The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise unto Allah who hath sent down unto His bondman the Book, and hath not placed therein any crookedness. 1 so that he could warn them of His stern retribution, give the glad news of the best and everlasting reward to the righteously striving believers, 2 therein to abide for ever, 3 And to warn those who say “Allah has chosen a child.” 4 Neither they nor their fathers had any knowledge of such utterance (that God has begotten a son). Whatever they say about (this matter) is vicious blasphemy and plain lies. 5 But wouldst thou, perhaps, torment thyself to death with grief over them if they are not willing to believe in this message? 6 Behold, We have willed that all beauty on earth be a means by which We put men to a test, [showing] which of them are best in conduct; 7 but We shall reduce all this to barren waste. 8 [AND SINCE the life of this world is but a test, dost thou [really] think that [the parable of] the Men of the Cave and of [their devotion to] the scriptures could be deemed more wondrous than any [other] of Our messages? 9 (Remember) when the young men fled for refuge (from their disbelieving folk) to the Cave, they said: "Our Lord! Bestow on us mercy from Yourself, and facilitate for us our affair in the right way!" 10 For many years We sealed up their hearing in the Cave, 11 Then We roused them to find out which of the party had the correct account of the duration of their sleep in the cave. 12