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{{short description|Story in Christian folklore and the Qur'an}}
{{for|the Feeder EP|Seven Sleepers (EP)}}
{{Infobox saint
|name=Seven sleepers
|birth_date=
|death_date=
|feast_day=27 July<br>4 August, October 22 (Eastern Christianity)
|venerated_in=[[Catholic Church]]<br />[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br />[[Oriental Orthodox Church]]<br />[[Islam]]
|image=Seven sleepers (Menologion of Basil II).jpg
|imagesize=
|caption=[[Illuminated manuscript|Illustration]] from the ''[[Menologion of Basil II]]''
|birth_place=
|death_place=
|titles=
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=[[Pre-congregation|Pre-Congregation]]
|canonized_place=
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|attributes=
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[[Image:7sleepersmedievalmanuscript.jpg|thumb|right|[[Decius]] orders the [[immurement|walling in]] of the Seven sleepers<ref name=Fortescue>{{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=Seven Sleepers of Ephesus|volume=5 |last=Fortescue|first=Adrian}}</ref> From a 14th-century manuscript.]]

In both [[Christianity|Christian]] and [[Islam]]ic tradition, the '''Seven Sleepers''' ({{Lang-el|επτά κοιμώμενοι|hepta koimōmenoi}},<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A9s7AQAAMAAJ&dq=%CE%B5%CF%80%CF%84%CE%AC+%CE%BA%CE%BF%CE%B9%CE%BC%CF%8E%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%BD%CE%BF%CE%B9&pg=PA210|title=Koranion|date=January 6, 1886|publisher=Typographeion tōn katastēmatōn A. Kōnstantinidou|via=Google Books}}</ref> {{Lang-la|Septem dormientes}}), otherwise known as '''Aṣḥāb al-kahf''',
'''Sleepers of Ephesus''' and '''Companions of the Cave''',<ref name="Archer 2016">{{cite journal |last=Archer |first=George |date=October 2016 |title=The Hellhound of the Qur'an: A Dog at the Gate of the Underworld |journal=[[Journal of Qur'anic Studies]] |location=[[Edinburgh]] |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] on behalf of the Centre for Islamic Studies at the [[School of Oriental and African Studies]] |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=1–33 |doi=10.3366/jqs.2016.0248 |eissn=1755-1730 |issn=1465-3591 |oclc=43733991}}</ref> are said to be a group of youths who hid inside a cave<ref name="madaincavelocation" /> 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 [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|one of the Roman persecutions of Christians]] and awake some 300 years later. Another version of the story appears in the [[Quran]] ([[Q18:9–26|18:9–26]]).<ref name="Archer 2016"/> It was also translated into [[New Persian|Persian]], [[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]], and [[Tatar language|Tatar]].<ref name=WW>Witold Witakowski, [https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Sleepers-of-Ephesus-Legend-of-the "Sleepers of Ephesus, Legend of the"], in ''Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition'', edited by [[Sebastian P. Brock]], Aaron M. Butts, [[George A. Kiraz]] and Lucas Van Rompay (Gorgias Press, 2011; online ed. Beth Mardutho, 2018).</ref>

As regards the Christian version, the earliest known version of this story is found in the writings of the Syriac bishop [[Jacob of Serugh]] ({{circa|450}}–521), who relies on an earlier Greek source, now lost.<ref name="van-der-horst-2011" /> An outline of this tale appears in the writings of [[Gregory of Tours]] (538–594) and in ''History of the [[Lombards]]'' of [[Paul the Deacon]] (720–799).<ref>{{cite book |last=Liuzza |first=R. M. |date=2016 |editor1-last=Kears |editor1-first=Carl |editor2-last=Paz |editor2-first=James |title=Medieval Science Fiction |chapter=The Future is a Foreign Country: The Legend of the Seven Sleepers and the Anglo–Saxon Sense of the Past |publisher=[[King's College London]], Centre for Late Antique & Medieval Studies |page=66 |isbn=978-0-9539838-8-9}}</ref> The best-known Western version of the story appears in [[Jacobus de Voragine]]'s ''[[Golden Legend]]'' (1259–1266). See [[Bibliotheca Hagiographica Orientalis|BHO]] (''Pueri septem'') ##1012-1022;<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Peeters |first1=P. |url=http://archive.org/details/bibliothecahagio00peetuoft |title=Bibliotheca hagiographica orientalis |last2=Société de Bollandistes |date=1910 |publisher=Bruxellis, apud editores [Beyrouth (Syrie) Imprimerie catholique] |others=Robarts – University of Toronto}}</ref> [[Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca|BHG]] (''Pueri VII'') ##1593–1599;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bollandistes |url=http://archive.org/details/bibliothecahagi00boll |title=Bibliotheca hagiographica graeca |date=1909 |publisher=Bruxellis, Société des Bollandistes |others=PIMS – University of Toronto}}</ref> [[Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina|BHL]] ''Dormientes (Septem) Ephesi'' ##2313–2319.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bollandists |url=http://archive.org/details/bibliothecahagio01boll |title=Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquae et mediae aetatis |date=1898 |publisher=Bruxellis: [s.n.] |others=PIMS – University of Toronto}}</ref>

