Al-Kahf

In the name of God, the Gracious, the
Merciful.

1. Praise be to God, who revealed the Book
to His servant, and allowed in it no distortion.
2. Valuable—to warn of severe punishment
from Himself; and to deliver good
news to the believers who do righteous
deeds, that they will have an excellent reward.
3. In which they will abide forever.
4. And to warn those who say, “God has
begotten a son.”
5. They have no knowledge of this, nor did
their forefathers. Grave is the word that

comes out of their mouths. They say nothing
but a lie.
6. Perhaps you may destroy yourself with
grief, chasing after them, if they do not
believe in this information.
7. We made what is upon the earth an ornament
for it, to test them as to which of
them is best in conduct.
8. And We will turn what is on it into barren
waste.
9. Did you know that the People of the
Cave and the Inscription were of Our
wondrous signs?
10. When the youths took shelter in the
cave, they said, “Our Lord, give us mercy
from Yourself, and bless our affair with
guidance.”
11. Then We sealed their ears in the cave
for a number of years.
12. Then We awakened them to know
which of the two groups could better calculate
the length of their stay.
13. We relate to you their story in truth.
They were youths who believed in their
Lord, and We increased them in guidance.
14. And We strengthened their hearts,
when they stood up and said, “Our Lord is
the Lord of the heavens and the earth; we
will not call on any god besides Him, for
then we would have spoken an outrage.”
15. “These people, our people, have taken
to themselves gods other than Him. Why
do they not bring a clear proof concerning
them? Who, then, does greater wrong
than he who invents lies and attributes
them to God?”
16. “Now that you have withdrawn from
them, and from what they worship besides
God, take shelter in the cave. And your
Lord will unfold His mercy for you, and
will set your affair towards ease.”
17. You would have seen the sun, when it
rose, veering away from their cave towards
the right, and when it sets, moving away
from them to the left, as they lay in the
midst of the cave. That was one of God’s
wonders. He whom God guides is truly
guided; but He whom God misguides, for
him you will find no directing friend.
18. You would think them awake, although
they were asleep. And We turned them
over to the right, and to the left, with their
dog stretching its paws across the threshold.
Had you looked at them, you would
have turned away from them in flight, and
been filled with fear of them.
19. Even so, We awakened them, so that
they may ask one another. A speaker
among them said, “How long have you
stayed?” 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 of yours, and let him see which
food is most suitable, and let him bring
you some provision thereof. And let him
be gentle, and let no one become aware of
you.”
20. “If they discover you, they will stone
you, or force you back into their religion;
then you will never be saved.”
21. So it was, that We caused them to be
discovered, that they would know that the
promise of God is true, and that of the
Hour there is no doubt. As they were disputing
their case among themselves, they
said, “Build over them a building.” Their
Lord knows best about them. Those who
prevailed over their case said, “We will set
up over them a place of worship.”
22. They will say, “Three, and their fourth
being their dog.” And they will say, “Five,
and their sixth being their dog,” guessing
at the unknown. And they will say, “Seven,
and their eighth being their dog.” Say, “My
Lord knows best their number.” None
knows them except a few. So do not argue
concerning them except with an obvious
argument, and do not consult any of them
about them.
23. And never say about anything, “I will
do that tomorrow.”
24. Without saying, “If God wills.” And
remember your Lord if you forget, and
say, “Perhaps my Lord will guide me to
nearer than this in integrity.”
25. And they stayed in their cave for three
hundred years, adding nine.
26. Say, “God knows best how long they
stayed.” His is the mystery of the heavens
and the earth. By Him you see and hear.
They have no Guardian apart from Him,
and He shares His Sovereignty with no
one.
27. And recite what was revealed to you
from the Book of your Lord. There is no
changing His words, and you will find no
refuge except in Him.
28. And content yourself with those who
pray to their Lord morning and evening,
desiring His Presence. And do not turn
your eyes away from them, desiring the
glitter of this world. And do not obey him
whose heart We have made heedless of
Our remembrance—so he follows his own
desires—and his priorities are confused.
29. And say, “The truth is from your Lord.
Whoever wills—let him believe. And whoever
wills—let him disbelieve. We have
prepared for the unjust a Fire, whose curtains
will hem them in. And when they cry
for relief, they will be relieved with water
like molten brass, which scalds the faces.
What a miserable drink, and what a terrible
place.
30. As for those who believe and lead a
righteous life—We will not waste the reward
of those who work righteousness.
31. These will have the Gardens of Eden,
beneath which rivers flow. Reclining on
comfortable furnishings, they will be
adorned with bracelets of gold, and will
wear green garments of silk and brocade.
What a wonderful reward, and what an
excellent resting-place.
