In the name of God, the Almighty,¹ the Merciful.

¹ Praise belongs to God who sent down the Writ¹ upon His servant — and placed not therein deviation² —

² Straight, that it¹ might warn of severe punishment from Him, and bring glad tidings to the believers² who do righteous deeds, that they have a goodly reward,

³ They ever remaining therein,

⁴ And warn those who say: “God has taken a son.”¹

⁵ No knowledge have they thereof,¹ and nor had their fathers. Grave is² the word that comes out of their mouths; they speak only a lie.

⁷ We made what is upon the earth an adornment for it, that We might try them, which of them is best in deed.

⁸ And We will make what is thereon barren ground.¹

⁹ If¹ thou thinkest that the companions of the cave, and the inscription,² were a wonder³ among Our proofs:⁴ —

¹⁰ (When the young men took shelter in the cave¹ and said: “Our Lord: give Thou us mercy from Thyself, and furnish Thou us out of our affair² with rectitude,”

¹¹ Then smote We their ears¹ in the cave a number of years.

¹² Then raised We them up, that We might know which of the two parties would best calculate what they had tarried in time.)

¹³ We relate to thee their report with the truth:¹ — they were young men who believed in² their Lord, and We increased them in guidance,

¹⁴ And We strengthened their hearts when they stood up¹ and said: “Our Lord is the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth; we will not call, besides² Him, to any god,³ for then would we have said a wanton falsehood.”⁴

¹⁵ “These, our people, have taken up gods¹ other than² Him. Oh, that they but³ brought concerning them a clear authority!”⁴ And who is more unjust than he who invents a lie about God?

¹⁶ “And when you have withdrawn from them and what they serve save God,¹ take shelter in the cave. Your Lord will unfurl for you out of His mercy, and furnish you out of your affair² all that you need.”³

¹⁷ (And thou seest¹ the sun: when it rises it inclines away from their cave to the right; and when it sets, it passes away from them on the left — and they in the opening thereof!² That is among the proofs³ of God;⁴ whom God guides, he is guided; and whom He sends astray, for him thou wilt find no guiding ally.

¹⁸ And thou thinkest them awake, when they are asleep; and We cause them to turn to the right and the left.¹) And their dog² was stretching out its two paws on the threshold — hadst thou³ looked upon them, thou wouldst have turned away from them in flight and been filled with terror of them.

¹⁹ And thus We raised them up: — that they might question one another.¹ Said a speaker among them: “How long have you tarried?” They said: “We have tarried a day, or a part of a day.” Said they: “Your Lord best knows how long you have tarried. Then send one of you with this coin² of yours to the city, and let him see what food is purest and bring you a provision therefrom; and let him be circumspect, and let not anyone be aware of you.

²⁰ “They, if they come to know of you, will stone you, or turn you back to their creed; and you will then not be successful ever.

²¹ “And thus¹ did He² acquaint us with them:³ that they⁴ might know that the promise of God is true,⁵ and that the Hour — there is no doubt concerning it.” When⁶ they⁷ contended with one another about their affair,⁸ then they said: “Build over them⁹ a structure; their Lord best knows concerning them.” Those who prevailed over their affair said: “We will take for them¹⁰ a place of worship.”¹¹

²² They¹ will say: “Three; the fourth of them their dog!” and they will say: “Five; the sixth of them their dog!” — guessing at the Unseen; and they will say: “Seven;² and the eighth of them their dog!” Say thou: “My Lord best knows their number.”³ None knows them save a few, so argue thou not concerning them save with a patent argument;⁴ and ask thou not an opinion concerning them from any of them.⁵

²³ (And say thou not of anything: “I will do that tomorrow,”

²⁴ Save: “If God wills.”¹ And remember thou thy Lord when thou forgetest, and say thou: “It may be that my Lord will guide me nearer than this in rectitude.”)

