الحَمدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذي أَنزَلَ عَلىٰ عَبدِهِ الكِتابَ وَلَم يَجعَل لَهُ عِوَجًا All praise is for Allah Who has revealed the Book to His servant, allowing no crookedness in it,
قَيِّمًا لِيُنذِرَ بَأسًا شَديدًا مِن لَدُنهُ وَيُبَشِّرَ المُؤمِنينَ ˹making it˺ perfectly upright, to warn ˹the disbelievers˺ of a severe torment from Him; to give good news to the believers
وَيُبَشِّرَ المُؤمِنينَ الَّذينَ يَعمَلونَ الصّالِحاتِ أَنَّ لَهُم أَجرًا حَسَنًا to give good news to the believers—who do good—that they will have a fine reward,
ماكِثينَ فيهِ أَبَدًا in which they will remain forever;
وَيُنذِرَ الَّذينَ قالُوا اتَّخَذَ اللَّهُ وَلَدًا and to warn those who claim, “Allah has offspring.”
ما لَهُم بِهِ مِن عِلمٍ وَلا لِآبائِهِم They have no knowledge of this, nor did their forefathers.
كَبُرَت كَلِمَةً تَخرُجُ مِن أَفواهِهِم What a terrible claim that comes out of their mouths!
إِن يَقولونَ إِلّا كَذِبًا They say nothing but lies.
فَلَعَلَّكَ باخِعٌ نَفسَكَ عَلىٰ آثارِهِم إِن لَم يُؤمِنوا بِهٰذَا الحَديثِ أَسَفًا Now, perhaps you ˹O Prophet˺ will grieve yourself to death over their denial, if they ˹continue to˺ disbelieve in this message.
إِنّا جَعَلنا ما عَلَى الأَرضِ زينَةً لَها لِنَبلُوَهُم أَيُّهُم أَحسَنُ عَمَلًا We have indeed made whatever is on earth as an adornment for it, in order to test which of them is best in deeds.
وَإِنّا لَجاعِلونَ ما عَلَيها صَعيدًا جُرُزًا And We will certainly reduce whatever is on it to barren ground.
أَم حَسِبتَ أَنَّ أَصحابَ الكَهفِ وَالرَّقيمِ كانوا مِن آياتِنا عَجَبًا Have you ˹O Prophet˺ thought that the people of the cave and the plaque1 were ˹the only˺ wonders of Our signs?
إِذ أَوَى الفِتيَةُ إِلَى الكَهفِ فَقالوا رَبَّنا آتِنا مِن لَدُنكَ رَحمَةً ˹Remember˺ when those youths took refuge in the cave, and said, “Our Lord! Grant us mercy from Yourself
وَهَيِّئ لَنا مِن أَمرِنا رَشَدًا and guide us rightly through our ordeal.”
فَضَرَبنا عَلىٰ آذانِهِم فِي الكَهفِ سِنينَ عَدَدًا So We caused them to fall into a dead sleep in the cave for many years,
ثُمَّ بَعَثناهُم لِنَعلَمَ أَيُّ الحِزبَينِ أَحصىٰ لِما لَبِثوا أَمَدًا then We raised them so We may show which of the two groups would make a better estimation of the length of their stay.
نَحنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيكَ نَبَأَهُم بِالحَقِّ We relate to you ˹O Prophet˺ their story in truth.
إِنَّهُم فِتيَةٌ آمَنوا بِرَبِّهِم وَزِدناهُم هُدًى They were youths who truly believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance.
وَرَبَطنا عَلىٰ قُلوبِهِم إِذ قاموا فَقالوا رَبُّنا رَبُّ السَّماواتِ وَالأَرضِ And We strengthened their hearts when they stood up and declared, “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth.
لَن نَدعُوَ مِن دونِهِ إِلٰهًا We will never call upon any god besides Him,
لَقَد قُلنا إِذًا شَطَطًا or we would truly be uttering an outrageous lie.”
هٰؤُلاءِ قَومُنَا اتَّخَذوا مِن دونِهِ آلِهَةً ˹Then they said to one another,˺ “These people of ours have taken gods besides Him.
لولا يَأتونَ عَلَيهِم بِسُلطانٍ بَيِّنٍ Why do they not produce a clear proof of them?
فَمَن أَظلَمُ مِمَّنِ افتَرىٰ عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا Who then does more wrong than those who fabricate lies against Allah?
وَإِذِ اعتَزَلتُموهُم وَما يَعبُدونَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ فَأووا إِلَى الكَهفِ Since you have distanced yourselves from them and what they worship besides Allah, take refuge in the cave.
يَنشُر لَكُم رَبُّكُم مِن رَحمَتِهِ Your Lord will extend His mercy to you
يَنشُر لَكُم رَبُّكُم مِن رَحمَتِهِ وَيُهَيِّئ لَكُم مِن أَمرِكُم مِرفَقًا Your Lord will extend His mercy to you and accommodate you in your ordeal.”