Accounts are found in at least nine medieval languages and preserved in over 200 manuscripts, mainly dating to between the 9th and 13th centuries. These include 104 [[Latin]] manuscripts, 40 [[Greek language|Greek]], 33 [[Arabic]], 17 [[Syriac language|Syriac]], six [[Ethiopic]], five [[Coptic language|Coptic]], two [[Armenian language|Armenian]], one [[Middle Irish]], and one [[Old English]].<ref name=BG>Bartłomiej Grysa, [http://czasopisma.upjp2.edu.pl/orientalia/article/view/1011 "The Legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in Syriac and Arab Sources: A Comparative Study"], ''Orientalia Christiana Cracoviensia'' '''2''' (2010): 45–59.</ref><ref>[[Hugh Magennis (scholar)|Hugh Magennis]], [http://digital.library.leeds.ac.uk/298/1/LSE1991_pp43-56_Magennis_article.pdf "The Anonymous Old English Legend of the Seven Sleepers and its Latin Source"], ''Leeds Studies in English'', n.s. '''22''' (1991): 43–56.</ref> It was also translated into [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]]. In the 13th century, the poet [[Chardri]] composed an [[Old French]] version. The ninth-century Irish calendar {{lang|sga|[[Félire Óengusso]]}} commemorates the Seven Sleepers on 7 August.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stokes|first=Whitley|author-link=Whitley Stokes|title=The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee: Félire Óengusso Céli Dé|url=https://archive.org/details/martyrologyoeng01stokgoog|year=1905|publisher=Harrison and Sons|page=[https://archive.org/details/martyrologyoeng01stokgoog/page/n62 4]}}</ref>

The most recent edition of the ''[[Roman Martyrology]]'' commemorates the Seven Sleepers of [[Ephesus]] under the date of 27 July.<ref>''[[Martyrologium Romanum]]'' ([[Vatican Publishing House|Libreria Editrice Vaticana]] 2004, p. 416 {{ISBN|88-209-7210-7}})</ref> The [[Byzantine calendar]] commemorates them with feasts on 4 August and 22 October. [[Syriac Orthodox]] calendars gives various dates: 21 April, 2 August, 13 August, 23 October and 24 October.<ref name=WW/>

==Number, duration and names==
Early versions do not all agree on or even specify the number of sleepers. Some Jewish circles and the [[Christian community of Najran|Christians of Najran]] believed in only three brothers; the [[Church of the East|East Syriac]], five.<ref name=BG/> Most Syriac accounts have eight, including a nameless watcher which God sets over the sleepers.<ref name=WW/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/4673572 |title=The Quran in its Historical Context - Reynolds et al|last=Said Reynolds |first=Gabriel|date=2008|page=127-128 |website=academia.edu |access-date= June 25, 2022}}</ref> A 6th century latin text titled Pilgrimage of Theodosius featured the sleepers as seven people in number, with a dog named Viricanus.<ref name="Reynolds">Reynolds, Gabriel Said "The Qur'an and the Bible: Text and commentary" Yale University Press, 2018, p. 454.</ref><ref>Tobias Nicklas in: C. R. Moss et al. (eds.), ''The Other Side: Apocryphal Perspectives on Ancient Christian “Orthodoxies”'' (2017), p. 26.</ref> However, in Islam no specific number is mentioned. [[Al-Kahf#Summary|Qur'an 18:22]] discusses the disputes regarding their numbers. The verse says:

