We have seen earlier that the mathematical miracle in lexical concordance can be presented in many different ways. The concordance in the Quran is sometimes referred to as lexical concordance with the universe, and sometimes merely as lexical concordance between words. We shall see a different type of evidence in this section. The 18th sura, “The Cave,” relates the story of youngsters who slept in a cave for 300 years and 9 years were later added to this time period. (We shall see why this number was not given directly as 309, but mentioned as above, in the sections on the 19 miracle. If this number had been given as 309, then the total of the numbers given in the Quran would not be a multiple of 19.)
In the 9th verse of 18th sura, the youth who stay in a cave are mentioned. Until the 25th verse, all the verses are about these young people and in the 25th verse, it is told that these youths stayed in the cave for 300+9 years. If we start counting the words from 9th verse which talks about these young people, the word that comes right after the expression “And they stayed in their cave…” is the 309th word. From the beginning of these young people’s adventure until the end of the time they stayed in the cave, the story is told in 308 words and the 309th word is the word 300+9 years which is the time they stayed in the cave. The following verse is given below:
25- They stayed in the cave: three hundred years and nine.
18-The Cave, 25
| How many years did the youngsters stay in the cave? | 309 |
| How many words are used from the beginning of the verses that describe the youngsters till the end of the parable? | 309 |
The verses describing the young people in the cave and expressing the number 309:
| The Verses | Number of Words |
| 9 | 10 |
| 10 | 16 |
| 11 | 7 |
| 12 | 9 |
| 13 | 11 |
| 14 | 19 |
| 15 | 19 |
| 16 | 19 |
| 17 | 34 |
| 18 | 22 |
| 19 | 37 |
| 20 | 13 |
| 21 | 32 |
| 22 | 33 |
| 23 | 7 |
| 24 | 17 |
| 25 | 3 |
| TOTAL | 308+ |
308+ (the 309th word gives the meaning of 309)
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W |
e have seen earlier that the mathematical miracle in lexical concordance can be presented in many different ways. The concordance in the Quran is sometimes referred to as lexical concordance with the universe, and sometimes merely as lexical concordance between words. We shall see a different type of evidence in this section. The 18th sura, “The Cave,” relates the story of youngsters who slept in a cave for 300 years and 9 years were later added to this time period. (We shall see why this number was not given directly as 309, but mentioned as above, in the sections on the 19 miracle. If this number had been given as 309, then the total of the numbers given in the Quran would not be a multiple of 19.)