The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
Praise be to Allah, Who hath sent to His Servant the Book, and hath allowed therein no Crookedness: 1 Straightforward, that it may warn of a severe violence from before Him, and bring glad tidings to the believers who work righteous works that theirs shall be a goodly hire. 2 In which they will remain forever 3 And to warn those who say: Allah hath chosen a son, 4 They have no knowledge of this, nor did their forefathers have any either. What they say is monstrous: they are merely uttering falsehoods! 5 Yet perchance, if they believe not in this tiding, thou wilt consume thyself, following after them, of grief. 6 Behold, We have willed that all beauty on earth be a means by which We put men to a test, [showing] which of them are best in conduct; 7 but We shall reduce all this to barren waste. 8 Or, do you think that the Fellows of the Cave and the Inscription were of Our wonderful signs? 9 When those youths took refuge in the cave, they prayed: "O our Sustainer! Bestow on us grace from Thyself, and endow us, whatever our [outward] condition, with consciousness of what is right!" 10 So We cast [a cover of sleep] over their ears within the cave for a number of years. 11 and then We awakened them: [and We did all this] so that We might mark out [to the world] which of the two points of view showed a better comprehension of the time-span during which they had remained in this state. 12