<blockquote>Some will say, "They were three, their dog was the fourth," while others will say, "They were five, their dog was the sixth," only guessing blindly. And others will say, "They were seven and their dog was the eighth." Say, O Prophet, "My Lord knows best their exact number. Only a few people know as well." So do not argue about them except with sure knowledge, nor consult any of those who debate about them.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://quran.com/18/9-26 |title=Juz 15 / Hizb 30 - Page 294 |website=quran.com |accessdate=February 4, 2023}}</ref></blockquote>

The number of years the sleepers slept also varies between accounts. The highest number, given by Gregory of Tours, was 373 years. Some accounts have 372. [[Jacobus de Voragine]] calculated it at 196 (from the year 252 until 448).<ref name=BG/> Other calculations suggest 195.<ref name=WW/> Islamic accounts, including the Qur'an, give a sleep of 309 years. These are presumably [[lunar year]]s, which would make it 300 [[solar year]]s. [[Al-Kahf#Summary|Qur'an 18:25]] says, "And they remained in their cave for three hundred years and exceeded by nine."<ref>[[Mustafa Khattab|Khattab, M.]], trans., [https://quran.com/18:25?store=false&translations= ''Qur'an'', "Al-Kahf—The Cave", 18:25], Quran.com.</ref>

Bartłomiej Grysa lists at least seven different sets of names for the sleepers:<ref name=BG/>
* Maximian, Martinian, Dionisius, John, Constantine, Malchus, Serapion
* Maximilian, Martinian, Dionisius, John, Constantine, Malkhus, Serapion, Anthony
* Maximilian, Martinian, Dionisius, John, Constantine, Yamblikh (Iamblichus), Anthony
* Makṯimilīnā (Maksimilīnā, Maḥsimilīnā), Marnūš (Marṭūs), Kafašṭaṭyūš (Ksōṭōnos), Yamlīḫā (Yamnīḫ), Mišlīnā, Saḏnūš, Dabranūš (Bīrōnos), Samōnos, Buṭōnos, Qālos (according to aṭ-Ṭabarī and [[ad-Damīrī]])
* Achillides, Probatus, Stephanus, Sambatus, Quiriacus, Diogenus, Diomedes (according to Gregory of Tours)
* Ikilios, Fruqtis, Istifanos, Sebastos, Qiryaqos, Dionisios (according to [[Michael the Syrian]])
* Aršellītīs, Probatios, Sabbastios, Stafanos, Kīriakos, Diōmetios, Avhenios (according to the Coptic version)

==Origins==
Whether the original account was written in Syriac or Greek was a matter of debate, but today a Greek original is generally accepted.<ref name=BG/><ref name=WW/> The pilgrim account ''[[De situ terrae sanctae]]'', written between 518 and 531, records the existence of a church dedicated to the sleepers in Ephesus.<ref name=WW/>

The story appeared in several Syriac sources before Gregory of Tours's lifetime. The earliest Syriac manuscript copy is in MS Saint-Petersburg No. 4, which dates to the fifth century.<ref name=WW/> It was retold by [[Symeon the Metaphrast]]. The Seven Sleepers form the subject of a homily in verse by the [[Edessa]]n poet-theologian [[Jacob of Serugh]] (died 521),<ref name=Sabine/> which was published in the ''[[Acta Sanctorum]]''. Another sixth-century version, in a Syrian manuscript in the [[British Museum]] (''Cat. Syr. Mss'', p. 1090), gives eight sleepers.

== Account in the Quran ==
{{main|Al-Kahf}}
This Surah was sent down in answer to the three questions which the ''mushriks'' of Makkah, in consultation with the people of the Book, had put to the Holy Prophet in order to test him. These were: (1) Who were "the Sleepers of the Cave"? (2) What is the soul/or made with
(3) What do you know about Zul-Qarnain?<ref>{{Cite web |title=18. Surah Al Kahf (The Cave) - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an |url=http://www.englishtafsir.com/quran/18/index.html |access-date=2023-02-16 |website=www.englishtafsir.com}}</ref>

