As far as what has been revealed in the Qura’n and said in the famous traditions the story goes this way:

“Once there was a very cruel king whose name was Daqianus, some people have named him as “Wasiyus” also. He lived between the first and the third century A.D. His capital was” Ufsoos” and he had some ministers. Once they (The people of the Cave) realized that idolatry was baseless so they decided to get freedom from its frivolities. They left their city secretly and journeyed to an unknown place. They reached a cave after some time and decided to make it their abode.

God imposed a very long sleep on them in the cave. They slept for hundred of years. When they woke up they began asking each other about how long they slept and they though they had slept for not more than a day or a major part

Of it. The surroundings however were telling a different tale and so they fell in doubt.

Since they were feeling hungry they sent one from among them to the city to bring some food quietly. But his secret was laid bare when he tried to pay for the food because of the coins they gave. Their attire and behavior was also different from those of this time. The people had heard that a long time ago some young men who were well placed had vanished. The evidence now pointed to them being the same people. When the people came to know they gathered around them but that person came back to the cave and they all slept again and closed their eyes to this world. The people erected a place of worship at the place in their memory.