Surah Kahf
Contents
Praise be to God, who revealed the Book to a devotee, putting no distortion in it, [18:1]
so it is straight, to warn of severe vengeance from God, and to bring glad news to the believers who do good works, that there is an excellent reward for them, [18:2]
wherein they’ll abide forever; [18:3]
and to warn those who say God has begotten a son. [18:4]
They have no knowledge of this, nor had their ancestors. What comes out of their mouths is intolerable as a maxim; for they are only telling a lie. [18:5]
So you might grieve yourself to death regretful after them if they won’t believe in this discourse? [18:6]
We made everything on earth an ornament for it, that We might test which of them are best in behavior. [18:7]
And We will make everything on earth dust and desert. [18:8]
Or do you consider the companions of the cave and the written scripture to have been oddities among Our signs? [18:9]
When the youths took shelter in the cave, they said, “Our Lord, grant us mercy from Yourself, and take care of us properly.” [18:10]
So We blocked up their ears in the cave for a number of years. [18:11]
Then We awakened them, that We might know which of the two groups could calculate how long they had been there. [18:12]
We tell you their story truthfully; they were youths who believed in their Lord, so We gave them more guidance. [18:13]
And We strengthened their hearts: they stood up and said, “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth; we will never pray to any other deity; if we did, we would have spoken an extravagant untruth. [18:14]
“These our people have taken to other deities besides God. Why do they not produce clear authority for them? And who is more wrong than those who invent falsehood against God? [18:15]
“Dissociating yourselves from them and what they worship other than God, take shelter in the cave: your Lord will open up divine mercy to you, and will take care of you kindly.” [18:16]
You would have seen the sun when it rose inclining from their cave to the right, and when it set turning away from them to the left, as they were in an opening within. That is one of the signs of God. Whoever God guides is the guided one, while you will not find a guiding helper for anyone God leaves astray. [18:17]
You would have thought them awake, though they were asleep; and We caused them to turn to the right and the left, while their dog stretched its forepaws over their threshold. If you had come upon them, you would surely have turned away from them, fleeing, and you would surely have been filled with fear of them. [18:18]
And thus We awakened them so they could question each other. One speaker among them said, “How long have you been here?” They said, “We’ve been here a day, or part of a day.” They said, “Your Lord knows best how long you’ve been here. Now send one of you to the city with this money of yours and let him see which is the most decent food, and let him bring some of it to provide for you; and let him act with caution and not let anyone know of you. [18:19]
“For if they find you, they will stone you or force you back into their cult, and then you would never be happy.” [18:20]
Yet We made them known to others thus, that they would know the promise of God is true, and that there can be no doubt about the end of time. Disputing their case among themselves they said, “Construct a building over them,” though their Lord knows their interest best. Those who prevailed over their case said, “We will build a place of worship over them.” [18:21]
Some will say there were three, the fourth one of them being their dog. And some say there were five, with their dog the sixth —conjecturing about the unknown— and some say seven, with their dog the eighth. Say, “My Lord knows best their number: none knows them but a few.” So don’t dispute about them, except an issue that is clear; and don’t ask anyone else their opinion on them. [18:22]
And never say of anything, “I will certainly do that tomorrow,” [18:23]
without “if God wills.” And remember your Lord when you’ve forgotten, and say, “Perhaps my Lord will guide me closer than this in integrity.” [18:24]
They stayed in their cave for three hundred years, or an extra nine: [18:25]
Say, “God knows best how long they stayed: the mystery of the heavens and the earth belongs to God, the all-seeing and all-hearing; they have no other protector than God, who shares partnership in judgment with no one.” [18:26]
Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. No one can change the words of God, and you will find no refuge without God. [18:27]
Keep yourself patient with those who call on their Lord morning and evening seeking to honor God; and do not disregard them, seeking the finery of the life of the world. And do not obey anyone whose heart We have allowed to neglect to remember Us, so he follows his own desires and has gotten out of control. [18:28]
Say, “The truth is from your Lord,” and let whoever will believe, and let whoever will reject. We have prepared a fire for the unjust, whose billowing smoke will envelop them. And if they pray for rain, We will rain on them water like molten brass, that will burn their faces. What a miserable drink, and what a terrible place to rest! [18:29]
As for those who believe and do good works, We will not neglect the reward of any who does even one good deed. [18:30]
For them there are everlasting gardens with streams flowing beneath them, where they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and will wear green clothes of silk and brocade as they recline on couches therein. What a gracious reward, and a fine place to rest! [18:31]
