 | قَالَ قُلْ وَيَقُولُونَ قُلْنَا تَقُولَنَّ سَيَقُولُونَ فَقَالَ قَوْلًا قُلْتَ وَسَنَقُولُ وَقُلْ وَيَقُولُ يَقُولُ يَقُولُونَ |
| ك.و.ن | 17 | 14 | وَكَانَ كَانَ فَكَانَ كَانَتْ فَكَانَتْ |
| ر.ب.ب | 10 | 10 | رَبِّكَ رَبُّكَ رَبَّهُم رَبُّكُم رَبُّنَا رَبُّهُمَا وَرَبُّكَ |
| و.ح.د | 10 | 9 | أَحَدًا أَحَدَكُم لِأَحَدِهِمَا وَٰحِدٌ |
| ب.ي.ن | 9 | 8 | بَيْنَ بَيِّنٍ بَيْنَنَا بَيْنَهُم بَيْنَهُمَا بَيْنِهِمَا بَيْنِى وَبَيْنِكَ |
| ع.ل.م | 9 | 8 | أَعْلَمُ عُلِّمْتَ عِلْمًا عِلْمٍ لِنَعْلَمَ يَعْلَمُهُمْ |
| و.ج.د | 9 | 8 | تَجِدَ فَوَجَدَا وَجَدَهَا لَأَجِدَنَّ وَجَدَ وَوَجَدَ |
| ج.ع.ل | 9 | 7 | جَعَلْنَا وَجَعَلْنَا أَجْعَلْ تَجْعَلَ نَجْعَلُ |
| ع.م.ل | 8 | 7 | عَمَلًا يَعْمَلُونَ أَعْمَٰلًا فَلْيَعْمَلْ وَعَمِلَ |
| خ.ي.ر | 8 | 6 | خَيْرًا خَيْرٌ وَخَيْرٌ |
| ص.ب.ر | 7 | 7 | صَبْرًا تَصْبِرُ صَابِرًا |
| ص.ل.ح | 7 | 7 | صَٰلِحًا ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتُ |
100 more roots
| ظ.ل.م | 7 | 7 | أَظْلَمُ لِلظَّٰلِمِينَ ظَالِمٌ ظَلَمَ يَظْلِمُ |
| ي.و.م | 7 | 6 | وَيَوْمَ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَوْمًا يَوْمٍ يَوْمَ |
| ب.ل.غ | 6 | 6 | بَلَغَ أَبْلُغَ بَلَغَا بَلَغْتَ |
| ح.س.ن | 6 | 6 | أَحْسَنَ أَحْسَنُ حَسَنًا حُسْنًا وَحَسُنَتْ يُحْسِنُونَ |
| ط.و.ع | 6 | 6 | تَسْتَطِيعَ تُطِعْ يَسْتَطِيعُونَ |
| ث.م.م | 6 | 5 | ثُمَّ |
| ذ.و.ي | 6 | 4 | ذَاتَ ذُو وَتِلْكَ وَذَاتَ |
| أ.خ.ذ | 5 | 5 | تَتَّخِذَ تُؤَاخِذْنِى لَنَتَّخِذَنَّ مُتَّخِذَ يَأْخُذُ |
| ج.ن.ن | 5 | 5 | جَنَّٰتُ جَنَّتَكَ جَنَّتَيْنِ جَنَّتِكَ |
| ذ.ك.ر | 5 | 5 | ذِكْرًا ذُكِّرَ ذِكْرِنَا ذِكْرِى |
| ر.ح.م | 5 | 5 | رَحْمَةً رَحْمَةٌ ٱلرَّحْمَةِ |
| ش.ي.أ | 5 | 5 | شَىْءٍ شِئْتَ |
| ع.ب.د | 5 | 5 | بِعِبَادَةِ عَبْدًا عَبْدِهِ عِبَادِى يَعْبُدُونَ |
| ق.و.م | 5 | 5 | قَوْمًا قَوْمٍ قَوْمُنَا نُقِيمُ |
| ل.ه.م | 5 | 5 | لَهُمْ |
| أ.ب.د | 4 | 4 | أَبَدًا |
| أ.م.ر | 4 | 4 | أَمْرِى أَمْرًا أَمْرِكُم |
| ت.ب.ع | 4 | 4 | أَتْبَعَ أَتَّبِعُكَ فَأَتْبَعَ |
