The Cave (Al-Kahf)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Praise be to Allah, Who hath sent to His Servant the Book, and hath allowed therein no Crookedness: 1 [a divine writ] unerringly straight, meant to warn [the godless] of a severe punishment from Him, and to give unto the believers who do good works the glad tiding that theirs shall be a goodly reward 2 In which they will abide forever. 3 Furthermore, [this divine writ is meant] to warn all those who assert, "God has taken unto Himself a son." 4 Neither they nor their fathers had any knowledge of such utterance (that God has begotten a son). Whatever they say about (this matter) is vicious blasphemy and plain lies. 5 Then perhaps you would kill yourself through grief over them, [O Muhammad], if they do not believe in this message, [and] out of sorrow. 6 Verily We have made whatsoever is on the earth as an adornment thereof, that We may prove them - which of them is best in work. 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 young men took refuge in the Cave – then said, “Our Lord! Give us mercy from Yourself, and arrange guidance for us in our affair.” 10 Then We draw (a veil) over their ears, for a number of years, in the Cave, (so that they heard not): 11 We then awakened them to see which of the two groups more accurately tells the period they had stayed. 12