The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
All the praises and thanks be to Allah, Who has sent down to His slave (Muhammad SAW) the Book (the Quran), and has not placed therein any crookedness. 1 Rightly directing, that he might give warning of severe punishment from Him and give good news to the believers who do good that they shall have a goodly reward, 2 In which they will remain forever 3 And that it may warn those who say: God hath taken a son. 4 No knowledge thereof have they, nor had their fathers. Odious is the word that cometh out of their mouths; they say not but a lie. 5 Yet it may be, if they believe not in this statement, that thou (Muhammad) wilt torment thy soul with grief over their footsteps. 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 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 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 For many years We sealed up their hearing in the Cave, 11 Then We awakened them that We might show which of the two factions was most precise in calculating what [extent] they had remained in time. 12