The Cave

1All praise is for Allah Who has revealed the Book to His servant,' allowing no imperfection in it, 2'making it' perfectly upright, to warn 'the disbelievers' of a severe punishment from Him; to give good news to the believers who do good that they will have a great reward, 3where they will stay forever; 4and to Warn those who claim that Allah has children. 5They have no knowledge of this, just like their fathers. What a terri-Die claimn that comes out of their mouths! They say nothing but lies.

6Now, are you going to stress yourself to death because thev refuse to believe in this message? 7Whatever We put on earth is to make it look good, just to test which of them is best in deeds. 8But in the end, We are going to turn whatever is on it into flat dirt.

9Do you 'O Prophet' think that the peo-ple of the cave and the tablet 'that had their story' were the only wonders of Our signs? 10'Remember' when those youth took shelter in the cave and said. 'Our Lord! Bless us with Your mercy and find us a good way out of this difficulty.' 11So We caused them to fall into a deep sleep in the cave for many years, 12then We woke them up so We can show which of the two groups would better estimate how long they stayed.'

13We tell you 'O Prophet' their story in all truth. They were youth who truly be-lieved in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance. 14And We strength-ened their hearts when they stood up and declared, 'Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We will nev-er call upon any god besides Him, or we would definitely be saying a wicked lie.' 15'Then they said to each other 'These people of ours have taken gods instead of Him. Why do they not bring a clear proof about them? Who then does more Wrong than those who make up lies against Allah? 16Now that you have sep-arated yourselves from them and what they worship besides Allah, take shelter In the cave. Your Lord will extend His mercy to you and take care of you in this difficulty.'

17And you would have seen the sun, as it rose, turning away from their cave to the right, and as it set, moving away from them to the left, while they lay in its open space. That is one of the signs of Allah. Whoever Allah guides is truly guided. But whoever He leaves to stray, you will find no guide to show them the way. 18And you would have thought they were awake, even though they were asleep. We turned them over, to the right and left, while their dog stretched his front legs at the entrance. If you looked at them, you would have certainly run away from them, filled with horror.

19And so We woke them up to question each other. One of them asked, 'How long did you stay 'asleep?'' Some replied, 'Perhaps a day,' or 'Part of a day' They said 'to each other, 'Your Lord knows best how long you have stayed. So send one of you with these silver coins to the city, and let him find good, pure food and bring you some to eat. Let him be very cautious, and do not let him attract any attention to you.' 20If they find out about you, they will certainly stone you 'to death' or force you back into their faith, and then you will never succeed.'

21And that is how We caused them to be discovered, so their people could know that Allah's promise 'to bring the dead back to life' is true and that there is no doubt about the Hour 'of ]udgment' Lat-er, when the people argued with each other on what to do about the youth 'af-ter their death', some suggested, 'Build a structure around them. Their Lord knows best about them.' Those in charge said, 'We are going to build a place of worship over here.'

22Some will say, 'They were three, their dog was the fourth' while others will say, 'They were five, their dog was the sixth,' just guessing blindly. And others will say, 'They were seven and their dog was the eighth.' Say, 'O Prophet, 'My Lord knows best their exact number: Only a few peo-ple know as well.' So do not argue about them except with sure knowledge, or ask any of those 'who argue' about them.

23If you intend to do something, do not say, 'I will definitely do this tomorrow' 24without adding, 'In-sha-Allah' But if you forget, then remember your Lord and say, 'I trust my Lord will guide me closer to what is right.'

25They had stayed in their cave for three hundred years, plus nine.' 26Say, 'O Prophet, 'Allah knows best how long they stayed. The knowledge of what is hidden in the heavens and the earth be-longs to Him 'alone'. How perfectly He hears and sees! They have no guardian besides Him, and He shares His com-mand with none.'

27Recite what has been revealed to you from the Book of your Lord. None can change His Words. And you can never find any shelter other than Him. 28Stick patiently with those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, hoping to please Him. Do not let your eyes look beyond them, desiring the luxury of this life. And do not obey the ones whose hearts We have caused to be careless about remembering Us, who just follow their desires and are in total loss.

29And say, 'O Prophet,' 'This is' the truth from your Lord. Whoever wants, let them believe. And whoever wants, let them disbelieve.' We have definitely prepared for those doing wrong a Fire whose walls will completely surround them. When they cry for help, they will be helped with water like melted metal, which will burn 'their' faces. What a hor-rible drink! And what a terrible place to rest!

30As for those who believe and do good, We will never deny the reward of those who are best in deeds. 31They will have the Gardens of Eternity, with rivers flow-ing under their feet. There they will be decorated with bracelets of gold, and dressed in green clothes of fine and rich silk, relaxing there on 'decorated' couch-es. What an incredible reward! And what a wonderful place to rest!

