The Hellhound of the Qur'an: A Dog at the Gate of the Underworld
Q. 18:9 26 tells the story of the 'Sleepers of Ephesus''Companions of the Cave' Unique to this version of the legend, the Qur'an mentions the presence of a dog alongside the Sleepers: this dog has long been understood as the Sleepers' pet, yet it can be read as much more than this. Many other sources of the Sleepers' legend equate the mysterious sleeping figures to the sleeping dead awaiting resurrection, and the Qur'an offers many clues that its account of the Sleepers' story serves as a warning against the worship of the dead, as this confuses God's signs with the divine reality that sends them. By positing the saintly dead in a sleep state (e.g. the Syriac Christian doctrine of soul sleep; the Islamic barzakh) their cults are rendered useless. In this light, the dog in the Qur'anic account can be read not as just a simple pet, but as a guardian over the dead in symbolic continuity with figures such as Anubis and Cerberus. Thus the Sleepers' dog can be read as simultaneously functioning as an underwo.