أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَـٰبَ ٱلْكَهْفِ وَٱلرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا۟ مِنْ ءَايَـٰتِنَا عَجَبًا
Am hasibta anna Ashaabal Kahfi war Raqeemi kaanoo min Aayaatinaa 'ajabaa
[Prophet], do you find the Companions in the Cave and al-Raqim so wondrous, among all Our other signs?
Or did you think that the companions of the cave and the inscription were, among our signs, a wonder?
The question arrives right after the earth's whole adornment has been promised to barren ground, and that sets the scale — measured against it, a group of sleepers is a modest sign. Al-raqīm has never been settled; commentators proposed an inscribed tablet, the name of a valley, the town, even the dog, and the surah lets that obscurity stand while it tells the story.