The story of the Companions of the Cave ({{lang-ar|أصحاب الکهف|translit='aṣḥāb al-kahf}}) is referred to in [[Quran 18:9-26]].<ref name="Archer 2016" /> The precise number of the sleepers is not stated. The Quran furthermore points to the fact that people, shortly after the incident emerged, started to make "idle guesses" as to how many people were in the cave. To this the Quran asserts that: "My Sustainer knows best how many they were".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Message of the Quran, by M. Asad, Surah 18:22}}</ref> Similarly, regarding the exact period of time the people stayed in the cave, the Quran, after asserting the guesswork of the people that "they remained in the cave for 300 years and nine added", resolves that "God knows best how long they remained [there]." According to the 25th verse of Al-Kahf, the Companions of the Cave have slept for 300 years in the solar calendar and slept 309 in the lunar calendar since the lunar calendar is 11 days shorter than the solar, which explains the inclusion of the additional nine years.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Message of the Quran, by M. Asad, Surah 18:25–26}}</ref> The Quran says the sleepers included a dog, who sat at the entrance of the cave (verse 18).<ref name="Archer 2016" /><ref>Islam Folktales The Dog of Ashab Al-Kahf The 7 Sleepers (The People of The Cave); By Mega Hikari Aminah, Muham Taqra;
[https://books.google.co.in/books]</ref>

== Christian story ==

===Story===
[[File:Seven sleepers.jpg|thumb|A 19th century German votive painting of the Seven Sleepers. The writing says ''Bittet für uns Ihr hl. sieben Schläfer'' (''Pray for us, Holy Seven Sleepers'').]]
The story says that during the [[persecution of Christians|persecutions]] by the Roman emperor [[Decius]], around AD 250, seven young men were accused of following [[Christianity]]. They were given some time to recant their faith, but they refused to bow to Roman idols. Instead they chose to give their worldly goods to the poor and retire to a mountain cave to pray, where they fell asleep. The Emperor, seeing that their attitude towards [[paganism]] had not improved, ordered the mouth of the cave to be sealed.<ref name=Fortescue/>
[[File:Siebenschläferkirche in Rotthof (Ruhsdorf an der Rott) aussen Südseite - Siebenschläfer-Reliefs 1 und 2 - Bild 2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Headstone]]s in the [[:de:Siebenschläferkirche (Rotthof)|Siebenschläferkirche (Rotthof), Germany]]]]

Decius died in 251, and many years passed during which Christianity went from being persecuted to being the [[State church of the Roman Empire|state religion of the Roman Empire]]. At some later time—usually given as during the reign of [[Theodosius II]] (408–450)—in AD 447 when heated discussions were taking place between various schools of Christianity about the resurrection of the body in the day of judgement and life after death, a landowner decided to open up the sealed mouth of the cave, thinking to use it as a cattle pen. He opened it and found the sleepers inside. They awoke, imagining that they had slept but one day, and sent one of their number to Ephesus to buy food, with instructions to be careful.<ref name=Sabine>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/curiousmythsofmi00bariuoft|title=Curious myths of the Middle Ages|first=S. (Sabine)|last=Baring-Gould|date=January 6, 1876|publisher=London, Rivingtons|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

Upon arriving in the city, this person was astounded to find buildings with crosses attached; the townspeople for their part were astounded to find a man trying to spend old coins from the reign of Decius. The bishop was summoned to interview the sleepers; they told him their miracle story, and died praising God.<ref name=Fortescue/> The various lives of the Seven Sleepers in Greek are listed and in other non-Latin languages at [[Bibliotheca Hagiographica Orientalis|''BHO'']].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/bibliothecahagio00peetuoft|title=Bibliotheca hagiographica orientalis|first1=P.|last1=Peeters|last2=Société de Bollandistes|date=25 October 2018|publisher=Bruxellis, apud editores [Beyrouth (Syrie) Imprimerie catholique]|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

===Dissemination===
The story rapidly attained a wide diffusion throughout Christendom. It was popularized in the West by Gregory of Tours, in his late 6th-century collection of miracles, ''De gloria martyrum'' (''Glory of the Martyrs)''.<ref name=Sabine/> Gregory claimed to have gotten the story from "a certain Syrian interpreter" (''Syro quidam interpretante''), but this could refer to either a Syriac- or Greek-speaker from the Levant.<ref name=WW/> During the period of the [[Crusades]], bones from the sepulchres near Ephesus, identified as relics of the Seven Sleepers, were transported to [[Marseille]], France, in a large stone coffin, which remained a trophy of the [[Abbey of St Victor, Marseille]].

