18al-KahfThe Caveسُورَةُ الكهف

Praise be to Allah who has imparted this [divine] text upon His attendant [Muhammad], and to which He did not attach any twists [of meaning]:

[A divine text] precisely poised to caution [the God-deniers] of a severe thrashing proceeding from His noble bearing, and to break good news to those who are committed [to Allah’s power and authority] and who do what is right [right being defined by Allah] that theirs shall indeed be a wonderful reward —

[A reward] they will dwell in forever.

Furthermore, [this divine text] forewarns those who assert, “Allah has appropriated a son.”

They have no pertinent knowledge of Him; neither do their forefathers: what they are voicing [about a human god or a godlike human] is immensely deplorable; nothing but misrepresentations do they express.

You [O Muhammad] may be inclined to exhaust yourself in trying to trace [and unravel] their trajectory [of untruths] if they do not stand for the truth [revealed to you].

Actually, We have crafted whatever is on earth to be its ornamentation so that We may test them so as to [demonstrate] who will come out doing what is best;

And, truly, [eventually] We shall cause it [beautiful earth] to retrogress into desolate top soil.

[Now that you know that the world will revert to barren top soil] you should [also] realize that the companions of the cave and data-book1 were phenomenal expressions of Our power and authority.

As those young men sought refuge in the cave saying, “Our Sustainer! Give us from your presence a grace and arrange for us — out of our situation — a mature experience,”

Accordingly We sealed off their auditory sense in the cave for [many] years, unspecified in number.

Then We aroused them: to mark out which of the two partisan opinions [more accurately] tallied that time-span they had remained [in the cave, sleeping].

[And now] We shall narrate to you [O Muhammad] their story factually. They were young men who committed themselves [to Allah’s power and authority] and [so] We enhanced their [sense of] guidance,

And We braced their hearts as they went public and declared, “Our sustainer is the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth; [hence] we will not invoke anyone else as our deity/authority to the exclusion of Him: [for] if we do [accept such a deity/authority besides Him] we would be uttering sacrilege!

“These are our people! They have adopted other gods besides Him! — if only they could provide proof for their beliefs [which they cannot]! Who could, then, be more of a justice violator than he who attributes lies to Allah?”

[And then they said to each other], “Keep in mind that you [the companions of the cave] have estranged yourselves from them [your own people] and all that they revere to the exception of Allah; therefore, seek a place of safety in that cave: your Sustainer will unfurl His mercy over you and will arrange for you out of your predicament a bolstering [to your condition].”

And you can [virtually] see the Sun as it was rising, inclining away from them — rightward — and as it was setting, pitching away from them — leftward — while they were [laying] near a gap/crevice to the cave: this is one of the illustrations of Allah’s power and authority. [And so] whoever Allah guides [by honoring His power and authority] is truly guided; whereas whoever He misdirects [through defying His power and authority] for him you will never find an ally to show [him] the right way [ahead].

[And had you been able to see them sleeping in the cave] you would think they were awake but they are sound asleep. And [similarly, you would be watching as] We cause them to turn once to the right and once to the left, while their dog has his forelegs stretched at the cave’s entrance. Would that you had access to them, for then, you would have fled in fear and been overwhelmed with panic.

And in such a [curious] condition, We awakened them whereupon they began to petition each other [about what happened]. One of them asked, “How long have you been here?” Answered [some], “We’ve been here for a day or a portion of a day.” [Then, others from among them] said, “Your Sustainer knows full well how long you’ve been here; therefore, send one of you with your currency to the city so that he may select some choice food and bring back nourishment from there. [But whoever is going] should be hardly noticeable: no one should sense your whereabouts [here],

“For, indeed, if they [who had once forced you to forsake your own society] were to prevail over you, they would stone you [to death] or force you back into their [God-denying] culture; [and if that happens], you will never ever thrive.”

