The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
ALL PRAISE BE to God who has revealed to His votary the Book which is free of all obliquity, 1 an unerringly Straight Book, meant to warn of a stern punishment from Allah, and to proclaim, to those who believe and work righteous deeds, the tiding that theirs shall be a good reward 2 [a state of bliss] in which they shall dwell beyond the count of time. 3 And to warn those who say: Allah hath chosen a son, 4 they have no knowledge of it, they nor their fathers; a monstrous word it is, issuing out of their mouths; they say nothing 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 We have adorned the earth with attractive things, so that We may test mankind as to which one is best in conduct, 7 and, verily, [in time] We shall reduce all that is on it to barren dust! 8 Or dost thou reflect that the Companions of the Cave and of the Inscription were wonders among Our Sign? 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 And afterward We raised them up that We might know which of the two parties would best calculate the time that they had tarried. 12