You might have thought them awake, though they were sleeping. We turned them about to the right and to the left, while their dog stretched its paws at the entrance. Had you seen them you would surely have become filled with terror and turned your back on them in flight. 18 And in like manner We awakened them that they might question one another. A speaker from among them said: How long have ye tarried? They said: We have tarried a day or some part of a day, (Others) said: Your Lord best knoweth what ye have tarried. Now send one of you with this your silver coin unto the city, and let him see what food is purest there and bring you a supply thereof. Let him be courteous and let no man know of you. 19 Verily they, if they come to know of you, would stone you or make you revert to their faith, and lo! then ye will never fare well. 20 And even so We made them stumble upon them, that they might know that God's promise is true, and that the Hour -- there is no doubt of it. When they were contending among themselves of their affair then they said, 'Build over them a building; their Lord knows of them very well.' Said those who prevailed over their affair, 'We will raise over them a place of worship.' 21 (Some) will say: They were three, their dog the fourth, and (some) say: Five, their dog the sixth, guessing at random; and (some) say: Seven, and their dog the eighth. Say (O Muhammad): My Lord is Best Aware of their number. None knoweth them save a few. So contend not concerning them except with an outward contending, and ask not any of them to pronounce concerning them. 22