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The Cave
In the name of Allah, the
Beneficent, the Merciful.
[18.1] (All) praise is due to Allah, Who revealed the Book
to His servant and did not make in it any crookedness.
[18.2] 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,
[18.3] Staying in it for ever;
[18.4] And warn those who say: Allah has taken a son.
[18.5] They have no knowledge of it, nor had their fathers;
a grievous word it is that comes out of their mouths; they
speak nothing but a lie.
[18.6] Then maybe you will kill yourself with grief,
sorrowing after them, if they do not believe in this
announcement.
[18.7] Surely We have made whatever is on the earth an
embellishment for it, so that We may try them (as to) which
of them is best in works.
[18.8] And most surely We will make what is on it bare
ground without herbage.
[18.9] Or, do you think that the Fellows of the Cave and
the Inscription were of Our wonderful signs?
[18.10] When the youths sought refuge in the cave, they
said: Our Lord! grant us mercy from Thee, and provide for
us a right course in our affair.
[18.11] So We prevented them from hearing in the cave for a
number of years.
[18.12] Then We raised them up that We might know which of
the two parties was best able to compute the time for which
they remained.
[18.13] We relate to you their story with the truth; surely
they were youths who believed in their Lord and We
increased them in guidance.
[18.14] And We strengthened their hearts with patience,
when they stood up and said: Our Lord is the Lord of the
heavens and the earth; we will by no means
call upon any god besides Him, for then indeed we should
have said an extravagant thing.
[18.15] These our people have taken gods besides Him; why
do they not produce any clear authority in their support?
Who is then more unjust than he who forges
a lie against Allah?
[18.16] And when you forsake them and what they worship
save Allah, betake yourselves for refuge to the cave; your
Lord will extend to you largely of His mercy and provide
for you a profitable course in your affair.
[18.17] And you might see the sun when it rose, decline
from their cave towards the right hand, and when it set,
leave them behind on the left while they were
in a wide space thereof. This is of the signs of Allah;
whomsoever Allah guides, he is the rightly guided one, and
whomsoever He causes to err, you shall not
find for him any friend to lead (him) aright.
[18.18] And you might think them awake while they were
asleep and We turned them about to the right and to the
left, while their dog (lay) outstretching its paws
at the entrance; if you looked at them you would certainly
turn back from them in flight, and you would certainly be
filled with awe because of them.
[18.19] And thus did We rouse them that they might question
each other. A speaker among them said: How long have you
tarried? They said: We have tarried for a day or a part of
a day. (Others) said: Your Lord knows best how long you
have tarried. Now send one of you with this silver (coin)
of yours to the city, then let him see which of them has
purest food, so let him bring you provision
from it, and let him behave with gentleness, and by no
means make your case known to any one:
[18.20] For surely if they prevail against you they would
stone you to death or force you back to their religion, and
then you will never succeed.
[18.21] And thus did We make (men) to get knowledge of them
that they might know that Allah's promise is true and that
as for the hour there is no doubt about
it. When they disputed among themselves about their affair
and said: Erect an edifice over them-- their Lord best
knows them. Those who prevailed in their
affair said: We will certainly raise a masjid over them.
[18.22] (Some) say: (They are) three, the fourth of them
being their dog; and (others) say: Five, the sixth of them
being their dog, making conjectures at what is unknown; and
(others yet) say: Seven, and the eighth of them is their
dog. Say: My Lord best knows their number, none knows them
but a few; therefore contend not in the matter of them but
with an outward contention, and do not question concerning
them any of them.
[18.23] And do not say of anything: Surely I will do it
tomorrow,
[18.24] Unless Allah pleases; and remember your Lord when
you forget and say: Maybe my Lord will guide me to a nearer
course to the right than this.
[18.25] And they remained in their cave three hundred years
and (some) add (another) nine.
