And you may think they are awake, whereas they are asleep; and We turn them over to the right and the left – and their dog is on the threshold of the cave, with its paws outstretched; O listener, were you to look at them closely, you would turn back running away from them, and be filled with their dread. 18 And similarly, We awakened them that they might question one another. Said a speaker from among them, "How long have you remained [here]?" They said, "We have remained a day or part of a day." They said, "Your Lord is most knowing of how long you remained. So send one of you with this silver coin of yours to the city and let him look to which is the best of food and bring you provision from it and let him be cautious. And let no one be aware of you. 19 For they, if they should come to know of you, will stone you or turn you back to their religion; then ye will never prosper. 20 And this is how We made them known for people to know that the promise of Allah is true and that there is no doubt concerning the Last Day; when the people began disputing among themselves regarding them, they said, “Construct a building over their cave”; their Lord well knows them; those who dominated in this matter said, “We promise we will build a mosque over them.” 21 [And in times to come] some will say: "[They were] three, the fourth of them being their dog," while others will say: "Five, with their dog as the sixth of them" - idly guessing at something of which they can have no knowledge - and [so on, until] some will say: "[They were] seven, the eighth of them being their dog." Say: "My Sustainer knows best how many they were. None but a few have any [real] knowledge of them. Hence, do not argue about them otherwise than by way of an obvious argument, and do not ask any of those [story-tellers] to enlighten thee about them." 22