In this manner have We made people aware of these [cave companions] so that they come to realize that Allah’s promise is true and just, and that the [coming of the] Final Hour is indisputable. [From this background] some people [at a future date] began to dispute this whole issue among themselves. Some said, “Build a structure over them [in memory of them]; their Sustainer is more informed about them.” Said they whose opinion prevailed [after their debates], “Indeed, we shall assign to them a resting house of devotion [and prostration].”

[Some subsequent generations] will say, “They [the cave companions] were three, their dog being the fourth,” while others will say, “They were five, their dog being the sixth” — all a matter of conjecture in what they were not witness to. And yet others will say, “They were seven, the eighth being their dog.” Say, “My Sustainer knows very well their count; besides that only a few knew [how many they were]. Hence, do not quarrel about them except by way of evident information, and do not seek a final word from any one of them [who are consumed by this dispute].”

And definitely do not assert about a matter, “I’ll be sure to take care of this tomorrow,”

Except [with the realization] that Allah wills it. And [remember to] be conscious of your Sustainer when you fail to recall [Him] and say, “It may be that my Sustainer will guide me to a point in my life of more experience [and prudence].”

And they remained in their cave for three hundred years, with nine years additional [according to different solar and lunar definitions of what constitutes a year].

Say, “Allah knows better than anyone else the duration of their stay [in that cave]. His is the [dominion over the] unknown [reality] of whatever occurs in heaven and on earth: no one can see and hear comparable to Him. [Therefore] they have no prime ally besides Him and He does not allow anyone to share in His judgement/rule.”

And [methodically] correlate what has been revealed to you [O Muhammad] of the Scripture [Qur’an] from your Sustainer; there is no one who can alter His words and you [Muhammad] will not find — to His exclusion — a shelter [of security].

And content yourself with the company of those who call upon their Sustainer day and night meaning to win His approval and do not wander with your eyes [looking for those whose means are] beyond them in quest of worldly allure; and do not defer to he whose heart We have rendered neglectful and oblivious to Us because he followed his [individual] whims resulting in his situation falling apart.

And state [the following fact], “Truth and justice is from your Sustainer; so whoever decides to commit himself [to Allah] may do so and whoever decides to deny [Allah His power and authority] may do so.” Indeed, We have prepared for truth-and-justice violators a fire whose canopy shall encircle them; and if they plead for water-relief they will be given the relief of a liquid of molten metal that grills faces — what an awful brew, and what an unpleasant respite [breathing room]!

Of course, as for those who commit [to Us] and do the right thing, [remember] We do not lose sight of those who refine their deeds:

For them are gardens of eternal bliss beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will be decorated with bracelets of gold and will wear green clothes of silk and brocade, as [they are] reclining on canopy couches — how marvelous a reward and how pleasant a respite!

And present to them [the public] the allegory of two men, one of whom We provided [through his efforts] with two vineyards that We encircled with palm trees; and between them We positioned grounds of agricultural produce.

Each of these agricultural estates yielded its foodstuffs without any shortfall [or insufficiency], for We poured forth a streaming river running through them.

He [the owner of these gardens] at this instant had [substantial] crops [and goods] — so he said to his companion in a chatting manner, “I have more money [and wealth] than you and I am more prestigious because of my entourage [staff, associates, and employees]!”

And [with this attitude], he [the proprietor] entered his orchard in a manner that does injustice to his own self, while saying, “I do not think that this [effusion of livelihood and means of support] will ever end!

“And I do not think there will be the coming of the Final Hour; and even if I were to be returned to my Sustainer, I will definitely find what is more and what is better as an outcome than what I have here.”

His companion said to him [also] in a conversational manner, “Have you defied [and denied] He who has created you from dirt, and then from a zygote and then proportioned you to become a man?

“As for me, [I affirm that] it is He, Allah, who is my Sustainer and I do not and will not liken anyone to him [in matters pertaining to His magnanimous power and controlling authority].”

And [he carried on saying], “If only you had said, upon entering your [fertile and profitable] farmstead, ‘This is what Allah has decreed, [for] there is no power except [powers] owing to Allah’; [I say this] even though you may see [and consider] me lesser than you when it comes to money and fecundity [procreation and reproduction].

