The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Praise be to Allah, Who hath sent to His Servant the Book, and hath allowed therein no 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 Wherein they shall remain for ever: 3 and to warn those who say, 'God has taken to Himself a son'; 4 a thing about which they have no knowledge, neither they nor their ancestors. Dreadful is the word that comes out of their mouths. What they utter is merely a lie. 5 Yet perchance, if they believe not in this tiding, thou wilt consume thyself, following after them, of grief. 6 That which is on earth we have made but as a glittering show for the earth, in order that We may test them - as to which of them are best in conduct. 7 Let it be known that We will turn all things on earth into dust. 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 When those youths took refuge in the cave, they prayed: "O our Sustainer! Bestow on us grace from Thyself, and endow us, whatever our [outward] condition, with consciousness of what is right!" 10 Then We caused them to fall into a deep sleep for many years inside the cave. 11 Then We roused them, in order to test which of the two parties was best at calculating the term of years they had tarried! 12