²⁵ “And¹ they tarried in their cave three hundred years!” And they increased by nine.²

²⁶ Say thou: “God best knows how long they tarried.” To Him belongs the unseen of the heavens and the earth: how He sees it and how He hears!¹ They have no ally besides² Him; and He ascribes not a partnership³ in His judgment to anyone.

²⁷ And recite thou what is revealed¹ to thee of the Writ² of thy Lord; there is none to change His words.³ And thou wilt find no refuge besides⁴ Him.

²⁸ And make thou thy soul patient, with those who call to their Lord, morning and evening, seeking His face. And let not thine eyes pass beyond¹ them, desiring the adornment of the life of this world; and obey thou not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance² and follows his vain desire and whose affair is neglect.³

²⁹ And say thou: “The truth¹ is from your Lord; then whoso wills, let him believe; and whoso wills, let him deny.”² We have prepared for the wrongdoers³ a Fire, its walls encompassing them; and if they seek succour, they will be given succour by water like molten brass burning the faces — evil the drink, and evil the resting-place.⁴

³⁰ Those who heed warning¹ and do righteous deeds: We cause not to be lost the reward of one who does good works;

³¹ Those have gardens of perpetual abode, beneath which rivers flow. They are adorned therein with bracelets of gold, and wear green garments of finest silk and brocade, reclining therein upon couches — excellent the reward, and fair the resting-place.¹

³² And strike thou for them a similitude: — two men: We made for one of them two gardens of grapevines, and surrounded them with date-palms, and placed between them¹ crops.

³³ Each of the two gardens produced its fruit and were wronged nothing thereof. And We caused to flow in the midst of them¹ a river.

³⁴ And he had fruit, and said to his companion while conversing with him: “I am greater than thee in wealth and mightier in men.”¹

³⁵ And he entered his garden while he was wronging his soul, saying: “I think not that this will ever perish;

³⁶ “And I think not that the Hour will strike; and if I am brought back to my Lord, I will find better than this as a final destination.”

³⁷ His companion said to him while conversing with him: “Deniest thou Him who created thee from dust; then from a sperm-drop; then fashioned thee a man?

³⁸ “But as for me: He is God, my Lord, and I ascribe not a partnership¹ with my Lord to anyone.²

³⁹ “And oh, that when thou wast entering thy garden thou hadst but¹ said: ‘What God has willed; there is no strength save in God!’ Although² thou seest me less than thee in wealth and children,

⁴⁰ “It may be that my Lord will give me better than thy garden, and will send upon it¹ a calamity from the sky, so that it becomes miry² ground

⁴¹ “Or its water becomes sunken so that thou canst not find it.”

⁴² And encompassed were his fruits;¹ and he began to wring his hands² for all that he had spent therein, but it was desolate and in ruins.³ And he said: “Would that I had not ascribed a partnership⁴ with my Lord to anyone!”

⁴³ And he had no band to help him, besides¹ God, and he could not help himself.

⁴⁴ Thereupon¹ protection belongs to God, the Truth!² He is best in reward, and best in final outcome.

⁴⁵ And strike thou for them the similitude of the life of this world: — as water which We send down from the sky, then the vegetation of the earth mingles with it; then it becomes dry stalks which the winds scatter. And God is omnipotent over everything.

⁴⁶ Wealth and sons are an adornment of the life of this world; but the righteous deeds which endure are better as reward in the sight of thy Lord, and better as hope.

⁴⁷ And the day We set in motion the mountains, and thou seest the earth emerge, and We gather them, then will We not leave behind one of them

⁴⁸ And they will be set before thy Lord in ranks:¹ “You have come to Us as We created you the first time; yet² you claimed that We would never make an appointment for you!”

⁴⁹ And the writ¹ will be set down, and thou wilt see the lawbreakers apprehensive of what is therein. And they will say: “Woe is us! What writ² is this that leaves behind nothing small or great save it has enumerated it?”³ And they will find what they did present; and thy Lord wrongs no one.