Seven Sleepers

Seven Sleepers

The Seven Sleepers, commonly called the "Seven Sleepers of Ephesus", refers to a group of Christian youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus around 250 AD, to escape a persecution of Christians being conducted during the reign of the Roman emperor Decius. Having fallen asleep inside the cave, they purportedly awoke approximately 300–309 years later during the reign of Theodosius II, following which they were reportedly seen by the people of the now-Christian city before dying. The earliest version of this story comes from the Syrian bishop Jacob of Sarug (c. 450-521), which is itself derived from an earlier Greek source, now lost. An outline of this tale appears in Gregory of Tours (b. 538, d. 594), and in Paul the Deacon's (b. 720, d. 799) History of the Lombards. The best-known Western version of the story appears in Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend.

The story has its highest prominence, however, in the Muslim world; it is told in the Qur'an (Surah 18, verse 9-26). The Quranic rendering of this story doesn't show exactly the number of sleepers Surah 18, verse 22. Unlike the Christian story, the Islamic version includes mention of a dog who accompanied the youths into the cave, and kept watch at the entrance for the entire time (see Islamic interpretation). In Islam, these youths are referred to as "The People of the Cave". It represents one of the trials of Muhammad by the Jewish elders of Madina while he was in Makkah; by explaining this mystery to his followers, Muhammad confirmed his being a Prophet of God.

The Roman Martyrology mentions the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus under the date of 27 July, as follows: "Commemoration of the seven Holy Sleepers of Ephesus, who, it is recounted, after undergoing martyrdom, rest in peace, awaiting the day of resurrection." The Byzantine Calendar commemorates them with feasts on 4 August and 22 October.