| ج.ي.أ | 4 | 4 | جِئْتَ جِئْتُمُونَا جِئْنَا |
| ح.س.ب | 4 | 4 | أَفَحَسِبَ حَسِبْتَ حُسْبَانًا وَتَحْسَبُهُمْ |
| ح.و.ط | 4 | 4 | أَحَاطَ أَحَطْنَا تُحِطْ وَأُحِيطَ |
| س.ب.ب | 4 | 4 | سَبَبًا |
| ش.ر.ك | 4 | 4 | أُشْرِكُ أُشْرِكْ يُشْرِكُ يُشْرِكْ |
| ص.ب.ح | 4 | 4 | فَأَصْبَحَ فَتُصْبِحَ يُصْبِحَ |
| ك.ف.ر | 4 | 4 | أَكَفَرْتَ فَلْيَكْفُرْ لِلْكَٰفِرِينَ وَكُفْرًا |
| ك.ل.ل | 4 | 4 | كُلِّ كُلَّ |
| و.ه.م | 4 | 4 | وَهُمْ |
| ث.و.ب | 4 | 3 | ثَوَابًا ثِيَابًا ٱلثَّوَابُ |
| ج.م.ع | 4 | 3 | مَجْمَعَ جَمْعًا فَجَمَعْنَٰهُمْ |
| خ.ل.ق | 4 | 3 | خَلْقَ خَلَقَكَ خَلَقْنَٰكُمْ |
| ر.س.ل | 4 | 3 | نُرْسِلُ وَرُسُلِى وَيُرْسِلَ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ |
| ر.و.د | 4 | 3 | تُرِيدُ فَأَرَادَ يُرِيدُ يُرِيدُونَ |
| ن.ف.س | 4 | 3 | أَنفُسِهِمْ نَفْسًا نَفْسٍ نَفْسَكَ |
| أ.ج.ر | 3 | 3 | أَجْرًا أَجْرَ |
| ب.ش.ر | 3 | 3 | بَشَرٌ مُبَشِّرِينَ وَيُبَشِّرَ |
| ج.ه.ن.م | 3 | 3 | جَهَنَّمَ جَهَنَّمُ |
| خ.ر.ج | 3 | 3 | تَخْرُجُ خَرْجًا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا |
| د.ع.و | 3 | 3 | تَدْعُهُمْ فَدَعَوْهُمْ يَدْعُونَ |
| د.و.ن | 3 | 3 | دُونِ دُونِهَا دُونِهِمَا |
| ر.أ.ي | 3 | 3 | وَتَرَى فَتَرَى |
| ر.ش.د | 3 | 3 | رَشَدًا رُشْدًا |
| ز.ي.ن | 3 | 3 | زِينَةً زِينَةَ زِينَةُ |
| س.م.و | 3 | 3 | ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ |
| ش.م.س | 3 | 3 | ٱلشَّمْسِ ٱلشَّمْسَ |
| م.و.ل | 3 | 3 | مَالًا مَالِ |
| ن.و.ر | 3 | 3 | نَارًا ٱلنَّارَ |
| و.ل.ي | 3 | 3 | لَوَلَّيْتَ وَلِىٍّ وَلِيًّا |
| س.ف.ن | 3 | 2 | سَفِينَةٍ ٱلسَّفِينَةُ ٱلسَّفِينَةِ |
| ع.ر.ض | 3 | 2 | عَرْضًا فَأَعْرَضَ وَعَرَضْنَا |
| ل.ب.ث | 3 | 1 | لَبِثْتُمْ لَبِثْنَا |
| أ.ت.ي | 2 | 2 | تَأْتِيَهُمْ يَأْتُونَ |
| أ.م.ن | 2 | 2 | مُؤْمِنَيْنِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ |
| أ.ه.ل | 2 | 2 | أَهْلَهَا |
| أ.و.ل | 2 | 2 | بِتَأْوِيلِ تَأْوِيلُ |
| ب.د.ل | 2 | 2 | بَدَلًا يُبْدِلَهُمَا |
| ب.ع.ث | 2 | 2 | بَعَثْنَٰهُمْ |
| ب.ع.ض | 2 | 2 | بَعْضٍ بَعْضَ |