[18.26] Say: Allah knows best how long they remained; to
Him are (known) the unseen things of the heavens and the
earth; how clear His sight and how clear
His hearing! There is none to be a guardian for them
besides Him, and He does not make any one His associate in
His Judgment.
[18.27] And recite what has been revealed to you of the
Book of your Lord, there is none who can alter His words;
and you shall not find any refuge besides Him.
[18.28] And withhold yourself with those who call on their
Lord morning and evening desiring His goodwill, and let not
your eyes pass from them, desiring the beauties of this
world's life; and do not follow him whose heart We have
made unmindful to Our remembrance, and he follows his low
desires and his case is one in which due bounds are
exceeded.
[18.29] And say: The truth is from your Lord, so let him
who please believe, and let him who please disbelieve;
surely We have prepared for the iniquitous a
fire, the curtains of which shall encompass them about; and
if they cry for water, they shall be given water like
molten brass which will scald their faces;
evil the drink and ill the resting-place.
[18.30] Surely (as for) those who believe and do good, We
do not waste the reward of him who does a good work.
[18.31] These it is for whom are gardens of perpetuity
beneath which rivers flow, ornaments shall be given to them
therein of bracelets of gold, and they shall wear green
robes of fine silk and thick silk brocade interwoven with
gold, reclining therein on raised couches; excellent the
recompense and goodly the resting place.
[18.32] And set forth to them a parable of two men; for one
of them We made two gardens of grape vines, and We
surrounded them both with palms, and in the midst
of them We made cornfields.
[18.33] . Both these gardens yielded their fruits, and
failed not aught thereof, and We caused a river to gush
forth in their midst,
[18.34] And he possessed much wealth; so he said to his
companion, while he disputed with him: I have greater
wealth than you, and am mightier in followers.
[18.35] And he entered his garden while he was unjust to
himself. He said: I do not think that this will ever perish
[18.36] And I do not think the hour will come, and even if
I am returned to my Lord I will most certainly find a
returning place better than this.
[18.37] His companion said to him while disputing with him:
Do you disbelieve in Him Who created you from dust, then
from a small seed, then He made you a perfect man?
[18.38] But as for me, He, Allah, is my Lord, and I do not
associate anyone with my Lord.
[18.39] And wherefore did you not say when you entered your
garden: It is as Allah has pleased, there is no power save
in Allah? If you consider me to be inferior to you in
wealth and children,
[18.40] Then maybe my Lord will give me what is better than
your garden, and send on it a thunderbolt from heaven so
that it shall become even ground without
plant,
[18.41] Or its waters should sink down into the ground so
that you are unable to find it.
[18.42] And his wealth was destroyed; so he began to wring
his hands for what he had spent on it, while it lay, having
fallen down upon its roofs, and he said:
Ah me! would that I had not associated anyone with my Lord.
[18.43] And he had no host to help him besides Allah nor
could he defend himself.
[18.44] Here is protection only Allah's, the True One; He
is best in (the giving of) reward and best in requiting.
[18.45] And set forth to them parable of the life of this
world: like water which We send down from the cloud so the
herbage of the earth becomes tangled on
account of it, then it becomes dry broken into pieces which
the winds scatter; and Allah is the holder of power over
all things.
[18.46] Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of
this world; and the ever-abiding, the good works, are
better with your Lord in reward and better in
expectation.
[18.47] And the day on which We will cause the mountains to
pass away and you will see the earth a levelled plain and
We will gather them and leave not any one of them behind.
[18.48] And they shall be brought before your Lord,
standing in ranks: Now certainly you have come to Us as We
created you at first. Nay, you thought that
We had not appointed to you a time of the fulfillment of
the promise.
[18.49] And the Book shall be placed, then you will see the
guilty fearing from what is in it, and they will say: Ah!
woe to us! what a book is this! it does
not omit a small one nor a great one, but numbers them
(all); and what they had done they shall find present
(there); and your Lord does not deal unjustly with
anyone.