Relate to them the example of two men, one of whom We provided with two vineyards of grapes, surrounding them with date palms and putting grain between them. [18:32]
Both vineyards brought forth their fruits without anything failing therein, as We caused a stream to flow between them, [18:33]
and thus he had a fruitful yield; so he said to his friend in the course of a dispute with him, “I am wealthier than you, and greater in manpower.” [18:34]
Then he went into one of his vineyards, oppressing his own soul: he said, “I don’t think this will ever perish. [18:35]
“And I don’t think the end of time is coming. And even if I am returned to my Lord, I will surely find better than this in exchange.” [18:36]
His friend said to him, arguing back, “Do you deny the one who created you from dust, then from a drop, then formed you into a man? [18:37]
“For me, however, that is God, my Lord; and I associate no one with my Lord. [18:38]
“And when you went into your vineyard, why didn’t you say, ‘Whatever God will— there is no power save through God’? If you see me with less property and children than you, [18:39]
“it may be that my Lord will give me some good from your vineyard, and may send a reckoning against it from the sky, so it turns into slippery sand; [18:40]
“or its water may run off underground, so you can never find it.” [18:41]
And his crop was closed in from all sides, and he came to wringing his hands over what he had spent on it, now that it was ruined to its foundations, saying, “Would that I had not associated anyone with my Lord!” [18:42]
And he had no group to help him without God, and he was not triumphant. [18:43]
There the true help is up to God, who is best in reward and best in fulfillment. [18:44]
Present them the simile of the life of the world as like rain We send down from the sky: the earth’s vegetation absorbs it, then becomes dry stubble, which the winds scatter. And God is the one who prevails over everything. [18:45]
Wealth and children are adornment of the life of the world, but those things that endure, the good works, are better in the regard of your Lord in terms of reward, and better in terms of hope. [18:46]
One day We will cause the mountains to pass away, and you will see the earth stand out exposed; and We will gather them together, leaving none of them at all. [18:47]
And they will be set before your Lord in ranks: “You have come to Us as We made you at first. But you supposed We would not fulfill a promise to you.” [18:48]
And the record will be set out, and you will see the sinners anxious on account of what is in it, saying, “Alas, woe is us! What is with this record? It omits nothing, small or great, but takes account of it all!” And they will find everything they did before them; and your Lord won’t be unjust to anyone at all. [18:49]
When We said to the angels, “Bow to Adam,” they bowed, except Iblis; he was one of the sprites, and he disobeyed the direction of his Lord. So do you take him and his heirs for patrons instead of Me, though they are your enemies? What a wretched exchange for those in the wrong! [18:50]
I did not have them witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor their own creation; and I would never take seducers for helpers. [18:51]
One day God will say, “Call on the partners you attributed to Me.” And they will call on them, but they will not answer them: and We will put between them a place of annihilation. [18:52]
And the sinners will see the fire and perceive that they are going to fall into it, and they will find no way out of it. [18:53]
We have elaborated every example in this Recital, but man is contentious about most things. [18:54]
And what prevents people from believing when guidance has come to them, and asking forgiveness from their Lord, but the sanction of the ancients befalling them or the torment confronting them? [18:55]
We only send the emissaries as heralds and as warners; but those who scoff dispute by means of vanity, trying to refute the truth with it, taking My signs, and their being warned, for a joke. [18:56]
And who is more wrong than one who turns away from the signs of his Lord when reminded of them, and forgets what he has brought about by his own hands? We have put covers over their hearts, preventing them from understanding this; and deafness in their ears. Even if you invite them to guidance, they will never be guided. [18:57]
But your Lord is the most forgiving, full of mercy: were God to blame them for what they did, that would have hastened their punishment for them: but they have an appointment, and will find no other refuge. [18:58]
And those communities We destroyed when they went wrong; but We set an appointed time for their destruction. [18:59]
Moses said to his attendant, “I will not stop until I reach the junction of the two seas, even if I go on for a long time.” [18:60]
Now when they reached the junction, they forgot their fish, which thus took its course through the sea as if through a conduit. [18:61]
Then when they had passed by, he said to his attendant, “Bring us our breakfast; we have undergone labor’s fatigue from this journey of ours.” [18:62]
He said, “Did you see how I forgot the fish when we rested on the rock? No one made me forget it but Satan, to prevent me from mentioning it; and so it went its way in the sea. Amazing!” [18:63]
Moses said, “That is what we have been seeking.” So they retraced their footsteps, following their track. [18:64]
Thus the two found one of My devotees, one on whom We had bestowed mercy from Us, and whom We had taught knowledge from Us. [18:65]
Moses said to him, “May I follow you, so you might teach me some of what you have been taught in the way of true direction?” [18:66]