32. And cite for them the parable of two
men. To one of them We gave two gardens
of vine, and We surrounded them
with palms-trees, and We placed between
them crops.
33. Both gardens produced their harvest in
full, and suffered no loss. And We made a
river flow through them.
34. And thus he had abundant fruits. He
said to his friend, as he conversed with
him, “I am wealthier than you, and greater
in manpower.”
35. And he entered his garden, wronging
himself. He said, “I do not think this will
ever perish.”
36. “And I do not think the Hour is coming.
And even if I am returned to my Lord,
I will find something better than this in
return.”
37. His friend said to him, as he conversed
with him, “Are you being ungrateful to
Him who created you from dust, then
from a sperm-drop, then evolved you into
a man?
38. But as for me, He is God, my Lord, and
I never associate with my Lord anyone.
39. When you entered your garden, why
did you not say, “As God wills; there is no
power except through God”? Although
you see me inferior to you in wealth and
children.
40. Perhaps my Lord will give me something
better than your garden, and release
upon it thunderbolts from the sky, so it
becomes barren waste.
41. Or its water will sink into the ground,
and you will be unable to draw it.”
42. And ruin closed in on his crops, and so
he began wringing his hands over what he
had invested in it, as it lays fallen upon its
trellises. And he was saying, “I wish I never
associated anyone with my Lord.”
43. He had no faction to help him besides
God, and he was helpless.
44. That is because authority belongs to
God, the True. He is Best in rewarding,
and Best in requiting.
45. And cite for them the parable of the
present life: it is like water that We send
down from the sky; the plants of the earth
absorb it; but then it becomes debris, scattered
by the wind. God has absolute power
over everything.
46. Wealth and children are the adornments
of the present life; but the things
that last, the virtuous deeds, are better
with your Lord for reward, and better for
hope.
47. On the Day when We set the mountains
in motion; and you see the earth
emerging; and We gather them together,
and leave none of them behind.
48. They will be presented before your
Lord in a row. “You have come to Us as
We created you the first time. Although
you claimed We would not set a meeting
for you.”
49. And the book will be placed, and you
will see the sinners fearful of its contents.
And they will say, “Woe to us! What is
with this book that leaves nothing, small
or big, but it has enumerated it?” They will
find everything they had done present.
Your Lord does not wrong anyone.
50. We said to the angels, “Bow down to
Adam.” So they bowed down, except for
Satan. He was of the jinn, and he defied
the command of his Lord. Will you take
him and his offspring as lords instead of
Me, when they are an enemy to you? Evil
is the exchange for the wrongdoers.
51. I did not call them to witness the creation
of the heavens and the earth, nor their
own creation; and I do not take the misleaders
for assistants.
52. On the Day when He will say, “Call on
My partners whom you have claimed.”
They will call on them, but they will not
answer them. And We will place between
them a barrier.
53. And the sinners will see the Fire, and
will realize that they will tumble into it.
They will find no deliverance from it.
54. We have elaborated in this Quran for
the people every kind of example, but the
human being is a most argumentative being.
55. What prevented people from accepting
faith, when guidance has come to them,
and from seeking their Lord’s forgiveness?
Unless they are waiting for the precedent
of the ancients to befall them, or to have
the punishment come upon them face to
face.
56. We send the messengers only as deliverers
of good news and warners. Those
who disbelieve argue with false argument,
in order to defeat the truth thereby. They
take My Verses, and the warnings, for a
joke.
57. Who does greater wrong than he, who,
when reminded of his Lord’s revelations,
turns away from them, and forgets what
his hands have put forward? We have
placed coverings over their hearts, lest
they understand it, and heaviness in their
ears. And if you call them to guidance,
they will not be guided, ever.
58. Your Lord is the Forgiver, Possessor of
Mercy. Were He to call them to account
for what they have earned, He would have
hastened the punishment for them. But
they have an appointment from which
they will find no escape.
59. And these towns—We destroyed them
when they committed injustices, and We
set for their destruction an appointed
time.
60. Recall when Moses said to his servant,
“I will not give up until I reach the junction
of the two rivers, even if it takes me
years.”
61. Then, when they reached the junction
between them, they forgot about their fish.
It found its way into the river, slipping
away.
62. When they went further, he said to his
servant, “Bring us our lunch; we were exposed
in our travel to much fatigue.”
63. He said, “Do you remember when we
rested by the rock? I forgot about the fish.
It was only the devil who made me forget
it. And so it found its way to the river,
amazingly.”
64. He said, “This is what we were seeking.”
And so they turned back retracing
their steps.
65. Then they came upon a servant of
Ours, whom We had blessed with mercy
from Us, and had taught him knowledge
from Our own.
66. Moses said to him, “May I follow you,
so that you may teach me some of the
guidance you were taught?”