“Nevertheless, my Sustainer may [one day] give me what is better than your estate; He may let loose upon it [your estate] a “natural calculation” after which it [your cultivated area] would become erosive soil.

“Or its water may run dry after which you will not be able to recuperate [that loss of water].”

And [thus it happened after this dialogue]: his fruits [and crops] were inundated [with whatever physical law (natural disaster) followed]. Then he began wringing his hands — thinking of all that he invested in his estate — while it lay in ruin: and, now, he said, “I wish I had not equated [other powers and authorities] with Allah.”

[At that moment], he had no outfit inferior to Allah to support him; and [thus] supported he was not.

At that time [and moment of reckoning] the primacy affiliation is Allah’s — that is what counts! His is the best reward for good [and God-related] deeds and His is the best calculation for what follows [any human effort].

And expound to them on [the semblance of] life in this world: it is like water that We send out from the sky, which then finds its way into earth’s plant life, and then [after a time] becomes ash blowing in the wind — and Allah has always been the determinant of all things.

[Vast amounts of] money and [regenerative] manpower are the embellishment of the world’s life; but what endures of good [efforts] is preferable as concerns your Sustainer: [they generate] rewards and the hope [they generate] is better [than other types of worldly expectations].

And [there will come] a Day when We will propel the mountains and you will see the earth palpably and We will have amassed them [all of humanity from beginning to end], leaving out not one [of them].

And [then] they will be presented to your Sustainer in line formation, [and He will say], “[Now] you have come to Us in the [unadulterated] state that We created you in [as solitary individuals responsible for your own selves] — even though you claimed that We shall not arrange a meeting point [for you].

And then, when the Register of Deeds is presented, you see the criminals anxious and frightened because of what is in it [the Record of Deeds], exclaiming, “Oh! Wretched are we! Why must this Record of Deeds include every miniscule and massive thing? Why has it tallied everything?” For they will find everything they did [in their previous life] facing them, and your Sustainer does not do injustice to anyone.

And bear in mind the time when We told the malā’ikah, “Show respect to Adam,” and they all showed him respect, except Iblīs: he [his dormant character] was invisible and thus did he fall apart at the moment his Sustainer issued His command. Do you, then, consider him and his offspring to be your allies to My exclusion even though they are your enemy? How despicable a swap by injustice doers!

I have not had them witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor the creation of their own selves, and I am not One who will team up with misleading characters.

And [remember the day] when [He] will say, “Call forth My rivals [those you associated with My power and authority in your worldly lives] — whom you claimed as guarantors [of support]! Whereupon, they [the mushriks] will call on them, but no one will respond to them, for We shall have placed between them an inferno of annihilation.

And the criminals will cast their vision on the fire, being certain they would plummet into it, and they would find nothing to divert them from it.

And, surely, We have offered multiple perspectives in this Qur’an for people, but [despite this] social beings remain very argumentative:

For, what is it that bars people from committing themselves to Allah’s power and authority when guidance [for that purpose] comes to them during which they ask their Sustainer to forgive them? Would they desire the social laws [of punishment] preceding their time to be applied to them? Or would they [prefer] to wait for an impending infliction?

And We do not send messengers except with good news [for the righteous] and bad news [for the sinful]. The deniers of Allah [His power and authority] will use false arguments to try to invalidate and terminate truth and justice as they consider My illustrations of power and authority and what they were warned of to be a joke!

And who could be more abusive of justice than he who is made aware of his Sustainer’s illustrations of power and authority and thereupon shuns them, forgetting what [injustice] his own two hands have precipitated. We have situated shrouds long-in-the-making — effecting an inability on their behalf to practically understand it [this Qur’anic guidance] — and made their ears hard of hearing. And though you may solicit their attention in an effort to guide them, they will never ever be guided.

