The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
Praise belongs to God who has sent down upon His servant the Book and has not assigned unto it any crookedness; 1 an unerringly Straight Book, meant to warn of a stern punishment from Allah, and to proclaim, to those who believe and work righteous deeds, the tiding that theirs shall be a good reward 2 They shall abide therein forever. 3 And it (the Koran) warns those who say: 'Allah has taken a son' 4 they have no knowledge of it, they nor their fathers; a monstrous word it is, issuing out of their mouths; they say nothing but a lie. 5 Yet it may be, if they believe not in this statement, that thou (Muhammad) wilt torment thy soul with grief over their footsteps. 6 Indeed, We have made that which is on the earth adornment for it that We may test them [as to] which of them is best in deed. 7 For We shall certainly turn it to barren dust. 8 Or deemest thou that the People of the Cave and the Inscription are a wonder among Our portents? 9 When the young men fled for refuge to the Cave and said: Our Lord! Give us mercy from Thy presence, and shape for us right conduct in our plight. 10 So We cast [a cover of sleep] over their ears within the cave for a number of years. 11 and thereafter We revived them to find out which of the two parties could best calculate the length of their stay. 12