When she saw that, she surrendered herself. But when I was about to have intercourse with her, she said: 'I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds.' I said to her: 'You fear Allah in times of hardship, yet I did not fear Him in times of ease?' So I gave her what was sufficient for her and her family. O Allah, if You know that I did that for Your sake, then relieve us of this rock.' The rock cracked open until they saw the light and were certain of deliverance.

Then the third said: 'I once did a good deed; I had two old, elderly parents who had reached a great age. I had sheep, and I used to graze them. I would alternate between my sheep and my parents, feeding them and ensuring they were full, then returning to my sheep. One day, a severe rainstorm hit me, which detained me, and I did not return until late. I came to my family but did not enter my home until I had milked my sheep. Then I went to my parents to give them a drink, but I found them already asleep. It was difficult for me to wake them, and it was difficult for me to leave my sheep [without attending to them]. So I remained sitting, with my milking vessel in my hand, until the morning woke them, then I gave them a drink. O Allah, if You know that I did that for Your sake, then relieve us of this rock.' So Allah relieved them, and they went out and returned to their families.'

12720 - From Ibn Abbas, who said: 'We went on a military expedition with Mu'awiyah, the expedition of the Strait toward the land of the Romans, and we passed by the Cave where the Companions of the Cave—whom Allah mentioned in the Quran—were. Mu'awiyah said: "If only it were revealed to us where they are so we could see them!" Ibn Abbas said to him: "That is not for you; Allah has forbidden that to those who were better than you." He said: "If you had looked at them, you would have turned from them in flight and would have been filled with terror of them." Mu'awiyah said: "I will not stop until I know their state." He sent men and said: "Go and enter the cave and look." They went, and when they entered the cave, Allah sent a wind upon them that drove them out. When that reached Ibn Abbas, he began to narrate about them and said: "They were in the kingdom of one of the tyrants who worshipped idols, and he forced the people to worship them. These young men were in the city, and when they saw that, they left that city. Allah brought them together without a prior appointment. Some of them began to say to others: 'Where do you want to go? Where are you heading?' Some of them began to conceal their intentions from others, for this one did not know why that one had left, nor did that one. So they took oaths and pledges that they would inform one another, so that if they were agreed on something [they would proceed], otherwise they would keep it secret from one another.

They agreed on a single word and said: 'Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth...' up to His saying: '...a place of rest.' He said: 'So they sat down, and their families came looking for them, not knowing where they had gone. Their matter was raised.'