But [even so], your Sustainer is the Ever-Forgiving, One of Grace: for, were He to [immediately] take them to task for what they have done, He would have hastened the affliction [due to them]. Rather, theirs is a set time beyond which they will find no safe haven.

Those were the imperial societies that We brought down due to their injustice: and so We were compelled to schedule their downfall.

And bear in mind when Mūsā said to the youth [accompanying him], “I will not stop wandering [through life] until I reach the conjunction of the two seas [compendiums], even if I had to spend epochs [of time in my quest].”

And when they both reached the conjunction of the two [seas/compendiums], they forgot about their large fish, and it took its course in the sea and vanished.

When they both proceeded onward, he [Mūsā] said to the youth with him, “Bring us our nourishment for we have been exhausted by this journey of ours.”

He [the youth] replied, “Did you notice that when we took cover by that rock, behold, I [all of a sudden] forgot about the large fish [we were going to have as nourishment] — and none but Satan could have caused my memory failure pertaining to it [the large fish] — which took its course into the sea in a strange path/trajectory?”

[Mūsā] called out, “That is what we wanted [the place they were looking for all along]!” And the two turned back retracing their footsteps,

And they found one of Our subjects whom We gifted with grace from Us and one whom We taught knowledge coming [intimately] from Our eminence.

Mūsā said to him, “May I follow you so that you can confer upon me from the sagacity that was conferred upon you?”

He [the sage] said, “You will not be able to be patient with me [when you are in my company];

“And how can you be patient with what you have had no [cognizant] experience with?”

Said [Mūsā], “You will find me, by Allah’s will, to be patient; and I will not contravene any of your commands.”

He [the sage] said, “If you choose to follow me, do not ask me about anything until I divulge to you its sentient meaning.”

And so the two went onward [together] until they [finally] boarded a ship in which he [the sage] punched a hole, [whereupon Mūsā] exclaimed, “Did you make a hole in it to drown its occupants? Indeed, you have done an outrageous thing!”

He [the sage] replied, “Did I not tell you that you will not be able to be patient with me?”

Replied [Mūsā], “Do not take me to task for my lapse of memory and do not place a burden on my arduous situation.”

And then the two of them went onward until they both encountered a boy whom he [the sage] killed, [whereupon Mūsā] exclaimed, “Have you [just now] murdered a blameless human being who [himself] is not [guilty of] killing another? Indeed, you have done a repulsive thing!”2

Replied [the sage], “Did I not tell you that you will not be able to be patient with me?”

Said [Mūsā], “If I shall ask you about anything after all this, then do not accompany me [further]; for, as of now, you [the sage] have exhausted my particular plea for explanation [that is, you will hear no more excuses from me]!”

And so, they both went onward until they came upon some townspeople whom they [Mūsā and the sage] asked for food, but they [the townspeople] refused to accommodate them. [As Mūsā and the sage looked about for accommodations], they came across a wall on the verge of collapse, so he [the sage] built it up [and reinforced it], [whereupon Mūsā] said, “Had you so wanted, you could have gained [some monetary] compensation for [building and reinforcing] it.”

[The sage] said, “This is [finally] the point at which you and I [go our] separate [ways]. I will now disclose to you what was really behind [those events] that you were not able to bear with patience:

“As regards the ship, it belonged to [toiling] needy people who made their living out of seafaring work; so I wanted to impair it [by putting a hole in it] for [I knew] there is a monarch who would pursue them [and their means of livelihood] and seize [all sound seafaring] vessels against the will of their owners.

“As for that young boy, his parents were truly committed muslims — whereas we were alarmed that he [in his coming years in life] would burden them [his parents] with unrestrained behavior and denial [of Allah’s power and authority].

“And so we wanted their [the parents’] Sustainer to replace him with a child who is more pure than he and closer to them [his parents] in kindliness and leniency.

“As for the wall, it was [previously erected] for two young orphan boys in that city; underneath it [the wall] was a treasure belonging to them [the two orphan boys]. Now, their father was a righteous man, and so, your Sustainer wanted them to reach their age of strength and maturity so that they can retrieve their treasure [fortune] — all this is an expression of your Sustainer’s mercy. I did not do [any of this] of my own diktat. That is the superseding explanation of [all those matters] you could not withstand.”