32Give them 'O Prophet' an example of two men. To the disbelieving' one We gave two gardens of grapes, which We surrounded with date trees and put 'dif-ferent' crops in between. 33Each garden nroduced all its truit, never falling short. And We caused a river to flow between them. 34And he had other resources as well. So he bragged to his "poor com-panion, while chatting with him, " have much more wealth and manpower than you." 35And he entered his property, while wronging his soul, saying, 'I do not think anything can happen to this 'prop-erty', 36and I do not think the Hour 'of Judgment' will ever come. And if in fact I am returned to my Lord, I will definitely end up with something far better than all this”

37His 'believing' companion replied, while chatting with him, 'How can you deny the One Who created you from dust then 'developed you' from a hu-man seed, then formed you into a man? 38But for me: He is Allah, my Lord, and I will never make anyone equal to my Lord. 39If only you had said, when en-tering your property, 'This is all from Allah! There is no power except with Al-lah!' Even though you see that I have less wealth and children than you, 40perhaps my Lord will give me something better than your garden, and send down upon yours a thunderbolt from the sky, turn-ing it into a slippery wasteland, 41Or its water may sink 'into the earth', and then you will never be able to reach it again.

42Sure enough, all his produce was 'to-tally' ruined. And there he was: twisting and turning his hands 'in shock' over everything he had put into it. Now that the whole thing had been destroyed, he cried, 'Oh no! I wish I had never made anyone equal to my Lord!' 43He had no manpower to help him against Allah, and he could not even help himself. 44At this time, support comes only from Allah-the True Lord. He is best in reward and best in result.

45And give them an example of this life. 'It is' just like the plants of the earth, blooming when watered by the rain We send down from the sky. Then they soon crumble to pieces, blown away by the wind. And Allah has perfect power over all things. 46Wealth and children are the joy of this life, but the good deeds that last forever are far better with your Lord in reward and in hope.

47Watch for' the Day We will blow the mountains away, and you will see the earth laid bare. And We will gather all 'humankind', leaving none behind. 48They will be presented in front of your Lord in rows, 'and the wicked will be told,' 'You have actually returned to Us 'all alone' as We created you the first time, even though you 'always' claimed that We would never set a time for your return.' 49And the book 'of deeds' will be laid 'open', and you will see the wick-ed panicking because of what is writ-ten' there. They will cry, 'Oh no! We are doomed! What kind of book is this that does not leave any sin, small or large, without recording it?' They will find whatever they did right in front of them. And your Lord will never treat anyone unfairly.

50And remember' when We said to the angels, 'EBow down to Adam' so they all did--but not Iblis, who was one of the iinn, but he challenged the command of his Lord. How could you then take him and his children as guardians instead of Me, even though they are your enemies? What an evil choice made by those doing wrong! 51I never called them to witness the creation of the heavens and the earth or even their own creation. I would never take the misleaders as helpers. 52And 'watch for' the Day He will say, 'Call upon those 'idols' you claimed were My partners.' So they will call them, but will receive no response. And We will make them all share the same doom. 53The wicked will see the Fire and real-ize that they are going to fall into it, and will find no way to avoid it.

54We have certainly given in this Quran every 'k kind of lesson for people, but hu-mans just Iike to argue more than any-thing. 55And nothing prevents people from believing when guidance comes to them and from seeking their Lord's for-giveness except 'their demand' to suffer the same fate of earlier deniers or see the punishment face-to-face, 56We only send the messengers to give good news and warnings. But the disbelievers argue with falsehood, 'hoping' to damage the ruth with it, and make fun of My reve-lations and warnings. 57And who does more wrong than those who are remind-ed of their Lord's revelations, then turn away from them and forget what their own hands have done? We have certain-ly covered their hearts-making them unable to understand this 'Quran'and blocked their ears. And if you O Proph-et' invite them to 'true' guidance, they will never be guided.

58Your Lord is the One full of forgive-ness and mercy. If He wanted to punish them 'immediately' for what they did, He would have sped up their punishment. But they have a set time, from which they will have no escape. 59Those 'are the' societies We destroyed when they kept doing Wrong and We had set a time for their destruction.

60And 'remember' when Musa said to his young assistant, 'I will never give up until I reach the point where the two seas meet, even ifI travel for ages.' 61But when they 'finally' reached that point, they forgot their 'salted' fish, and it made its way into the sea, slipping away. 62When they had passed further, he said to his assistant, 'Bring us our meal! We have certainly been exhausted by today's journey.' 63He e replied, 'Do you remem-ber when we rested by the rock? That is when' I forgot the fish. No one made me forget to mention this except Satan. And the fish incredibly made its way into the sea.' 64Musa responded, 'That is exactly what we were looking for:' So they went back, retracing their footsteps.