The Seven Sleepers were included in the ''[[Golden Legend]]'' compilation, the most popular book of the later Middle Ages, which fixed a precise date for their resurrection, AD 478, in the reign of Theodosius.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/golden235.htm |title=The Seven Sleepers |website=The Golden Legend |url-status=dead |quote=It is in doubt of that which is said that they slept three hundred and sixty-two years, for they were raised the year of our Lord four hundred and seventy-eight, and Decius reigned but one year and three months, and that was in the year of our Lord two hundred and seventy, and so they slept but two hundred and eight years. |archive-date=6 January 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030106115440/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/golden235.htm }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Jacobus |editor-first=H.D. |editor-last=Madge |others=C.M. Watts (illustrator) |date=1899 |author-link=Jacobus de Voragine |title=Leaves from the Golden Legend |chapter=XV — The Seven Sleepers |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EIMSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA167 |pages=174–175 |quote=It is doubt of that which is said that they slept ccclxii. years. For they were raised the year of Our Lord IIIICLXXXIII. And Decius reigned but one year and three months and that was in the year of our Lord CC and LXX., and so they slept but iic. and viii. years. |via=Google Books }}</ref>

==Caves of the Seven Sleepers==
Several sites<ref name="madaincavelocation">{{cite web |title=Cave of Ashabe Kahf (The Cave of the Seven Sleepers) |url=https://madainproject.com/cave_of_ashab_e_kahf |website=Madain Project |access-date=2 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102114623/https://madainproject.com/cave_of_ashab_e_kahf |archive-date=2 November 2020}}</ref> are attributed as the "Cave of the Seven Sleepers", but none have been archaeologically proven to be the actual site. As the earliest versions of the legend spread from [[Ephesus]], an early Christian [[catacomb]] came to be associated with it, attracting scores of pilgrims. On the slopes of Mount Pion (Mount Coelian) near Ephesus (near modern [[Selçuk]] in Turkey), the [[grotto]] of the Seven Sleepers with ruins of the religious site built over it was excavated in 1926–1928.<ref>[[Nancy Thomson de Grummond|de Grummond, N. T.]], ed., ''Encyclopedia of the History of Classical Archaeology'' (London & New York: Routledge, 1996), [https://books.google.com/books?id=LeE4CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA394 p. 394].</ref>{{rp|394}} The excavation brought to light several hundred graves dated to the 5th and 6th centuries. Inscriptions dedicated to the Seven Sleepers were found on the walls and in the graves. This grotto is still shown to tourists.

Other possible sites of the cave of the Seven Sleepers are in Damascus, Syria and [[Afşin]] and [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]], Turkey. Afşin is near the antique [[Roman Empire|Roman]] city of [[Arabissus]], to which the [[East Roman]] Emperor [[Justinian]] paid a visit. The site was a [[Hittites|Hittite]] temple, used as a Roman temple and later as a church in Roman and [[Byzantine]] times. The Emperor brought marble niches from Western Anatolia as gifts for it, which are preserved inside the [[Eshab-ı Kehf Kulliye]] mosque to this day. The [[Seljuks]] continued to use the place of worship as a church and a mosque. It was turned into a mosque over time, with the conversion of the local population to Islam.

There is a cave near [[Amman]], Jordan, also known as the cave of seven sleepers, which has eight smaller sealed tombs present inside and a ventilation duct coming out of the cave.<ref>[https://www.lonelyplanet.com/jordan/amman/attractions/cave-of-the-seven-sleepers/a/poi-sig/1105549/361068 Cave of the Seven Sleepers] (at [[Lonely Planet]])</ref>

<gallery caption="Caves regarded as the cave from the story of the Seven Sleepers">
File:Seven Sleeper Cave Entrance.jpg|Entrance to the cave, near [[Amman]], Jordan
File:Graves of the cave of seven sleepers.jpeg|Graves in the Cave of the Seven Sleepers, Jordan
File:Cave of seven sleepers.jpeg|Nameplate of the cave, Jordan
File:Seven-sleepers efesus turkey.jpg|The cave in [[Ephesus]], Turkey
File:Eshab-ı Kehf - panoramio.jpg|[[Eshab-ı Kehf Kulliye]] in [[Afşin]] with the cave inside, Turkey
File:137 Yediuyurlar.Tarsus.07.2006 resize.JPG|[[Eshab-ı Kehf Cave]] in [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]], Turkey
</gallery>

