Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Quran: Difference between revisions

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===Slept for Hundreds of Years===
===Slept for Hundreds of Years===


Both accounts state that the youths slept for hundreds of years. The Qur'an stating that it was 300 years and the Syrian version stating the number was closer to 200. There is considerable variation in different versions of the Seven Sleeper legend as to the time frame that they slept.  Though all of them are longer than 200 years.
Both accounts state that the youths slept for hundreds of years. The Qur'an stating that it was 300 years and the Syriac version stating the number was closer to 200. There is considerable variation in different versions of the Seven Sleeper legend as to the time frame that they slept.  Though all of them are longer than 200 years.


{{Quote|{{Quran|18|25}}|
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|25}}|
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  ... so they slept but two hundred and eight years. }}
  ... so they slept but two hundred and eight years. }}


The Syrian account identifies the Emperor persecuting the seven young men as Trajan Decius, who reigned from 249 - 251 CE.  Since the story first originated around the middle of the 5<sup>th</sup> century (circa 450 CE) a sleep of 200 years would be the more accurate number.  Given this connection, some Islamic scholars and apologists in modern times have back-peddled on the number of 300 given in the Qur'an, re-interpreting it as a number given by the people at the time and not a definitive number given by Allah.
The Syriac account identifies the Emperor persecuting the seven young men as Trajan Decius, who reigned from 249 - 251 CE.  Since the story first originated around the middle of the 5<sup>th</sup> century (circa 450 CE) a sleep of 200 years would be the more accurate number.  Given this connection, some Islamic scholars and apologists in modern times have back-peddled on the number of 300 given in the Qur'an, re-interpreting it as a number given by the people at the time and not a definitive number given by Allah.


==Differences with the Syriac version==
==Differences with the Syriac version==
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