[18:1] Praise God, The One who revealed the scripture to His servant and made it flawless.

[18:2] A guardian to warn of an ultimate might from His special place and to give good news to the faithful who lead a righteous life that reserved for them is a beautiful recompense,-

[18:3] -to be enjoyed eternally.

[18:4] And to warn those who said, God has begotten a son.

[18:5] They have no knowledge thereof, nor do their forefathers. It is a grave utterance coming out of their mouths. They utter only a lie.

[18:6] You may blame yourself for their legacy if they make the sad choice not to believe in this narration. 

[18:7] Indeed, We placed adornments on the land in order to test which one of them will do better.

[18:8] And indeed We will render everything on it dry and barren. 

[18:9] Why do you think indeed the people of the cave and the numbers associated with them is one of Our astonishing Signs.

[18:10] When the youths took refuge in the cave, they then said, our Lord, shower us with mercy from Your special place and ease our task with your guidance.

[18:11] We then removed their hearing in the cave for a specific number of years.

[18:12] We then roused them to see which one of the two groups can calculate how long they stayed therein.

[18:13] We narrate to you their history truthfully. Indeed they were youths who had faith in their Lord and We increased their guidance.

[18:14] And We made them of a single mind so they stood up and said; our Lord is the Lord of the vacua and matter, we will never call upon any other god besides Him, lest our utterance would be misguided.

[18:15] Here are our people who have taken another god besides Him; wherein they never received any clear authorization, therefore, who is more unjust than the one who attributes a lie to God?

[18:16] And since you avoided them and their lack of worship of God, then let us take refuge in this cave, your Lord will then provide for you from His mercy and will ease your task.

[18:17] And you would see the sun rose to the right side of the cave and set to the left side, as they were inside its cavity. These are from God's signs. And whomever God guides then is truly guided, and whoever goes astray, then you will never find a guiding protector for him.

[18:18] And you would think that they were awake while in fact they were asleep. And We turned them to the right and the left as their dog stretched his two arms in the cave. Had you come across them you would have run away as you would have been terrified by them.

[18:19] And We thus resurrected them, they then debated amongst themselves. Their spokesman said; how long were you here? They said a day or part of a day. They said your Lord knows well how long you were here, therefore, send one of you to the town with this note, and find out who is having clean food, so you can bring some provision therefrom and be watchful that no one recognizes you.

[18:20] For sure if your identity is revealed, they might stone you or force you to join their nation and you would never see success again.

[18:21] And We thus arranged for them to be discovered, so they may know that God's promise is true and that the Hour is surely coming without a doubt. As they argued amongst themselves regarding this matter, they said, let us make a building to commemorate them, it is their Lord who knows all about them. Those who finally won the argument said; let us build a mosque for them.

[18:22] They said; they were three, their dog being the fourth, while some said; they were five, their dog being the sixth, as they were shooting in the dark. And also they said; they were seven, their dog being the eighth. Say, my Lord knows their number exactly and no one knows their number except a few. Therefore, do not argue with them, but go along with them, you do not need to seek any advice from them regarding this.

[18:23] And do not say that I will do this tomorrow -

[18:24] except to say "God willing". And remember your Lord when you forget and say; may my Lord guide me to closely follow His guidance.

[18:25] And they stayed in their cave three hundred years, increased by nine.

[18:26] Say, God knows exactly how long they stayed, the secrets of the vacua and matter belong to Him, He sees all and hears all. As for you, you do not have any ally besides Him and no one is allowed as a partner in His judgment.

[18:27] And recite to them what is inspired to you from your Lord's scripture. There is no substitute for His words, and you cannot find any one besides Him as a refuge.

[18:28] And spend time with those who call upon their Lord day and night, seeking His face and do not take your eyes off them seeking the vanities of this worldly life, and do not obey those whom We rendered their hearts oblivious to Our commemoration and they follow their own desires and lack restraint.

[18:29] And say, this is the truth from your Lord. Therefore whoever wills then he may attain faith, and whoever wills, then he may reject it. We have indeed promised for the transgressors, a fire that completely surrounds them like a tent. When they ask for rain, they get a rain of water like lava that burns their faces, what a miserable drink, what a miserable destiny!

[18:30] Indeed as for those who have attained faith and led a righteous life, we will indeed never put to waste the reward for those who do righteous work.

[18:31] Reserved for them are the Gardens of Eden, wherein streams flow beneath them and they wear gold jewelry and their clothes are made of green silk and glow, they lean on luxurious furnishings. This is the best reward and the best destiny.