وَتَرَى الشَّمسَ إِذا طَلَعَت تَزاوَرُ عَن كَهفِهِم ذاتَ اليَمينِ And you would have seen the sun, as it rose, inclining away from their cave to the right,
وَإِذا غَرَبَت تَقرِضُهُم ذاتَ الشِّمالِ and as it set, declining away from them to the left,
وَهُم في فَجوَةٍ مِنهُ while they lay in its open space.
ذٰلِكَ مِن آياتِ اللَّهِ That is one of the signs of Allah.
مَن يَهدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ المُهتَدِ Whoever Allah guides is truly guided.
وَمَن يُضلِل فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُرشِدًا But whoever He leaves to stray, you will never find for them a guiding mentor.
وَتَحسَبُهُم أَيقاظًا وَهُم رُقودٌ And you would have thought they were awake,
وَنُقَلِّبُهُم ذاتَ اليَمينِ وَذاتَ الشِّمالِ though they were asleep. We turned them over, to the right and left,
وَكَلبُهُم باسِطٌ ذِراعَيهِ بِالوَصيدِ while their dog stretched his forelegs at the entrance.
لَوِ اطَّلَعتَ عَلَيهِم لَوَلَّيتَ مِنهُم فِرارًا Had you looked at them, you would have certainly fled away from them,
وَلَمُلِئتَ مِنهُم رُعبًا and surely you would have been filled with horror.
وَكَذٰلِكَ بَعَثناهُم لِيَتَساءَلوا بَينَهُم And so We awakened them so that they might question one another.
قالَ قائِلٌ مِنهُم كَم لَبِثتُم One of them exclaimed, “How long have you remained ˹asleep˺?”
قالوا لَبِثنا يَومًا أَو بَعضَ يَومٍ Some replied, “Perhaps a day, or part of a day.”
قالوا رَبُّكُم أَعلَمُ بِما لَبِثتُم They said ˹to one another˺, “Your Lord knows best how long you have remained.
فَابعَثوا أَحَدَكُم بِوَرِقِكُم هٰذِهِ إِلَى المَدينَةِ فَليَنظُر So send one of you with these silver coins of yours to the city, and let them find
فَليَنظُر أَيُّها أَزكىٰ طَعامًا and let him find which food is the purest,
فَليَأتِكُم بِرِزقٍ مِنهُ وَليَتَلَطَّف وَلا يُشعِرَنَّ بِكُم أَحَدًا and then bring you provisions from it. Let him be ˹exceptionally˺ cautious, and do not let him give you away.
إِنَّهُم إِن يَظهَروا عَلَيكُم يَرجُموكُم أَو يُعيدوكُم في مِلَّتِهِم For, indeed, if they find out about you, they will stone you ˹to death˺, or force you back into their faith,
وَلَن تُفلِحوا إِذًا أَبَدًا and then you will never succeed.”
وَكَذٰلِكَ أَعثَرنا عَلَيهِم لِيَعلَموا أَنَّ وَعدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ That is how We caused them to be discovered so that their people might know that Allah’s promise ˹of resurrection˺ is true
وَأَنَّ السّاعَةَ لا رَيبَ فيها and that there is no doubt about the Hour.
إِذ يَتَنازَعونَ بَينَهُم أَمرَهُم ۖ فَقالُوا ابنوا عَلَيهِم بُنيانًا When the people disputed with each other about the case of the youth ˹after their death˺, some proposed, “Build a structure around them.
رَبُّهُم أَعلَمُ بِهِم Their Lord knows best about them.”
قالَ الَّذينَ غَلَبوا عَلىٰ أَمرِهِم لَنَتَّخِذَنَّ عَلَيهِم مَسجِدًا Those who prevailed in the matter said, “We will surely build a place of worship over them.”
سَيَقولونَ ثَلاثَةٌ رابِعُهُم كَلبُهُم Some will say, “They were three, their dog was the fourth,”
وَيَقولونَ خَمسَةٌ سادِسُهُم كَلبُهُم رَجمًا بِالغَيبِ while others will say, “They were five, their dog was the sixth,” ˹only˺ guessing blindly.
وَيَقولونَ سَبعَةٌ وَثامِنُهُم كَلبُهُم And others will say, “They were seven and their dog was the eighth.”
قُل رَبّي أَعلَمُ بِعِدَّتِهِم ما يَعلَمُهُم إِلّا قَليلٌ Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “My Lord knows best their ˹exact˺ number. Only a few people know as well.”
فَلا تُمارِ فيهِم إِلّا مِراءً ظاهِرًا So do not argue about them except with sure knowledge,
وَلا تَستَفتِ فيهِم مِنهُم أَحَدًا nor consult any of those ˹who debate˺ about them.