The Cave (Al-Kahf)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
ALL PRAISE BE to God who has revealed to His votary the Book which is free of all obliquity, 1 Straightforward, that it may warn of a severe violence from before Him, and bring glad tidings to the believers who work righteous works that theirs shall be a goodly hire. 2 They will abide therein for ever. 3 And that it may warn those who say: God hath taken a son. 4 They have no knowledge of this, as their fathers did not have. How terrible are the words they utter! They speak nothing but lies. 5 Thou wouldst only, perchance, fret thyself to death, following after them, in grief, if they believe not 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 verily We are going to make whatsoever is thereon a soil bare. 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 We sealed off their ears in the cave for a number of years, 11 and then roused them so that We might see which of the two parties could best tell the length of their stay. 12