The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
All praise unto Allah who hath sent down unto His bondman the Book, and hath not placed therein any 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 Where they will abide for ever; 3 And to warn those who say: Allah hath chosen 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 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 Lo! We have placed all that is on the earth as an ornament thereof that We may try them: which of them is best in conduct. 7 And lo! We shall make all that is thereon a barren mound. 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 Wherefore We put a covering over their ears in the cave for a number of years. 11 Then We woke them up again so that We might see which of the two groups would better calculate the time they had stayed there. 12