The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
ALL PRAISE is due to God, who has bestowed this divine writ from on high upon His servant, and has not allowed any deviousness to obscure its meaning: 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 remain forever 3 Furthermore, [this divine writ is meant] to warn all those who assert, "God has taken unto Himself a son." 4 They have no knowledge of it, nor had their fathers; a grievous word it is that comes out of their mouths; they speak nothing but a lie. 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 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 And indeed We shall one day make all that is on it a barren plain. 8 Or deemest thou that the People of the Cave and the Inscription are a wonder among Our portents? 9 When those youths sought refuge in the Cave and said: "Our Lord! Grant us mercy from Yourself and provide for us rectitude in our affairs." 10 So We prevented them from hearing in the cave for a number of years. 11 Then We raised them up (from their sleep), that We might test which of the two parties was best at calculating the time period that they had tarried. 12