And they ask you [O Muhammad] about the man of two eras. Say [O Muhammad], “I will put in order for you a memorable report about him.”

We established him securely on earth and We conveyed to him the knowledge of cause and effect.

As a result he charted a course [in this world] of [divinely revealed] cause and effect,

To such an extent that he reached [the place or time of] the diminishing Sun, which he found to be diminishing into a murky and steamy outpouring. And there he found a nation. So We said, “O man of the two eras! Either you penalize or you follow a course of courtesy!”

He answered, “As for him who is a violator of justice, we shall expose to infliction; then he will be returned to his Sustainer, who will then cause him to be subjected to repulsive suffering.

“As for him who commits [to Allah’s power and authority] and does what is right [as defined by Allah], his shall be the best compensation and we shall address him with comforting commands.”

Then he pursued a course of cause and effect,

Until he reached the [place or time of the intensifying] rising Sun. There he found it rising on a nation for which We did not provide a veneer or shield between them and it [the Sun].

That’s the way it was; and We encompassed [with Our knowledge] all that he came to practically experience.

Then he followed a course of cause and effect,

Until he reached an area between the two barriers; [there] he found a nation barely able to comprehend verbal communication.

They said, “O man of the two eras! Surely Ya’jūj and Ma’jūj are wreaking havoc on earth; shall we, then, put together an appropriation of money for you to erect a barrier between us and them?”

Said he, “Whatever means of strength my Sustainer has given me is better [than what you offer me]; therefore help me with [all] your power and I will [with Allah’s help and yours] erect a huge obstruction between you and them.

“Bring me slabs of iron,” [which he applied] between the two mountainsides to even them, [whereupon] he said, “Stream air [in this direction],” until, at length, he turned it into fire; he then said, “Bring me molten copper to pour upon it.”

[After the huge barrier was erected], they [their enemies] were neither able to scale it nor were they able to penetrate through it.

He said, “This is a mercy from my Sustainer — but when the time selected by my Sustainer comes to pass, He will make this huge blockade level with the ground: and my Sustainer’s word [of truth and justice] is always fulfilled!”

And We left them [Ya’jūj and Ma’jūj] on that day ebbing and flowing into each other, and [when] the Trumpet will be blown, We shall gather them all together.

And We shall, on that Day, put Hell on display for the deniers [of Allah’s power and authority] —

Those whose eyes were shrouded when it came to being aware of Me the while they were unable [and unwilling] to listen [to what I had to say].

Do the deniers [of Allah’s power and authority] reckon that they can get away with adopting my mortal subjects as premiers besides Me? Indeed We have prepared Hell as a residence for the deniers [of Allah’s power and authority].

Say, “Shall We inform you of those whose works [and deeds] are a loss?

“Those are the ones whose labor in the world has gone awry the while they think they are doing what is best!

“Those are the ones who are in denial of their Sustainer’s demonstrations of power and authority and [in denial of] the encounter with Him.” Hence, their labors are aborted, and thus We shall not assign to them any substance on the Day of Resurrection.

Their recompense is jahannam due to their act of kufr and because they considered My demonstrations of power and authority as well as My Messengers to be objects of ridicule.

Surely, those who commit [to Our power and authority] and do what is right and virtuous shall have the gardens of Paradise as a residence —

Therein to dwell forever, wanting no substitute for it.

Say, “If the ocean was ink [with which to write] the words of my Sustainer, then the ocean would run out [of ink] before the words of my Sustainer [would run out] — even if We were to resupply the ocean with other [more] oceans.”

Say [O Muhammad], “I am but a mortal being — just like you; revealed to me [is the fact that] your deity/authority is one deity/authority. So whoever desires a [favorable] encounter with his Sustainer should do righteous deeds and should not associate anyone in his conformity to his Sustainer.”