Kahf (cave) means a wide cavity inside a mountain. The one that is not wide is called ğar (cave). An-Naqqash narrated from Anas b. Malik that: Kahf means mountain. However, this is not a well-known meaning in the language.

There are different opinions of scholars about "Raqim". Ibn Abbas said: I know everything in the Quran, except for four things: These are: Gislin (al-Haqqa, 36), Hannan, (Maryam, 13), Awwah (at-Tawbah, 114) and Raqim. He was once asked about Raqim and he gave the following answer: Ka'b claimed that Raqim was a town they went out and left. Mujahid said that Raqim is a valley. As-Suddi said: Raqim is a piece of rock above the cave.

Ibn Zayd also said: Al-Raqim is a book (writing) in which Allah has covered up his situation from us and has not explained the incident to us. Another group says: Al-Raqim is a writing on a copper tablet. Ibn Abbas also said: It is a lead tablet on which the disbelievers wrote the incident of the young men who escaped from them and accepted it as the beginning of history for themselves, and recorded the time they left, how many there were and who they were with. Al-Farra also said: Al-Raqim is a lead tablet on which they wrote their names, lineage, religion and who they escaped from.

Ibn Atiyya says: According to these narrations, this society was a society that recorded events with their dates. This is an important virtue of that country and a useful thing. All these views are derived from the meaning of the word "al-Raqim". The commandment "It is a written book" (al-Mutaffifin, 9) also comes from here. The name "al-Arkam" (a type of highly poisonous snake) comes from here because of its lines, and the word "Rakmatu'l-Wadi", meaning the place where water flows and deviates, also comes from here.

There is no contradiction between the narrations from Ibn Abbas. Because he heard the first view from Ka'b. It is possible that he expressed the second view after he learned the meaning of Raqim later.

Said b. Jubayr also narrates that he said the following: Ibn Abbas, referring to the Companions of the Cave, said: When it was understood that these young men were missing, their relatives tried to find them. They could not find them. When the situation was presented to the ruler, he said: In the future, it will become clear that they have a very important situation. Then, he had a lead tablet prepared, wrote their names on it and put it in his treasury. This tablet is what is called "Altitude".