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 A just Book, to warn of Allah’s severe punishment, and to give glad tidings to the believers who do good deeds, that for them is an excellent reward. 2 Staying in it for ever; 3 And to warn those who say “Allah has chosen a child.” 4 they have no knowledge of it, they nor their fathers; a monstrous word it is, issuing out of their mouths; they say nothing but a lie. 5 Yet perchance, if they believe not in this tiding, thou wilt consume thyself, following after them, of grief. 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 For We shall certainly turn it to barren dust. 8 Do you think that the people of the Cave and the Inscription (the news or the names of the people of the Cave) were a wonder among Our Signs? 9 Behold, the youths betook themselves to the Cave: they said, "Our Lord! bestow on us Mercy from Thyself, and dispose of our affair for us in the right way!" 10 We sealed their ears in 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