Chapter Eighteen: Surah Al-Kahf

In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.

All praise belongs to Allah, who has sent down the Book to His servant and did not let any crookedness be in it, (1)

[a Book] upright, to warn of a severe punishment from Him, and to give good news to the faithful who do righteous deeds, that there shall be for them a good reward, (2)

to abide in it forever, (3)

and to warn those who say, ‘Allah has taken a son.’ (4)

They do not have any knowledge of that, nor did their fathers. Monstrous is the utterance that comes out of their mouths, and they say nothing but a lie. (5)

You are liable to imperil your life out of grief for their sake, if they should not believe this discourse. (6)

Indeed We have made whatever is on the earth an adornment for it that We may test them [to see] which of them is best in conduct. (7)

And indeed We will turn whatever is on it into a barren plain. (8)

Do you suppose that the Companions of the Cave and the Inscription were among Our wonderful signs? (9)

When the youths took refuge in the Cave, they said, ‘Our Lord! Grant us a mercy from Yourself, and help us on to rectitude in our affair.’ (10)

So We put them to sleep in the Cave for several years. (11)

Then We aroused them that We might know which of the two groups better reckoned the period they had stayed. (12)

We relate to you their account in truth. They were indeed youths who had faith in their Lord, and We had enhanced them in guidance, (13)

and fortified their hearts, when they stood up and said, ‘Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We will never invoke any god besides Him, for then we shall certainly have said an atrocious lie. (14)

These—our people—have taken gods besides Him. Why do they not bring any clear authority touching them? So who is a greater wrongdoer than he who fabricates a lie against Allah? (15)

When you have dissociated yourselves from them and from what they worship except Allah, then take refuge in the Cave. Your Lord will unfold His mercy for you, and He will help you on to ease in your affair.’ (16)

You may see the sun, when it rises, slanting toward the right of their cave, and, when it sets, cut across them towards the left, and they are in a cavern within it. That is one of Allah’s signs. Whomever Allah guides is rightly guided, and whomever He leads astray, you will never find for him any guardian or guide. (17)

You will suppose them to be awake, although they are asleep. We turn them to the right and to the left, and their dog [lies] stretching its forelegs at the threshold. If you come upon them, you will surely turn to flee from them, and you will surely be filled with a terror of them. (18)

So it was that We aroused them [from sleep] so that they might question one another. One of them said, ‘How long have you stayed [here]?’ They said, ‘We have stayed a day, or part of a day.’ They said, ‘Your Lord knows best how long you have stayed. Send one of you to the city with this money. Let him observe which of them has the purest food, and bring you provisions from there. Let him be attentive, and let him not make anyone aware of you. (19)

Indeed should they prevail over you, they will [either] stone you [to death], or force you back into their creed, and then you will never be saved. ’ (20)

So it was that We let them come upon them, that they might know that Allah’s promise is true, and that there is no doubt in the Hour. As they disputed among themselves about their matter, they said, ‘Build a building over them. Their Lord knows them best.’ Those who had the say in their matter said, ‘We will set up a place of worship over them.’ (21)

They will say, ‘[They are] three; their dog is the fourth of them,’ and say, ‘[They are] five, their dog is the sixth of them,’ taking a shot at the invisible. They will say, ‘[They are] seven, their dog is the eighth of them.’ Say, ‘My Lord knows best their number, and none knows them except a few.’ So do not dispute concerning them, except for a seeming dispute, and do not question about them any of them. (22)

Do not say about anything, ‘I will indeed do it tomorrow,’ (23)

without [adding], ‘God willing.’ And when you forget, remember your Lord, and say, ‘Maybe my Lord will guide me to *something+ more akin to rectitude than this.’ (24)

They remained in the Cave for three hundred years, and added nine more [to that number]. (25)

Say, ‘Allah knows best how long they remained. To Him belongs the Unseen of the heavens and the earth. How well does He see! How well does He hear! They have no guardian besides Him, and none shares with Him in His judgement.’ (26)

Recite what has been revealed to you from the Book of your Lord. Nothing can change His words, and you will never find any refuge besides Him. (27)

Content yourself with the company of those who supplicate their Lord morning and evening, desiring His Face, and do not lose sight of them, desiring the glitter of the life of this world. And do not obey him whose heart We have made oblivious to Our remembrance, and who follows his own desires, and whose conduct is [mere] profligacy. (28)

And say, ‘[This is] the truth from your Lord: let anyone who wishes believe it, and let anyone who wishes disbelieve it.’ Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a Fire whose curtains will surround them [on all sides]. If they cry out for help, they will be helped with a water like molten copper, which will scald their faces. What an evil drink, and how ill a resting place! (29)

As for those who have faith and do righteous deeds—indeed We do not waste the reward of those who are good in deeds. (30)

For such there will be the gardens of Eden with streams running in them. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and wear green garments of silk and brocade, reclining therein on couches. How excellent a reward, and how good a resting place! (31)