67. He said, “You will not be able to endure
with me.
68. And how will you endure what you
have no knowledge of?”
69. He said, “You will find me, God willing,
patient; and I will not disobey you in any
order of yours.”
70. He said, “If you follow me, do not ask
me about anything, until I myself make
mention of it to you.”
71. So they set out. Until, when they had
boarded the boat, he holed it. He said,
“Did you hole it, to drown its passengers?
You have done something awful.”
72. He said, “Did I not tell you that you will
not be able to endure with me?”
73. He said, “Do not rebuke me for forgetting,
and do not make my course difficult
for me.”
74. Then they set out. Until, when they
encountered a boy, he killed him. He said,
“Did you kill a pure soul, who killed no
one? You have done something terrible.”
75. He said, “Did I not tell you that you will
not be able to endure with me?”
76. He said, “If I ask you about anything
after this, then do not keep company with
me. You have received excuses from me.”
77. So they set out. Until, when they
reached the people of a town, they asked
them for food, but they refused to offer
them hospitality. There they found a wall
about to collapse, and he repaired it. He
said, “If you wanted, you could have obtained
a payment for it.”
78. He said, “This is the parting between
you and me. I will tell you the interpretation
of what you were unable to endure.
79. As for the boat, it belonged to paupers
working at sea. I wanted to damage it because
there was a king coming after them
seizing every boat by force.
80. As for the boy, his parents were believers,
and we feared he would overwhelm
them with oppression and disbelief.
81. So we wanted their Lord to replace him
with someone better in purity, and closer
to mercy.
82. And as for the wall, it belonged to two
orphaned boys in the town. Beneath it was
a treasure that belonged to them. Their
father was a righteous man. Your Lord
wanted them to reach their maturity, and
then extract their treasure—as a mercy
from your Lord. I did not do it of my own
accord. This is the interpretation of what
you were unable to endure.”
83. And they ask you about Zul-Qarnain.
Say, “I will tell you something about him.”
84. We established him on earth, and gave
him all kinds of means.
85. He pursued a certain course.
86. Until, when he reached the setting of
the sun, he found it setting in a murky
spring, and found a people in its vicinity.
We said, “O Zul-Qarnain, you may either
inflict a penalty, or else treat them kindly.”
87. He said, “As for him who does wrong,
we will penalize him; then he will be returned
to his Lord, and He will punish
him with an unheard-of torment.
88. “But as for him who believes and acts
righteously, he will have the finest reward,
and We will speak to him of Our command
with ease.”
89. Then he pursued a course.
90. Until, when he reached the rising of the
sun, he found it rising on a people for
whom We had provided no shelter from
it.
91. And so it was. We had full knowledge
of what he had.
92. Then he pursued a course.
93. Until, when he reached the point separating
the two barriers, he found beside
them a people who could barely understand
what is said.
94. They said, “O Zul-Qarnain, the Gog
and Magog are spreading chaos in the
land. Can we pay you, to build between us
and them a wall?”
95. He said, “What my Lord has empowered
me with is better. But assist me with
strength, and I will build between you and
them a dam.”
96. “Bring me blocks of iron.” So that,
when he had leveled up between the two
cliffs, he said, “Blow.” And having turned
it into a fire, he said, “Bring me tar to pour
over it.”
97. So they were unable to climb it, and
they could not penetrate it.
98. He said, “This is a mercy from my
Lord. But when the promise of my Lord
comes true, He will turn it into rubble,
and the promise of my Lord is always
true.”
99. On that Day, We will leave them surging
upon one another. And the Trumpet
will be blown, and We will gather them
together.
100. On that Day, We will present the disbelievers
to Hell, all displayed.
101. Those whose eyes were screened to My
message, and were unable to hear.
102. Do those who disbelieve think that
they can take My servants for masters instead
of Me? We have prepared Hell for
the hospitality of the faithless.
103. Say, “Shall We inform you of the
greatest losers in their works?”
104. “Those whose efforts in this world are
misguided, while they assume that they
are doing well.”
105. It is they who rejected the communications
of their Lord, and the encounter with
Him. So their works are in vain. And on
the Day of Resurrection, We will consider
them of no weight.
106. That is their requital—Hell—on account
of their disbelief, and their taking
My revelations and My messengers in
mockery.
107. As for those who believe and do righteous
deeds, they will have the Gardens of
Paradise for hospitality.
108. Abiding therein forever, without desiring
any change therefrom.
109. Say, “If the ocean were ink for the
words of my Lord, the ocean would run
out, before the words of my Lord run out,”
even if We were to bring the like of it in
addition to it.
110. Say, “I am only a human being like
you, being inspired that your god is One
God. Whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let
him work righteousness, and never associate
anyone with the service of his Lord.”