The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Praise be to Allah Who hath revealed the Scripture unto His slave, and hath not placed therein any 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 Wherein they shall remain for ever: 3 And to warn those who say: Allah hath chosen a son, 4 They do not have any knowledge of it – nor did their forefathers; profound is the word that comes out of their mouths; they only speak a lie. 5 Perhaps you may destroy yourself with grief if they do not believe in this message. 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 most surely We will make what is on it bare ground without herbage. 8 Or deemest thou that the People of the Cave and the Inscription are a wonder among Our portents? 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 Then We woke them up again so that We might see which of the two groups would better calculate the time they had stayed there. 12