<P> In Christian and Islamic tradition, the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus (Arabic: اصحاب الکھف ‎, translit . aṣḥāb al kahf, lit .' people of the cave') is the story of a group of youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus around 250 AD to escape a religious persecution and emerge 300 years later . </P> <P> 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 (538--594), and in Paul the Deacon's (720--799) History of the Lombards . The best - known Western version of the story appears in Jacobus de Varagine's Golden Legend . </P> <P> The Roman Martyrology mentions the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus under the date of 27 July (June according to Vatican II calendar). The Byzantine Calendar commemorates them with feasts on 4 August and 22 October . The ninth - century Irish calendar Félire Óengusso commemorates the Seven Sleepers on August 7 . </P> <P> The story appears in the Qur'an (Surah Al - Kahf, verse 9--26) and thus is important to Islam . The Quranic story doesn't state the exact number of sleepers, also gives the number of years that they slept as 300 solar years (equivalent to 309 lunar years). The Islamic version includes mention of a dog who accompanied the youths into the cave and appears to keep watch . In Islam, these youths are referred to as "The People of the Cave". </P>

Name of the dog of ashab e kahf