[18.50] And when We said to the angels: Make obeisance to
Adam; they made obeisance but Iblis (did it not). He was of
the jinn, so he transgressed the commandment of his Lord.
What! would you then take him and his offspring for
friends rather than Me, and they are your enemies? Evil is
(this) change for the unjust.
[18.51] I did not make them witnesses of the creation of
the heavens and the earth, nor of the creation of their own
souls; nor could I take those who lead (others) astray for
aiders.
[18.52] And on the day when He shall say: Call on those
whom you considered to be My associates. So they shall call
on them, but they shall not answer them,
and We will cause a separation between them.
[18.53] And the guilty shall see the fire, then they shall
know that they are going to fall into it, and they shall
not find a place to which to turn away from it.
[18.54] And certainly We have explained in this Quran every
kind of example, and man is most of all given to
contention.
[18.55] And nothing prevents men from believing when the
guidance comes to them, and from asking forgiveness of
their Lord, except that what happened to the
ancients should overtake them, or that the chastisement
should come face to face with them.
[18.56] And We do not send apostles but as givers of good
news and warning, and those who disbelieve make a false
contention that they may render null thereby
the truth, and they take My communications and that with
which they are warned for a mockery.
[18.57] And who is more unjust than he who is reminded of
the communications of his Lord, then he turns away from
them and forgets what his two hands have sent
before? Surely We have placed veils over their hearts lest
they should understand it and a heaviness in their ears;
and if you call them to the guidance, they will not ever
follow the right course in that case.
[18.58] And your Lord is Forgiving, the Lord of Mercy; were
He to punish them for what they earn, He would certainly
have hastened the chastisement for them;
but for them there is an appointed time from which they
shall not find a refuge.
[18.59] And (as for) these towns, We destroyed them when
they acted unjustly, and We have appointed a time for their
destruction.
[18.60] And when Musa said to his servant: I will not cease
until I reach the junction of the two rivers or I will go
on for years.
[18.61] So when they had reached the junction of the two
(rivers) they forgot their fish, and it took its way into
the sea, going away.
[18.62] But when they had gone farther, he said to his
servant: Bring to us our morning meal, certainly we have
met with fatigue from this our journey.
[18.63] He said: Did you see when we took refuge on the
rock then I forgot the fish, and nothing made me forget to
speak of it but the Shaitan, and it took its
way into the river; what a wonder!
[18.64] He said: This is what we sought for; so they
returned retracing their footsteps.
[18.65] Then they found one from among Our servants whom We
had granted mercy from Us and whom We had taught knowledge
from Ourselves.
[18.66] Musa said to him: Shall I follow you on condition
that you should teach me right knowledge of what you have
been taught?
[18.67] He said: Surely you cannot have patience with me
[18.68] And how can you have patience in that of which you
have not got a comprehensive knowledge?
[18.69] He said: If Allah pleases, you will find me patient
and I shall not disobey you in any matter.
[18.70] He said: If you would follow me, then do not
question me about any thing until I myself speak to you
about it
[18.71] So they went (their way) until when they embarked
in the boat he made a hole in it. (Musa) said: Have you
made a hole in it to drown its inmates?
Certainly you have done a grievous thing.
[18.72] He said: Did I not say that you will not be able to
have patience with me?
[18.73] He said: Blame me not for what I forgot, and do not
constrain me to a difficult thing in my affair.
[18.74] So they went on until, when they met a boy, he slew
him. (Musa) said: Have you slain an innocent person
otherwise than for manslaughter? Certainly you
have done an evil thing.
[18.75] He said: Did I not say to you that you will not be
able to have patience with me?
[18.76] He said: If I ask you about anything after this,
keep me not in your company; indeed you shall have (then)
found an excuse in my case.
[18.77] So they went on until when they came to the people
of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused to
entertain them as guests. Then they found in
it a wall which was on the point of falling, so he put it
into a right state. (Musa) said: If you had pleased, you
might certainly have taken a recompense for
it.
