Quran 18, 10-25.

¹⁰So We sealed upon their ears in the cave for a number of years. ¹¹ Then We sent them to know which of the two groups had remained for as long as they stayed. ¹² We narrate to you their news with truth. They were youths who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance. ¹³ And We made firm their hearts when they stood and said: "Our Lord, the Lord of heavens and Earth, we will not call besides Him any god. If we have done so then it was in error. ¹⁴ Here are our people, they have taken gods besides Him, while they do not come with any clear authority. Who then is more wicked than one who invents lies about God?" ¹⁵ So when you withdraw from them and what they serve besides God, seek refuge in the cave, and your Lord will distribute His mercy upon you and prepare for your problem a solution […]. ¹⁷ And you would think they are awake while they are asleep. And We turn them on the right-side and on the left-side, and their dog has his legs outstretched in their midst. If you looked upon them you would have run away from them and you would have been filled with terror from them! ¹⁸ And it was thus that We delivered them so they would ask themselves. A speaker from amongst them said: "How long have you stayed?" They said: "We stayed a day or part of a day." He said: "Your Lord is surely aware how long you stayed, so send one of you with these stamped coins of yours to the city, and let him see which is the tastiest food, and let him come with a provision of it. And let him be careful and let no one take notice of you." […] ²⁰ We revealed their case so that they would know that God's promise is true and that there is no doubt regarding the Hour. They argued amongst themselves regarding them, so they said: "Erect a monument for them!" Their Lord is fully aware of them, those who managed to win the argument said: "We will construct a temple over them." ²¹ They will Say: "Three, the fourth is their dog." And they Say: "Five, the sixth is their dog," guessing at what they do not know. And they Say: "Seven, and the eighth is their dog." Say: "My Lord is fully aware of their number, none know them except for a few." […] ²⁴ And they remained in their cave for three hundred years, and increased by nine. ²⁵ Say: "God is fully aware how long they remained, to Him is the unseen of heavens and Earth, He sees and hears. They do not have besides Him any ally, nor does He share in His judgment with anyone."

Quran 18, 10-25. Trans. by Progressive Muslim Organization (public domain). http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Quran_%28Progressive_Muslims_Organization%29 (19/12/2014)

The Quranic narrative is inspired by Christian traditions. This very short story is of great complexity. The elements of the story are intertwined and there are several mysterious terms. Who are the confined young people that the Quran designates as the "people of al-raqim”? Is al-raqim a place? A book? A stone on which people wrote? How many were there? What circumstances led them to seek refuge in the cave near a city whose name remains mysterious? We can guess that they fled from the idolaters and continued to assert their faith in one God (14-16). Does the elapsed time of three hundred years correspond to the differences in the solar and lunar calendars? Considering that in the Muslim tradition dogs are impure animals, what is the dog doing in front of the cave? Why did God cradle and return the young people? Only a few verses of sura 18 are cited. We will focus only on the essential elements. The circumstances: the Sleepers professed their faith (verses 12 and 13) before an idolatrous prince. They preferred to leave the world of idolaters and take refuge inside a cave. Their adventure is presented as a lesson for believers. Their loyalty to God was rewarded. God watched over them and awakened them. Just as these young people, Muslims must give themselves wholeheartedly to an omniscient God, who knows everything and decides everything. The rhetoric of salvation inspires verse 20: those who give themselves to him will be resurrected during the last judgment. According to the Quran, the people who discovered the extraordinary adventure of the Sleepers, decided to pay them tribute and proposed erecting a building (a "chapel" or "sanctuary" depending on the translations) over the cave. It is not a mosque, a name that was given later to the place of worship in Islam.

The transmission of the legend of the Seven sleepers

The images originate from a private collection of the Orientalist scholar Louis Massignon. We note the similar representations in Christian and Islamic images.

Manoël Penicaud: « Nouveaux réveils des Sept Dormants et étude de cas en Méditerranée » published in « Les pratiques religieuses et leurs relais culturels », Science et Video, des écritures multimedia en sciences humaines, n° 4 (undated). http://scienceandvideo.mmsh.univ-aix.fr/numeros/4/Pages/5.aspx (19/12/2014)

Tunisia has recently experienced many political reuses of the myth of the Seven Sleepers in the revolutionary context of the so-called “Arab Springs”. All these artistic endeavours are made by political activists. In late January 2011, a Tunisian poet, Mohsen Lihideb, wrote a text entitled “The Shark Hunt”, in which he specifically referred to the Seven Sleepers in order to describe the homecoming of fishers who find their city transformed after the flight of the tyrant of the legend (Zine El Abidine Ben Ali). Here, the myth is used in a political meaning instead of the eschatological perspective. Still in Tunisia, a collective of young artists and political activists took the name “Ahl al-Khaf” (the People of the Cave in Arab) before Ben Ali’s downfall, and were making dissident Street Art. The relation to the Sleepers is explained by the clandestine nature of the underground group (like the Sleepers taking refuge in the cave without denying their values). Since Ben Ali’s departure, they continue to make art in the urban space with their revolutionary creativity.

As eyelets in Portugal (1974) or roses in Georgia (2003), jasmine, the symbolic flower of Tunisia, has given its name to the protests that in 2011 led to the overthrow of Ben Ali, who was president since 1987. Under Ben Ali, the jasmine flower was featured in all tourist brochures, promoting the "country of jasmine founded on the value of sharing" as tolerant and "carefree". In 2011, the jasmine flower became the symbol of rebellion. The examples used illustrate the diversion from the original meaning of the Quranic story and its vitality in Muslim cultures. For example, paintings and collages represents the victims of the repression of martyrs recalling the images of the People of the Cave who were persecuted for their beliefs.

Manoël Penicaud: « Nouveaux réveils des Sept Dormants et étude de cas en Méditerranée » published in « Les pratiques religieuses et leurs relais culturels », Science et Video, des écritures
multimedia en sciences humaines, n° 4 (undated). Trans. Renaud Rochette.
http://scienceandvideo.mmsh.univ-aix.fr/numeros/4/Pages/5.aspx
(19/12/2014)