We tell you this story for a genuine purpose. They were young people who believed in their Lord and We gave them further guidance. 13 We gave strength to their hearts: Behold, they stood up and said: "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and of the earth: never shall we call upon any god other than Him: if we did, we should indeed have uttered an enormity! 14 These our people have taken to them other gods, apart from Him. Ah, if only they would bring some clear authority regarding them! But who does greater evil than he who forges against God a lie? 15 (And they said to each other:) "Now that you have withdrawn from them and what they worship beside God, it is better to take refuge in the cave. Your Lord may bestow of His mercy on you, and facilitate your affair." 16 ۞ You might have seen the rising sun incline towards the right of their Cave, and, as it set go past them on the left, while they stayed within an open space in the Cave. That was one of the signs of Allah. He whom Allah guides is rightly guided; but he whom He leads astray you shall not find for him a guardian to guide him. 17