The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Praise belongs to God who has sent down upon His servant the Book and has not assigned unto it any crookedness; 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 wherein they shall abide for ever; 3 And that it may warn those who say: "God has begotten a son." 4 No knowledge whatever have they of Him, and neither had their forefathers: dreadful - is this saying that comes out of their mouths, [and] nothing but falsehood do they utter! 5 Yet perchance, if they believe not in this tiding, thou wilt consume thyself, following after them, of grief. 6 We have appointed all that is on the earth an adornment for it, in order that We try which of them is finest in works. 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 Recall what time the youths betook themselves to the cave, then said: our Lord! vouchsafe unto us mercy from before Thee, and prepare for us in our affair a right course. 10 Then We smote their ears many years in the Cave. 11 and then roused them so that We might see which of the two parties could best tell the length of their stay. 12