And thou wouldst have deemed them awakes whereas they were asleep and We turned them over on the right side and on the left side, while their dog stretched forth his two forelegs on the threshold. If thou hadst observed them, thou wouldst have surely turned away from them in fright, and wouldst have surely been filled with awe of them. 18 And so, [in the course of time,] We awakened them; and they began to ask one another [as to what had happened to them]. One of them asked: "How long have you remained thus?" [The others] answered: "We have remained thus a day, or part of a day." Said they [who were endowed with deeper insight]: "Your Sustainer knows best how long you have thus remained. Let, then, one of you go with these silver coins to the town, and let him find out what food is purest there, and bring you thereof [some] provisions. But let him behave with great care and by no means make anyone aware of you: 19 "For if they come to know of you, they will stone you (to death or abuse and harm you) or turn you back to their religion, and in that case you will never be successful." 20 And similarly, We caused them to be found that they [who found them] would know that the promise of Allah is truth and that of the Hour there is no doubt. [That was] when they disputed among themselves about their affair and [then] said, "Construct over them a structure. Their Lord is most knowing about them." Said those who prevailed in the matter, "We will surely take [for ourselves] over them a masjid." 21 Some will say, "They were three, the fourth was their dog," and others will say, "They were five, the sixth was their dog," guessing at random. And yet others say, "They were seven, the eighth was their dog." Say, "My Lord knows best their number." Only a few know anything about them. Therefore, do not enter into controversies over them, nor seek information about them from any of them; 22