Draw for them the parable of two men for each of whom We had made two gardens of vines, and We had surrounded them with date palms, and placed crops between them. (32)

Both gardens yielded their produce without stinting anything of it. And We had set a stream gushing through them. (33)

He had abundant fruits, so he said to his companion, as he conversed with him: ‘I have more wealth than you, and am stronger with respect to numbers.’ (34)

He entered his garden while he wronged himself. He said, ‘I do not think that this will ever perish, (35)

and I do not think that the Hour will ever set in. And even if I am returned to my Lord I will surely find a resort better than this.’ (36)

His companion said to him, as he conversed with him: ‘Do you disbelieve in Him who created you from dust, then from a drop of [seminal] fluid, then fashioned you as a man? (37)

But I [say], ‘‘He is Allah, my Lord,’’ and I do not ascribe any partner to my Lord. (38)

Why did you not say, when you entered your garden, ‘‘[This is] as Allah has willed! There is no power except by Allah!’’ If you see that I have lesser wealth than you and children, (39)

maybe my Lord will give me [something] better than your garden, and He will unleash upon it bolts from the sky, so that it becomes a bare plain. (40)

Or its water will sink down, so that you will never be able to obtain it.’ (41)

And ruin closed in on his produce, and he began to wring his hands for what he had spent on it, as it lay fallen on its trellises. He was saying, ‘I wish I had not ascribed any partner to my Lord.’ (42)

He had no party to help him, besides Allah, nor could he help himself. (43)

There, all authority belongs to Allah, the Real. He is best in rewarding, and best in requiting. (44)

Draw for them the parable of the life of this world: [It is] like the water We send down from the sky. Then the earth’s vegetation mingles with it. Then it becomes chaff, scattered by the wind. And Allah has power over all things. (45)

Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of the world, but lasting righteous deeds are better with your Lord in reward and better in hope. (46)

The day We shall set the mountains moving and you will see the earth in full view, We shall muster them, and We will not leave out anyone of them. (47)

They will be presented before your Lord in ranks: ‘Certainly you have come to Us just as We created you the first time. But you maintained that We shall not appoint a tryst for you.’ (48)

The Book will be set up. Then you will see the guilty apprehensive of what is in it. They will say, ‘Woe to us! What a book is this! It omits nothing, big or small, without enumerating it.’ They will find present whatever they had done, and your Lord does not wrong anyone. (49)

When We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate before Adam,’ they prostrated, but not Iblis. He was one of the jinn, so he transgressed against his Lord’s command. Will you then take him and his offspring for guardians in My stead, though they are your enemies? How evil a substitute for the wrongdoers! (50)

I did not make them witness to the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor to their own creation, nor do I take those who mislead others as assistants. (51)

The day He will say [to the polytheists], ‘Call those whom you maintained to be My partners,’ they will call them, but they will not respond to them, for We shall set an abyss between them. (52)

The guilty will sight the Fire and know that they are about to fall in it, for they will find no way to escape it. (53)

We have certainly interspersed this Quran with every kind of parable for the people. But man is the most disputatious of creatures. (54)

Nothing has kept these people from believing and pleading to their Lord for forgiveness when guidance came to them, except [their demand] that the precedent of the ancients come to pass for them, or that the punishment come to them, face to face. (55)

We do not send the apostles except as bearers of good news and as warners, but those who are faithless dispute fallaciously to refute thereby the truth, having taken My signs and what they are warned of in derision. (56)

Who is a greater wrongdoer than he who is reminded of the signs of his Lord, whereat he disregards them and forgets what his hands have sent ahead? Indeed We have cast veils on their hearts lest they should understand it, and a deafness into their ears; and if you invite them to guidance they will never [let themselves] be guided. (57)

Your Lord is the All-forgiving dispenser of mercy. Were He to take them to task because of what they have committed, He would have surely hastened their punishment. But they have a tryst, [when] they will not find a refuge besides Him. (58) Those are the towns that We destroyed when they were wrongdoers, and We appointed a tryst for their destruction. (59)

When Moses said to his lad, ‘I will go on *journeying+ until I have reached the confluence of the two seas, or have spent a long time [travelling].’ (60)

So when they reached the confluence between them, they forgot their fish, which found its way into the sea, sneaking away. (61)

So when they had passed on, he said to his lad, ‘Bring us our meal. We have certainly encountered much fatigue on this journey of ours.’ (62)

He said, ‘Did you see?! When we took shelter at the rock, indeed I forgot about the fish—and none but Satan made me forget to mention it!—and it made its way into the sea in an amazing manner!’ (63)

He said, ‘That is what we were after!’ So they returned, retracing their footsteps. (64)

[There] they found one of Our servants whom We had granted a mercy from Ourselves, and taught him a knowledge from Our own. (65)

