Page 170 - Miracles of The Qur'an Vol. 3

Miracles Of The Quran

The number of syllables up to "sineena waizdadoo,"
meaning "number of years" is exactly 309. 127
There are 309 undotted letters in the Surah up to the term "si-
neena waizdadoo".

Then We woke them up again so that we might see which of
the two groups would better calculate the time they had
stayed there. (Surat al-Kahf, 12)

This verse reveals that the reason the Companions of the Cave
were woken was to establish which of the two groups would most accu-
rately calculate how long the slumber had lasted. The number of syllables
before this verse is exactly 309. 128

They stayed in their Cave for three hundred years and
added nine. (Surat al-Kahf, 25)

Allah, in His Eternal Wisdom, does not directly mention the number
“309” in this Surah. He does say exactly how long these companions re-
mained 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 lu-
nar 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.)

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