Thou wouldst have thought them awake, as they lay sleeping, while We turned them now to the right, now to the left,' and their dog 'stretching its paws on the threshold. Hadst thou observed them surely thou wouldst have turned thy back on them in flight, and been filled with terror of them. 18 Even so We roused them that they may question one another. One of them asked: "How long have you stayed here?" They said: "A day or less than a day." "Your Lord knows best," they said, "how long you have stayed. So send one of you to the town with this money of yours to look for wholesome food and bring it for you; but he should be careful not to let your presence known. 19 If they should get knowledge of you they will stone you, or restore you to their creed, then you will not prosper ever. 20 Thus We disclosed things to them so that they might know that God's promise was true and there was no doubt about the Hour [Judgement Day]. The people argued about them among themselves. They said, "Build a monument over them. Their Lord knows best concerning them." Those who prevailed in their affair said, "Let us surely build a place of worship over them." 21 So the people will now say, “They are three, their dog is the fourth”; and some will say, “They are five, their dog is the sixth” – just blind guesses; and some will say, “They are seven, and their dog is the eighth”; proclaim (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him), “My Lord well knows their number – no one knows them except a few”; therefore do not debate concerning them except what has occurred, and do not ask any of the People of the Book(s) anything concerning them. 22