The people of the Cave are the people of the Inscription

Were the people of the Cave the people of the Inscription, or were
these two different groups of people?
Praise be to Allaah. Shaykh al-Shanqeeti said, commenting on the
aayah(interpretation of the meaning): "Do you think that the people
of the Cave and the Inscription (the news or the names ofthe people of
the Cave) were a wonder among Our Signs?" [al-Kahf 18:9]
The apparent meaning is that the People of the Cave and of the
Inscription were all one group, mentioned in conjunction with two
things. This is in contrast to those who say that the people of the
Cave were one group and the peopleof the Inscription were another
group. Allaah toldthis story to His Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon them) in this soorah, and He did not mention anything
about the people of the Inscription. This is unlike those who claim
that the people of the Cave were three persons behind whom the rock
fell and blocked the entrance of the cave in which they were, so they
prayed to Allaah by virtue of their righteous deeds; they were one who
honoured his parents, one who was chaste, and one who was a hired
labourer. Their story is well known and isproven in al-Saheeh, but
interpreting this aayah as meaning that these were the people referred
to therein is far-fetched as you can see. It should be noted there is
nothing about the story of the people of the cave, their names and
which part of the earth they were in that has been narrated in any
sound report from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him), in addition to what is mentioned in the Qur'aan. The Mufassireen
quoted many of those details from the Israa'eeliyyaat (reports from
Jewish sources) which we will not quote here because they cannot be
relied upon.