[18:32] And cite the example of the two men; We provided for one of them two gardens of grapes surrounded by palm trees while between the two were crops.

[18:33] The two gardens always produced their provisions, and he never suffered the least injustice. And We caused a stream to flow in their midst.

[18:34] And when they bore the fruits for him, he then said to his friend as he was chatting with him, that I have more wealth than you and a mightier family.

[18:35] And he entered his garden, being unjust to himself, he said, I don’t think that this is ever going to run out.

[18:36] And I do not think that the Hour would ever come, and even if I am returned to my Lord, I would find better than this as a reward.

[18:37] His friend told him as he was chatting with him, are you disbelieving in the One who created you from clay, then from semen, then He perfected you as a man?

[18:38] As for me, He is God, my Lord and I do not set up any one as a partner for my Lord.

[18:39] As for you, when you entered your garden, you should have said, this is a gift from God; there is no power except that of God. You may see -that I have less money and children than you-

[18:40] -but then again, my Lord may grant me something better than your garden and He may send down upon it a storm from the sky then you would find it completely barren in the morning.

[18:41] Or its water may sink and you will never be able to pump it.

[18:42] And the fruit of his toil was gone and he ended up empty handed despite all the efforts he put in and found the entire domain completely barren and he said, O I wished I had never set up any one as a partner for my Lord.

[18:43] And there was no one besides God who could help him and he was completely helpless.

[18:44] There it is; all supremacy truly belongs to God. He has the best reward and provides the best destiny.

[18:45] And cite for them the example of this worldly life is like the water that We send down from the sky, it then mixes in to produce plants from the land then it will turn into hay blown away by the wind. And God is All Powerful over all things.

[18:46] Money and male offspring are the vanities of this worldly life and the lasting righteousness is far better at your Lord as a reward and a far better aspiration.

[18:47] And the day when We move the mountains and you will see the land bulging out, and We will gather them all and We will not leave a single one behind.

[18:48] And they will be presented to your Lord in rows just as We created you the first time. Did you really think that We did not arrange this appointment for you?

[18:49] And the record will be presented and you will see that the guilty are fearful of its content and they say woe to us, why does this book not leave anything out, small or large, without counting it? And they find everything they had done presented to them. And your Lord is never unjust toward anyone.

[18:50] And when We said to the angels to honor Adam, they all did, except Iblis; he became a jinn as he disobeyed his Lord's command. Are you then going to take him and his descendants as allies besides Me, while they are your enemies? What a miserable substitute for the transgressors!

[18:51] I did not allow them to witness the creation of the vacua and matter, nor their own creation, and I never provide for the misleaders any help.

[18:52] And the day He says, call upon My partners, those whom you conjectured; they will call them, but they will not respond to them and We make them completely isolated.

[18:53] And the guilty will see Hell, and they realize that indeed it will be their abode and they cannot find any way to avoid it.

[18:54] And indeed We cited in this Quran for the people all kinds of examples, however, the human being argues about most things.

[18:55] Nothing prevented the people from believing when receiving guidance and asking their Lord's forgiveness except that they demanded the same method as that of previous generations or that they asked for the suffering beforehand.

[18:56] And We do not send messengers except as bearers of good news as well as warners. As for the unfaithful, they argue with falsehood in order to defeat the truth, and they ridicule My proofs and My warnings

[18:57] And who is more unjust than the one who is reminded of his Lord's proofs, then, he turns away from them and forgets what his own two hands brought upon him. Indeed, We place a shield on their hearts so they cannot understand it and deafness in their ears, and if you call them to guidance, they will never be guided.

[18:58] And your Lord is All Forgiving, possessor of mercy. Had He willed to question them because of what they earned He would have indeed quickened the punishment for them. However, they have an appointed time when they cannot find any sanctuary besides Him.

[18:59] And here are the communities We annihilated who were unjust, and We set up an appointed time for their annihilation.

[18:60] And as Moses said to his young lad, I will not stop until I reach where the two seas meet no matter how long it takes.

[18:61] Then when they reached the canal, they both neglected their fish and he found his way into the sea through a hole.

[18:62] Then once the two of them reached their objective, he said to his young lad, bring our lunch, we are indeed exhausted from our journey.

[18:63] He said, remember when we were resting by the boulder, then indeed I forgot all about the fish and only Satan was the one who made me forget to pay attention to it. And he found his way to the sea in a strange way.

[18:64] He said, this is what we will do. The two of them traced their way back, in vain.

[18:65] Then the two of them found a servant of Ours, whom We have granted mercy from Us and taught him knowledge from Our special place.

[18:66] Moses said to him; may I follow you to learn guidance from the knowledge you have?

