Seven Sleepers—I
In both Christian and Islamic tradition, the Seven Sleepers (Greek: επτά κοιμώμενοι, romanized: hepta koimōmenoi, Latin: Septem dormientes), otherwise known as Aṣḥāb al-kahf, Sleepers of Ephesus and Companions of the Cave, are said to be a group of youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus (modern-day Selçuk, Turkey) around AD 250 to escape persecution and emerged many years later. In the Christian version they are seeking to escape one of the Roman persecutions of Christians and awake some 300 years later. Another version of the story appears in the Quran (18:9–26). It was also translated into Persian, Kyrgyz, and Tatar.
