The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
Praise be to Allah Who has revealed to His servant the Book devoid of all crookedness; 1 right, to warn of great violence from Him, and to give good tidings unto the believers, who do righteous deeds, that theirs shall be a goodly wage 2 and they will live for ever therein. 3 and to warn those who say, 'God has taken to Himself a son'; 4 They have no knowledge of this, nor did their forefathers have any either. What they say is monstrous: they are merely uttering falsehoods! 5 But wouldst thou, perhaps, torment thyself to death with grief over them if they are not willing to believe in this message? 6 Surely We have made all that is on the earth an embellishment for it in order to test people as to who of them is better in conduct. 7 And indeed We shall one day make all that is on it a barren plain. 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 the youths sought refuge in the cave, they said: Our Lord! grant us mercy from Thee, and provide for us a right course in our affair. 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