(18:1) [All] praise is [due] to Allah, who has sent down upon His Servant the Book and has not made therein any deviance. (18:2) [He has made it] straight, to warn of severe punishment from Him and to give good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a good reward (18:3) In which they will remain forever (18:4) And to warn those who say, "Allah has taken a son." (18:5) They have no knowledge of it, nor had their fathers. Grave is the word that comes out of their mouths; they speak not except a lie. (18:6) Then perhaps you would kill yourself through grief over them, [O Muhammad], if they do not believe in this message, [and] out of sorrow. (18:7) Indeed, We have made that which is on the earth adornment for it that We may test them [as to] which of them is best in deed. (18:8) And indeed, We will make that which is upon it [into] a barren ground. (18:9) Or have you thought that the companions of the cave and the inscription were, among Our signs, a wonder? (18:10) [Mention] when the youths retreated to the cave and said, "Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us from our affair right guidance." (18:11) So We cast [a cover of sleep] over their ears within the cave for a number of years. (18:12) Then We awakened them that We might show which of the two factions was most precise in calculating what [extent] they had remained in time. (18:13) It is We who relate to you, [O Muhammad], their story in truth. Indeed, they were youths who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance. (18:14) And We made firm their hearts when they stood up and said, "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. Never will we invoke besides Him any deity. We would have certainly spoken, then, an excessive transgression. (18:15) These, our people, have taken besides Him deities. Why do they not bring for [worship of] them a clear authority? And who is more unjust than one who invents about Allah a lie?" (18:16) [The youths said to one another], "And when you have withdrawn from them and that which they worship other than Allah, retreat to the cave. Your Lord will spread out for you of His mercy and will prepare for you from your affair facility." (18:17) And [had you been present], you would see the sun when it rose, inclining away from their cave on the right, and when it set, passing away from them on the left, while they were [laying] within an open space thereof. That was from the signs of Allah. He whom Allah guides is the [rightly] guided, but he whom He leaves astray - never will you find for him a protecting guide. (18:18) And you would think them awake, while they were asleep. And We turned them to the right and to the left, while their dog stretched his forelegs at the entrance. If you had looked at them, you would have turned from them in flight and been filled by them with terror. (18:19) And similarly, We awakened them that they might question one another. Said a speaker from among them, "How long have you remained [here]?" They said, "We have remained a day or part of a day." They said, "Your Lord is most knowing of how long you remained. So send one of you with this silver coin of yours to the city and let him look to which is the best of food and bring you provision from it and let him be cautious. And let no one be aware of you.
