The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
ALL PRAISE is due to God, who has bestowed this divine writ from on high upon His servant, and has not allowed any deviousness to obscure its meaning: 1 and which rightly directs, to give warning of stern punishment from Him, and to proclaim to the believers who do righteous deeds that they shall have an excellent recompense, 2 [a state of bliss] in which they shall dwell beyond the count of time. 3 Furthermore, [this divine writ is meant] to warn all those who assert, "God has taken unto Himself a son." 4 No knowledge whatever have they of Him, and neither had their forefathers: dreadful - is this saying that comes out of their mouths, [and] nothing but falsehood do they utter! 5 Then perhaps you would kill yourself through grief over them, [O Muhammad], if they do not believe in this message, [and] out of sorrow. 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 Verily what is on earth we shall make but as dust and dry soil (without growth or herbage). 8 Or deemest thou that the People of the Cave and the Inscription are a wonder among Our portents? 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 So We cast [a cover of sleep] over their ears within the cave for a number of years. 11 And afterward We raised them up that We might know which of the two parties would best calculate the time that they had tarried. 12