| ث.ل.ث | 2 | 2 | ثَلَٰثَ ثَلَٰثَةٌ |
| ج.د.ل | 2 | 2 | جَدَلًا وَيُجَٰدِلُ |
| ح.ق.ق | 2 | 2 | حَقًّا حَقٌّ |
| د.خ.ل | 2 | 2 | دَخَلْتَ وَدَخَلَ |
| ر.ف.ق | 2 | 2 | مُرْتَفَقًا |
| ر.ه.ق | 2 | 2 | تُرْهِقْنِى يُرْهِقَهُمَا |
| ز.ع.م | 2 | 2 | زَعَمْتُمْ |
| س.د.د | 2 | 2 | سَدًّا ٱلسَّدَّيْنِ |
| س.ن.و | 2 | 2 | سِنِينَ |
| س.و.ع | 2 | 2 | ٱلسَّاعَةَ |
| ش.د.د | 2 | 2 | أَشُدَّهُمَا شَدِيدًا |
| ش.م.ل | 2 | 2 | ٱلشِّمَالِ |
| ص.ح.ب | 2 | 2 | أَصْحَٰبَ تُصَٰحِبْنِى |
| ص.ر.ف | 2 | 2 | صَرَّفْنَا مَصْرِفًا |
| ص.ع.د | 2 | 2 | صَعِيدًا |
| ض.ل.ل | 2 | 2 | ضَلَّ ٱلْمُضِلِّينَ |
| ظ.ن.ن | 2 | 2 | أَظُنُّ |
| ظ.ه.ر | 2 | 2 | ظَٰهِرًا يَظْهَرُوهُ |
| ع.ج.ب | 2 | 2 | عَجَبًا |
| ع.د.د | 2 | 2 | بِعِدَّتِهِم عَدَدًا |
| ع.ذ.ب | 2 | 2 | تُعَذِّبَ عَذَابًا |
| غ.د.ر | 2 | 2 | نُغَادِرْ يُغَادِرُ |
| غ.ل.م | 2 | 2 | غُلَٰمًا لِغُلَٰمَيْنِ |
| ف.ق.ه | 2 | 2 | يَفْقَهُونَ يَفْقَهُوهُ |
| ق.ر.ب | 2 | 2 | لِأَقْرَبَ وَأَقْرَبَ |
| ق.ل.ب | 2 | 2 | وَنُقَلِّبُهُمْ يُقَلِّبُ |
| ق.ل.ل | 2 | 2 | أَقَلَّ قَلِيلٌ |
| ق.و.ي | 2 | 2 | بِقُوَّةٍ قُوَّةَ |
| ك.ب.ر | 2 | 2 | كَبُرَتْ كَبِيرَةً |
| ك.ث.ر | 2 | 2 | أَكْثَرَ أَكْثَرُ |
| ك.ل.م | 2 | 2 | كَلِمَةً كَلِمَٰتُ |
| ل.ك.م | 2 | 2 | لَكُمْ |
| م.ث.ل | 2 | 2 | مَثَلٍ مَّثَلَ |
| ن.ب.أ | 2 | 2 | سَأُنَبِّئُكَ نَبَأَهُم |
| ن.س.ي | 2 | 2 | نَسِيَا وَنَسِىَ |
| ن.و.س | 2 | 2 | لِلنَّاسِ ٱلنَّاسَ |
| و.أ.ل | 2 | 2 | مَوْئِلًا ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ |
| و.ف.ي | 2 | 2 | فِيهِمْ |
| و.ل.د | 2 | 2 | وَلَدًا وَوَلَدًا |
| خ.ر.ق | 2 | 1 | أَخَرَقْتَهَا خَرَقَهَا |
| ط.ل.ع | 2 | 1 | تَطْلُعُ مَطْلِعَ |
| غ.ر.ب | 2 | 1 | تَغْرُبُ مَغْرِبَ |
| م.د.د | 2 | 1 | مَدَدًا مِدَادًا |
Derived link a word counts toward a root only where every analysis Camel Morph kept for it names that one root and no analysis records none; words with no analysis, no root or conflicting roots are not counted anywhere. Roots on at least 2 words.