==Modern literature==
===Early modern===
[[File:Famous German story of the collection, Life of the Saints, Der Heiligen Leben, including the legend of the Seven Sleepers, 15th century CE, Germany.jpg|thumb|The famous German story of the collection "Life of the Saints" (Der Heiligen Leben), including the legend of "the Seven Sleepers", 15th century, Germany]]
[[File:The Arabic story of Companions of the Cave, Qissat Ahl el-Kahaf, 1494 CE, origin unknown.jpg|thumb|The Arabic story of the Companions of the Cave (Seven Sleepers; Qissat Ahl el-Kahaf), 1494, origin unknown]]
The account had become proverbial in 16th century Protestant culture. The poet [[John Donne]] could ask,

<poem>
I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers' den?—John Donne, "[[The Good-Morrow]]".</poem>

In [[John Heywood]]'s ''Play called the Four PP'' (1530s), the Pardoner, a Renaissance update of the protagonist in [[Geoffrey Chaucer|Chaucer]]'s "[[The Pardoner's Tale]]", offers his companions the opportunity to kiss "a slipper / Of one of the Seven Sleepers", but the relic is presented as absurdly as the Pardoner's other offerings, which include "the great-toe of the Trinity" and "a buttock-bone of Pentecost."<ref>{{cite book |title=Medieval and Tudor Drama |url=https://archive.org/details/medievaltudordra00john |url-access=registration |editor-first=John |editor-last=Gassner |location=New York |publisher=Applause |year=1987 |page=[https://archive.org/details/medievaltudordra00john/page/245 245] |isbn=9780936839844}}</ref>

Little is heard of the Seven Sleepers during [[the Enlightenment]], but the account revived with the coming of [[Romanticism]]. The ''Golden Legend'' may have been the source for retellings of the Seven Sleepers in [[Thomas de Quincey]]'s ''[[Confessions of an English Opium-Eater]]'', in a poem by [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]], [[Washington Irving]]'s "[[Rip van Winkle]]", [[H. G. Wells]]'s ''[[The Sleeper Awakes]]''. It also might have an influence on the motif of the "[[King asleep in mountain]]". [[Mark Twain]] did a burlesque of the story of the Seven Sleepers in Chapter 13 of Volume 2 of ''The Innocents Abroad''.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Unabridged Mark Twain |url=https://archive.org/details/unabridgedmarktw02twai |url-access=registration |author=Samuel Clements |editor=Lawrence Teacher |location=Philadelphia PA |publisher=Running Press |year=1976 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/unabridgedmarktw02twai/page/245 pp. 245–248]}}</ref>

===Contemporary===
[[Edward Gibbon]] gives different accounts of the story in ''[[The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]''.

The [[Serbia|Serbian]] writer [[Danilo Kiš]] retells the story of the Seven Sleepers in a short story, "The Legend of the Sleepers", from his book ''The Encyclopedia of the Dead''.

The [[Italy|Italian]] author [[Andrea Camilleri]] incorporates the story in his novel ''[[The Terracotta Dog]]'' in which the protagonist is led to a cave containing the titular watchdog (as described in the ''Qur'an'' and called "Kytmyr" in [[Sicily|Sicilian]] folklore) and the saucer of silver coins with which one of the sleepers is to buy "pure food" from the bazaar in Ephesus (''Qur'an'' 18.19). The Seven Sleepers are symbolically replaced by lovers [[Lisetta Moscato]] and [[Mario Cunich]], who were killed in their nuptial bed by an assassin hired by Lisseta's incestuous father and later laid to rest in a cave in the Sicilian countryside.

In [[Susan Cooper]]'s ''[[The Dark Is Rising]]'' series, Will Stanton awakens the Seven Sleepers in ''[[The Grey King]]'', and in ''[[Silver on the Tree]]'', they ride in the last battle against the Dark.

The ''Seven Sleepers'' series by [[Gilbert Morris]] takes a modern approach to the story in which seven teenagers must be awakened to fight evil in a post-nuclear-apocalypse world.

[[John Buchan]] refers to the Seven Sleepers in ''[[The Three Hostages]]'' in which [[Richard Hannay]] surmises that his wife Mary, who is a sound sleeper, is descended from one of the seven who has married one of the [[Parable of the Ten Virgins|Foolish Virgins]].

