The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most 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 Rightly directing, that he might give warning of severe punishment from Him and give good news to the believers who do good that they shall have a goodly reward, 2 Where they will abide for ever; 3 And warn those who say: Allah has taken a son. 4 They have no knowledge of it, nor had their fathers. Grave is the word that comes out of their mouths; they speak not except a lie. 5 Yet perchance, if they do not believe in this tiding, you will consume yourself with grief and follow after them. 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 In the ultimate, We shall reduce all that is on the earth to 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 prevented them from hearing in the cave for a number of years. 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