We tell you this story for a genuine purpose. They were young people who believed in their Lord and We gave them further guidance. 13 And We made firm their hearts when they stood up and said, "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. Never will we invoke besides Him any deity. We would have certainly spoken, then, an excessive transgression. 14 (Then they conferred among themselves and said): "These men, our own people, have taken others as gods beside Him: why do they not bring any clear evidence that they indeed are gods? Who can be more unjust than he who foists a lie on Allah? 15 "Now that you have withdrawn from them and from all that they worship instead of God, take refuge in that cave; your Lord will extend His mercy to you and will make fitting provision for you in your situation." 16 ۞ And [for many a year] thou might have seen the sun, on its rising, incline away from their cave on the right, and on its setting, turn aside from them on the left, while they lived on in that spacious chamber, [bearing witness to] this of God's messages: He whom God guides, he alone has found the right way; whereas for him whom He lets go astray thou canst never find any protector who would point out the right way. 17