Not supplied
Words the analyser did not read
613 of this surah's 1579 words have no analysis, and a further 357 have no single root, so the root counts are minimums. Camel Morph MSA is a Modern Standard Arabic analyser meeting Qur'anic Arabic.
People and events named
Absent
Common claims the text does not itself establish
Part absent
Provisional stand-in: studies tagged a common misconception that cite this surah
Derived link every current study that carries the common-misconception tag and cites a verse of this surah. That tag is a discovery aid, not a mark that the text does not establish the claim — that mark does not exist yet — so this list is provisional and not a complete account of the claims the text does not establish. The question is quoted; the answer is on the study.
Links to related topical studies
From a layer
Current studies citing a verse of this surah
21 current studies
Angels, jinn & Satan3
Resurrection, judgment, paradise & hell3
Muhammad in the Qur'an2
Prophets & messengers2
- What is the story of Moses and Khidr?18:60-65, 66-70, 71-78, 79-82
- Who is Dhul-Qarnayn in the Qur'an?18:83-85, 86-88, 92-96, 98
Science claims2
Death & dying1
End-times claims1
Faith, disbelief & accountability1
Money, work & economic ethics1
Other faiths & interreligious relations1
Purity1
- Are dogs impure in the Qur'an?18:18, 22
Stories, parables & unnamed figures1
- What is the story of the Companions of the Cave?18:9-12, 13-16, 17-18, 19-20, 22-26
Supplications & remembrance1
The Qur'an about itself1
Derived link every study whose current signature cites at least one verse of this surah, grouped by its /studies theme (largest first, ties by name, no theme last) and ordered by first verse cited. A citation is not a statement that the study is about this surah.
Source and review status
From a layer
Sources this page draws on
| Source | Licence | Attribution notice |
|---|---|---|
| Tanzil Qur'an text (Uthmani) Uthmani, Version 1.1 · cleared | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 | Qur'anic text from the Tanzil Project. Copyright (C) 2007-2026 Tanzil Project License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Source: tanzil.net · Updates: tanzil.net/updates/ https://tanzil.net/updates/ |
| Tanzil Qur'an metadata quran-data.xml v1.0 · cleared | Creative Commons Attribution — version not specified by the source | Surah metadata from Tanzil Qur'an metadata (quran-data.xml, version 1.0), Tanzil Project, tanzil.net. (C) 2008-2009 Tanzil.info. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution; the source does not state a version. Values are reproduced unchanged; this site selects and arranges them, and derives verse ranges from the division start points. https://tanzil.net/res/text/metadata/quran-data.xml |
| Camel Morph MSA v1.0, LREC-COLING 2024 release · cleared | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International | Morphological analyses from Camel Morph MSA (LREC-COLING 2024 release) by Christian Khairallah, Salam Khalifa, Reham Marzouk, Mayar Mohamadein Nassar and Nizar Habash, CAMeL Lab, New York University Abu Dhabi (Khairallah et al., 2024), https://github.com/CAMeL-Lab/camel_morph. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Modified: this site runs the analyser over its Qur'anic text, keeps only analyses whose vocalisation matches the text, removes duplicates and counts the result. https://github.com/CAMeL-Lab/camel_morph |
Source fact
Verse restatements signed for this surah
0
Derived link
Signed introduction to this surah
One hundred and ten verses holding a run of narratives: young men who take refuge in the cave this surah is named for, a man with two gardens, Moses travelling with a servant of God, and a traveller called only by a name none of the four renderings translates — closing with the sea running out before the words of the Lord would, and an instruction to say that the speaker is only a mortal like those he addresses. It opens by praising the sending down of a Book with no crookedness in it.
AALAMIN Editor · signed 2026-08-25 · Editorial
Editorial