Moses said to him, ‘May I follow you for the purpose that you teach me some of the probity you have been taught?’ (66)

He said, ‘Indeed you cannot have patience with me! (67)

And how can you have patience about something you do not comprehend?’ (68)

He said, ‘You will find me, God willing, to be patient, and I will not disobey you in any matter.’ (69)

He said, ‘If you follow me, do not question me concerning anything until I myself first mention it for you.’ (70)

So they went on and when they boarded the boat, he made a hole in it. He said, ‘Did you make a hole in it to drown its people? You have certainly done a monstrous thing!’ (71)

He said, ‘Did I not say that you cannot have patience with me?’ (72)

He said, ‘Do not take me to task for my forgetting, and do not be hard upon me.’ (73)

So they went on until they came upon a boy, whereat he slew him. He said, ‘Did you slay an innocent soul, without *his having slain+ anyone? You have certainly done a dire thing!’ (74)

He said, ‘Did I not tell you that you cannot have patience with me?’ (75)

He said, ‘If I question you about anything after this, do not keep me in your company. You already have enough excuse on my part.’ (76)

So they went on until they came to the people of a town. They asked its people for food, but they refused to extend them any hospitality. There they found a wall which was about to collapse, so he erected it. He said, ‘Had you wished, you could have taken a wage for it.’ (77)

He said, ‘This is where you and I shall part. I will inform you about the interpretation of that over which you could not maintain patience. (78)

As for the boat, it belonged to some poor people who work on the sea. I wanted to make it defective, for behind them was a king seizing every ship usurpingly. (79)

As for the boy, his parents were faithful [persons], and We feared he would overwhelm them with rebellion and unfaith. (80)

So We desired that their Lord should give them in exchange one better than him in respect of purity and closer in mercy. (81)

As for the wall, it belonged to two boy orphans in the city. Under it there was a treasure belonging to them. Their father had been a righteous man. So your Lord desired that they should come of age and take out their treasure—as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do that out of my own accord. This is the interpretation of that over which you could not maintain patience.’ (82)

They question you concerning Dhul Qarnayn. Say, ‘I will relate to you an account of him.’ (83)

Indeed We had granted him power in the land and given him the means to all things. (84)

So he directed a means. (85)

When he reached the place where the sun sets, he found it setting over a warm sea, and by it he found a people. We said, ‘O Dhul Qarnayn! You will either punish them, or treat them with kindness.’ (86)

He said, ‘As for him who is a wrongdoer, we will punish him. Then he shall be returned to his Lord and He will punish him with a dire punishment. (87)

But as for him who has faith and acts righteously, he shall have the best reward, and we will assign him easy tasks under our command.’ (88)

Thereafter he directed another means. (89)

When he reached the place where the sun rises, he found it rising on a people for whom We had not provided any shield against it. (90)

So it was, and We were fully aware of whatever [means] he possessed. (91)

Thereafter he directed another means. (92)

When he reached [the place] between the two barriers, he found between them a people who could hardly understand a word [of his language]. (93)

They said, ‘O Dhul Qarnayn! Indeed Gog and Magog are causing disaster in this land. Shall we pay you a tribute on condition that you build a barrier between them and us?’ (94)

He said, ‘What my Lord has furnished me is better. Yet help me with some strength, and I will make a bulwark between you and them. (95)

Bring me pieces of iron!’ When he had levelled up between the flanks, he said, ‘Blow!’ When he had turned it into fire, he said, ‘Bring me molten copper to pour over it.’ (96)

So they could neither scale it, nor could they make a hole in it. (97)

He said, ‘This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord is fulfilled, He will level it; and my Lord’s promise is true.’ (98)

That day We shall let them surge over one another, the Trumpet will be blown, and We shall gather them all, (99)

and on that day We shall bring hell into view visibly for the faithless. (100)

—Those whose eyes were blind to My remembrance and who could not hear. (101)

Do the faithless suppose that they have taken My servants for guardians in My stead? Indeed, We have prepared hell for the hospitality of the faithless. (102)

Say, ‘Shall we inform you who are the biggest losers in their works? (103)

Those whose efforts are misguided in the life of the world, while they suppose they are doing good.’ (104)

They are the ones who deny the signs of their Lord and encounter with Him. So their works have failed. On the Day of Resurrection We will not give them any weight. (105)

That is their requital—hell—because of their unfaith and for deriding My signs and apostles. (106)

As for those who have faith and do righteous deeds, they shall have the gardens of Firdaws for abode, (107)

to remain in them [forever]; they will not seek to leave it for another place. (108)

Say, ‘If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would be spent before the words of my Lord are finished, though We replenish it with another like it.’ (109)

Say, ‘I am just a human being like you. It has been revealed to me that your God is the One God. So whoever expects to encounter his Lord—let him act righteously, and not associate anyone with the worship of his Lord.’ (110)