The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is to Allah Who sent down the Book upon His bondman, and has not kept any deviation in it. 1 so that he could warn them of His stern retribution, give the glad news of the best and everlasting reward to the righteously striving believers, 2 They will abide therein for ever. 3 and to warn those who say, 'God has taken to Himself a son'; 4 (A thing) whereof they have no knowledge, nor (had) their fathers, Dreadful is the word that cometh out of their mouths. They speak naught but a lie. 5 Yet perchance, if they believe not in this tiding, thou wilt consume thyself, following after them, of grief. 6 We have caused earthly things to seem attractive so that We can see who will excel in good deeds. 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: 'Lord give us from Your Mercy and furnish us with rectitude in our affair' 10 We then thumped upon their ears in the Cave for a number of years. (* Put them to sleep.) 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