[18.78] He said: This shall be separation between me and
you; now I will inform you of the significance of that with
which you could not have patience.
[18.79] As for the boat, it belonged to (some) poor men who
worked on the river and I wished that I should damage it,
and there was behind them a king who seized every boat by
force.
[18.80] And as for the boy, his parents were believers and
we feared lest he should make disobedience and ingratitude
to come upon them:
[18.81] So we desired that their Lord might give them in
his place one better than him in purity and nearer to
having compassion.
[18.82] And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys
in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure belonging
to them, and their father was a righteous man; so your Lord
desired that they should attain their maturity and
take out their treasure, a mercy from your Lord, and I did
not do it of my own accord. This is the significance of
that with which you could not have patience.
[18.83] And they ask you about Zulqarnain. Say: I will
recite to you an account of him.
[18.84] Surely We established him in the land and granted
him means of access to every thing.
[18.85] So he followed a course.
[18.86] Until when he reached the place where the sun set,
he found it going down into a black sea, and found by it a
people. We said: O Zulqarnain! either give them a
chastisement or do them a benefit.
[18.87] He said: As to him who is injust, we will chastise
him, then shall he be returned to his Lord, and He will
chastise him with an exemplary chastisement:
And as for him who believes and does good, he shall have
goodly reward, and We will speak to him an easy word of Our
command.
[18.89] Then he followed (another) course.
[18.90] Until when he reached the land of the rising of the
sun, he found it rising on a people to whom We had given no
shelter from It;
[18.91] Even so! and We had a full knowledge of what he
had.
[18.92] Then he followed (another) course.
[18.93] Until when he reached (a place) between the two
mountains, he found on that side of them a people who could
hardly understand a word.
[18.94] They said: O Zulqarnain! surely Gog and Magog make
mischief in the land. Shall we then pay you a tribute on
condition that you should raise a barrier
between us and them
[18.95] He said: That in which my Lord has established me
is better, therefore you only help me with workers, I will
make a fortified barrier between you and
them;
[18.96] Bring me blocks of iron; until when he had filled
up the space between the two mountain sides, he said: Blow,
until when he had made it (as) fire, he
said: Bring me molten brass which I may pour over it.
[18.97] So they were not able to scale it nor could they
make a hole in it.
[18.98] He said: This is a mercy from my Lord, but when the
promise of my Lord comes to pass He will make it level with
the ground, and the promise of my Lord is ever true.
[18.99] And on that day We will leave a part of them in
conflict with another part, and the trumpet will be blown,
so We will gather them all together;
[18.100] And We will bring forth hell, exposed to view, on
that day before the unbelievers.
[18.101] They whose eyes were under a cover from My
reminder and they could not even hear.
[18.102] What! do then those who disbelieve think that they
can take My servants to be guardians besides Me? Surely We
have prepared hell for the entertainment
of the unbelievers.
[18.103] Say: Shall We inform you of the greatest losers in
(their) deeds?
[18.104] (These are) they whose labor is lost in this
world's life and they think that they are well versed in
skill of the work of hands.
[18.105] These are they who disbelieve in the
communications of their Lord and His meeting, so their
deeds become null, and therefore We will not set up a
balance for them on the day of resurrection.
[18.106] Thus it is that their recompense is hell, because
they disbelieved and held My communications and My apostles
in mockery.
[18.107] Surely (as for) those who believe and do good
deeds, their place of entertainment shall be the gardens of
paradise,
[18.108] Abiding therein; they shall not desire removal
from them.
[18.109] Say: If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord,
the sea would surely be consumed before the words of my
Lord are exhausted, though We were to bring
the like of that (sea) to add
[18.110] Say: I am only a mortal like you; it is revealed
to me that your god is one God, therefore whoever hopes to
meet his Lord, he should do good deeds, and
not join any one in the service of his Lord.