He said, “You will not be able to bear with me. [18:67]
“And so how can you bear with what you do not comprehend?” [18:68]
Moses said, “You will find me constant, God willing; I will not disobey you in anything.” [18:69]
He said, “Then if you follow me, don’t question me about anything ‘till I tell you some information about it.” [18:70]
So the two went off, until when they were riding in a boat the man made a hole in it. [Moses] said, “Did you make a hole in it to drown its owners? You have done a serious thing!” [18:71]
He said, “Didn’t I tell you that you wouldn’t be able to bear with me?” [18:72]
[Moses] said, “Don’t blame me for forgetting, and don’t make trouble for me.” [18:73]
Then they went on their way, until they encountered a youth, whom the man killed. [Moses] said, “Have you killed an innocent person who has taken no life? You have done a despicable thing!” [18:74]
He said, “Didn’t I tell you that you wouldn’t be able to bear with me?” [18:75]
Moses said, “If I question you over anything after this, then don’t keep company with me— you’ve already got an excuse from me.” [18:76]
So the two went on their way, until they came to the people of a town: they asked the people for food, but they refused to give them hospitality. Then the two came upon a wall that was about to collapse, and the man restored it. [Moses] said, “If you wished, you could have gotten paid for that.” [18:77]
He said, “This is where you and I part ways. I will tell you the interpretation of what you could not bear with. [18:78]
“As for the boat, it belonged to some paupers who worked at sea, so I wanted to disable it because there was a king after them taking every boat by force. [18:79]
“As for the youth, his parents were believers, and we feared he would trouble them by wickedness and ingratitude, [18:80]
“so we wished for their Lord to give them one better than he in exchange, one more devout, and more affectionate. [18:81]
“And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphaned youths in the city; there was a buried treasure under it that belonged to them, and their father had been an honest man. So your Lord wanted them to grow up and extract their treasure for themselves, as a mercy from your Lord; I didn’t do it for my own sake. That is the interpretation of what you couldn’t bear with.” [18:82]
They ask you about the Master of the Two Centuries. Say, “I will relate to you an account of him.” [18:83]
We established him on earth, and gave him means to obtain everything. [18:84]
He pursued a certain course [18:85]
until when he reached the setting of the sun he found it setting in a muddy spring; and he found a people in its vicinity. We said, “Master of the Two Centuries, you may either inflict a penalty, or else treat them kindly.” [18:86]
He said, “We will penalize whoever is unjust; then he will be sent back to his Lord, who will punish him with an unheard-of torment. [18:87]
“But whoever has faith and acts with integrity will have the finest reward; and we will tell him what is easy of our order.” [18:88]
Then he pursued a course [18:89]
until he reached the rising of the sun, where he found it rising on a people for whom We had not provided any shelter against it. [18:90]
So they remained. And We already encompassed all information about him. [18:91]
Then he pursued a course [18:92]
until, when he reached the space between two mountains, he found a people below them who could hardly understand speech. [18:93]
They said, “O Master of the Two Centuries, the Gog and Magog are causing trouble in the land. Shall we pay you tribute, so that you might set up a barrier between us and them?” [18:94]
He said, “What my Lord has established me in is better; but assist me with strength and I will build a dam between you and them. [18:95]
“Bring me chunks of iron.” Then when he had filled in the space between the two mountainsides, he said, “Blow,” until when he had made it blaze he said, “Bring me molten brass to pour over it.” [18:96]
So they were unable to climb it, and they could not penetrate it. [18:97]
He said, “This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord comes about, it will reduce this to dust; and the promise of my Lord is true.” [18:98]
On that day We will leave them to surge upon each other in agitation; the trumpet will be blown, and We will gather them all together. [18:99]
And We will display hell that day to the ungrateful atheists [18:100]
whose eyes had been blinded to remembrance of Me, and who had been unable to hear. [18:101]
Do the atheists assume they can take My servants for patrons instead of Me? I have prepared hell as a welcome for the ungrateful atheists. [18:102]
Say, “Shall we tell you whose works are most fruitless? [18:103]
“Those whose striving in the world has been mistaken, even as they reckon they are doing good deeds.” [18:104]
They are the ones who denied the signs of God and the meeting with God; so their works have been in vain, and We will give them no weight on the day of resurrection. [18:105]
That is their reward—hell— for scoffing and taking Our signs and Our messengers for a joke. [18:106]
As for those who believed and did good works, there are the gardens of paradise for them as a welcome, [18:107]
where they will abide, wishing no change in them. [18:108]
Say, “Even if the ocean were ink for the words of my Lord, the ocean would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, even if we brought an equal amount to help.” [18:109]
Say, “I am only a human being, like you, but it has been revealed to me that your deity is one God. So whoever hopes to meet his Lord should act with integrity and not compromise with anyone the worship of his Lord.” [18:110]