The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Praise belongs to God who has sent down upon His servant the Book and has not assigned unto it any crookedness; 1 (He has made it) Straight to give warning (to the disbelievers) of a severe punishment from Him, and to give glad tidings to the believers (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism), who work righteous deeds, that they shall have a fair reward (i.e. Paradise). 2 and they will live for ever therein. 3 And that it may warn those who say: "God has begotten a son." 4 They do not have any knowledge of it – nor did their forefathers; profound is the word that comes out of their mouths; they only speak a lie. 5 Perhaps you will destroy yourself out of grief because they disbelieve this Book. 6 Lo! We have placed all that is on the earth as an ornament thereof that We may try them: which of them is best in conduct. 7 And most surely We will make what is on it bare ground without herbage. 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 those young men took shelter in the cave, and prayed: "O Lord, grant us Your favour and dispose our affair aright," 10 Then We draw (a veil) over their ears, for a number of years, in the Cave, (so that they heard not): 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