65There they found a servant of Ours, who had been blessed with mercy from Us and gifted with 'special" knowledge of Our Own. 66Musa said to him, 'May I follow you, if you are going to teach me Some of the right guidance you have been taught?' 67He replied, 'You really cannot be patient enough with me. 68And how can you be patient with what is beyond your knowledge?' 69Musa promised, 'You will find me patient, in-sha-Allah, and I will not disobey any of your or-ders' 70He replied, 'Then if you follow me, do not question me about anything until I myself clarify it for you.”

71So they moved on, until they board-ed a ship, and the man made a hole in it. Musa protested, 'Have you just done this to drowm its people? You have certainly done a terrible thing!' 72He replied, 'Did I not say that you cannot have patience with me?' 73Musa said, 'Excuse me for forgetting, and do not be hard on me.'

74Then they moved on until they came across a boy, and the man killed him. Musa protested, 'Have you just killed an innocent soul that killed no one? You have certainly done a horrible thing!' 75He replied, 'Did I not tell you that you cannot have patience with me?' 76Musa said, 'If I ever question you about any-thing after this, do not keep me in your company, because by then I would have given you enough of an excuse.'

77Then they moved on until they came to the people of a town. They asked them for some food, but the people refused to give them any. There they found a wall ready to collapse, so the man fixed it up. Musa protested, 'If you wanted, you could have demanded a fee for this.” 78He replied, 'That's it, we must go our separate ways! I will explain to you what you could not take patiently.'

79As for the ship, it belonged to some poor people who work at sea. So I wanted to damage it, because there was a 'wick-ed' king ahead of them who took every 'good' ship by force. 80And as for the boy, his parents were true believers, but we feared that he would 'later' pres-sure them into wickedness and disbelief. 81So we hoped that their Lord would give them another child, more faithful and caring in his place. 82And as for the wall, it was for two orphan boys in the city, and under the wall was a treasure that belonged to them, and their father had been a good man. So your Lord wanted these children to grow up and dig out their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do it all on my own. This is the explanation of what you could not take patiently.

83They ask you 'O Prophet' about Zul-Qarnain. Say, 'I will tell you some of his story.' 84We certainly established him in the land, and empowered him to do all things.

85So he travelled a path, 86until he reached the setting point of the sun. It appeared to him to be setting in a spring of muddy water. There he found some people. We inspired him, 'O Zul-Qarnain! Either punish them or treat them kindly.' 87He said, 'As for those who do wrong, we will punish them, then they will be returned to their Lord, Who will put them through a horrible punishment.' 88But as for those who believe and do good, they will have the best reward, and we will make things easy for them.

89Then he travelled a 'different' path 90until he reached the rising point of the sun. He found it rising on a people that We had provided no shelter against it.! 91So it was. And We definitely knew all about him.

92Then he travelled a 'third' path 93until he reached 'a space' between two mountains. He found in front of them a people who could hardly under-stand his language. 94They begged, 'O Zul-Qarnain! Ya'juj and Ma'juj are really causing trouble throughout the land. Can we pay you something to build a wall between us and them?' 95He replied, 'What my Lord has provided for me is far hetter. But help me with resources, and I will build a barrier between you and them.' 96Bring me blocks of iron!' Then. when he had filled up 'the gap' between the two mountains, he said, 'Blow!' When the iron became red hot, he said. 'Bring me melted copper to pour over it.' 97And so the enemies could not climb or tunnel through it. 98He declared, 'This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord comes true, He will level this barrier' to the ground. And my Lord's promise is always true.' 99On that Day, We will let them² swarm over each other. Later, the Horn will be blown, 13 and We will gather everyone together.

100On that Day, We will display Jahannam Clearly for the disbelievers, 101those who turned a blind eye to My Reminder" and could not stand listening "to the truth. 102Do those who disbelieve think they tan simply take My faithful' servants as lords instead of Me? We have surely Prepared Hell as a welcoming reception for the disbelievers.

103Say, 'O Prophet,' 'Shall we tell you who will be the biggest losers of deeds?' 104'They are' those whose efforts are lost in this life, while they think they are doing good!' 105They are the ones who reject their Lord's signs and the meeting with Him, making their deeds worth-less, so We will not give their deeds any weight on Judgment Day. 106That is their punishment: Hell, for disbelieving and making fun of My signs and messengers.

107Indeed, those who believe and do good will have the Gardens of Paradise as a welcoming stay, 108where they will be forever, never desiring anywhere else.

109Say, 0 Prophet, 'Tf the ocean were ink for 'writing' the Words of my Lord, it would definitely run out before the Words of my Lord were finished, even if We refilled it with other oceans.'

110Say, 'O Prophet,' 'I am only human like you, but' it has been revealed to me hat your God is only One God. So whoe-hopes for the meeting with their Lord, let them do good deeds and never make anyone equal to their Lord in worship.'