Several languages have idioms related to the Seven Sleepers, including:
* [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]: ''hétalvó'', literally a "seven-sleeper", or "one who sleeps for an entire week", is a colloquial reference to a person who oversleeps or who is typically drowsy.<ref>Kohler, W. C., & Kurz, P. J., ''Hypnosis in the Management of Sleep Disorders'' (London & New York: [[Routledge]], 2018), [https://books.google.com/books?id=1EcrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 p. 8].</ref>{{rp|8}}
* [[Irish language|Irish]]: "Na seacht gcodlatáin" refers to hibernating animals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/codlat%C3%A1n|title=Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): codlatán|website=www.teanglann.ie}}</ref>
* [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]]: a late riser may be referred to as a ''syvsover'' ("seven sleeper")<ref>[https://ordbok.uib.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=+syvsover&ant_bokmaal=5&ant_nynorsk=5&begge=+&ordbok=begge Entry for '''syvsover'''], ''Sprakradet'', [[Language Council of Norway]].</ref>
* [[Swedish language|Swedish]]: a late riser may be referred to as a ''sjusovare'' ("seven sleeper").<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?seek=sjusovare+&pz=1#U_S2777_48588|title=sju-sovare | SAOB}}</ref>
* [[Welsh language|Welsh]]: a late riser may be referred to as a ''saith cysgadur'' ("seven sleeper") – as in the 1885 novel ''[[Rhys Lewis (novel)|Rhys Lewis]]'' by [[Daniel Owen]], where the protagonist is referred to as such in chapter 37, p. 294 (Hughes a'i Fab, [[Caerdydd]], 1948).

==See also==
*[[Epimenides]]
*[[King asleep in mountain]]
*''[[The Men of Angelos]]''
*[[Rip Van Winkle]]
*[[Seven Sleepers' Day]]
*The Three Sleepers: characters in the [[C. S. Lewis]] [[Children's literature|children's novel]] ''[[The Voyage of the Dawn Treader]]''

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="van-der-horst-2011">{{cite conference
|url=http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/symposiums/13th/papers/Horst.pdf |title=Pious Long-Sleepers in Greek, Jewish, and Christian Antiquity |author=Pieter W. van der Horst |author-link=Pieter Willem van der Horst |pages=14–15 |conference=The Thirteenth International Orion Symposium: Tradition, Transmission, and Transformation: From Second Temple Literature through Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity |date=February 2011 |conference-url=http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/symposiums/13th/main.shtml |location=Jerusalem, Israel }}</ref>

}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|chapter = [[s:Ælfric's Lives of Saints/Of the Seven Sleepers|Of the Seven Sleepers]]|title = Ælfric's Lives of Saints|year = 1881| publisher = London, Pub. for the Early English text society, by N. Trübner & co.|author=[[Ælfric of Eynsham]]}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101120065119/http://www.submission.ws/download-quran-the-final-testament/chapters-suras-quran/sura-18-the-cave-al-kahf.html Quran–Authorized English Version] The Cave- Sura 18 – Quran – Authorized English Version
* [http://www.bartleby.com/210/7/272.html "SS. Maximian, Malchus, Martinian, Dionysius, John, Serapion, and Constantine, Martyrs"], ''Butler's Lives of the Saints''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928031735/http://www.breviary.net/martyrology/mart07/mart0727.htm Text containing the Seven Sleepers' commemoration as part of the Office of Prime.]
* [[s:The Holy Qur'an/Al-Kahf|Sura al-Kahf at Wikisource]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030502024137/http://www.kusadasi.biz/sevensleepers.asp Photos of the excavated site of the Seven Sleepers cult.]
* [http://philologicumaequaevum.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/sevensleepers/ Gregory of Tours, The Patient Impassioned Suffering of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus translated by Michael Valerie]
* The Lives of the Seven Sleepers from ''The Golden Legend'' by Jacobus de Voragine, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120415100717/http://saints.sqpn.com/golden235.htm William Caxton Middle English translation.]
* The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus by Chardri, translated into English by Tony Devaney Morinelli: Medieval Sourcebook. [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/7Sleepers.html fordham.edu]

{{Characters and names in the Quran}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Medieval legends]]
[[Category:Legendary Greek people]]
[[Category:Saints from Roman Anatolia]]
[[Category:Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era]] 
[[Category:Groups of Roman Catholic saints]]
[[Category:Quranic narratives]]
[[Category:Sleep in mythology and folklore]]
[[Category:3rd-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Rip Van Winkle-type stories]]
[[Category:Dogs in religion]]
[[Category:Decian dynasty]]

Seven Sleepers - Revision history

JerilynSturgess: corrected lead per sources and updated info

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article