[18:67] He said; you would not be able to be patient with me.

[18:68] How can you exercise patience with something you are not aware of?

[18:69] He said, you will find me God willing patient and I will not disobey any of your instructions.

[18:70] He said, if you follow me then you should not ask any question regarding anything until such time that I reveal its explanation to you.

[18:71] The two of them began their journey until they boarded a ship and he bored a hole in her. He said, did you bore a hole in her to drown her passengers? Indeed you are committing a bad deed.

[18:72] He said; did I not tell you that you would not be able to be patient with me?

[18:73] He said; do not take it out on me for my forgetfulness and do not make my task difficult for me.

[18:74] Then the two of them continued their journey until they met a boy and he killed him. He said; why did you kill such a pure soul, without him killing anyone? You indeed have committed an evil deed.

[18:75] He said; did I not tell you that you would not be able to be patient with me?

[18:76] He said; if I ask you anything else after this, do not speak to me, and do not accept any excuse from me.

[18:77] Then they moved on, until they came upon a village and the two of them asked for food from its inhabitants, but they refused to feed them, he then found a wall about to collapse and he made it upright. He said, why did you not ask for any wage?

[18:78] He said, now you and I shall part ways and I shall inform you of what you could not wait to find out.

[18:79] As for the ship, it belonged to poor people who worked at the sea and I decided to make it defective because a king was coming confiscating all ships forcibly.

[18:80] And the boy, his parents were faithful; we feared that he would grow up overwhelming them with rebellion and unfaithfulness.

[18:81] Our decision was based on the fact that their Lord will substitute a purer and kinder one than the one they had.

[18:82] As for the wall, there were a couple of orphan boys in the city and there was a treasure under the wall for them, and their parents were righteous and my decision was based on the fact that your Lord will allow them to grow to maturity and take the treasure out for themselves as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do any of these on my own. This is the interpretation of what you could not wait to find out.

[18:83] And they ask you about Dhel-Gharnain. Say, I will recite to you about him as a reminder.

[18:84] We established him on the land and offered him everything at his disposal.

[18:85] He then pursued another course.

[18:86] He went on until he reached the far west and found the sun setting over muddy waters and found a community living there. We said; O Dhel-Gharnain, you could rule as you wish, punish them or be kind to them.

[18:87] He said, as for the unjust, we will soon make him suffer and he will then go back to his Lord for a more terrible suffering.

[18:88] However, the one who attains faith and leads a righteous life, then he deserves a beautiful reward and we will gently remind him of our commandments.

[18:89] Then he pursued another course.

[18:90] He went on until he reached the Far East and he found people there and the sun shining on them and they had nothing to protect them from it.

[18:91] We were indeed completely aware of everything he came across.

[18:92] Then he pursued another course.

[18:93] He went on until he reached a place between the two barriers and found people there between them that he could hardly understand their language.

[18:94] They said O Dhel-Gharnain, Gog and Magog are spreading corruption throughout the land; therefore, can we pay you to construct a barrier between us and them?

[18:95] He said, my Lord has given so much blessing and if you help me with your strength, I will make a dam between you and them.

[18:96] Bring me pieces of iron until it fills up the space between the two barriers; he said, now blow until it catches fire, and help me pour tar on it.

[18:97] Therefore, they could neither climb it nor could they bore a hole into it.

[18:98] He said, this is a mercy from my Lord, therefore when the promise of my Lord comes through, He will destroy it, and the promise of my Lord is always true.

[18:99] And We will let them attack each other in waves and the trumpet sounds, then, We will gather them all.

[18:100] And We present Gehenna to the unfaithful on that day, a full presentation.

[18:101] These are the ones whose eyes were shielded from My reminder and they made no effort to listen.

[18:102] Do those who have rejected faith reckon that they can take My servants as lords besides Me? We have indeed promised Gehanna as an abode for the unfaithful.

[18:103] Say, shall I inform you regarding the deeds of the worst losers?

[18:104] These are the ones whose efforts in this worldly life are misguided, and they reckon that they are doing the best job.

[18:105] Those who have disbelieved in their Lord's proofs and His meeting, consequently all their works are nullified and they will carry no weight on the Day of Resurrection.

[18:106] Their just requital is Gehenna because of their disbelief and because they ridiculed My proofs and My messengers.

[18:107] Indeed those who attained faith and led a righteous life, reserved for them are gardens of Paradise as an abode.

[18:108] They shall abide therein eternally, and they will never get bored therein.

[18:109] Say, if the sea were ink for my Lord's words, the sea would run out before the words of my Lord run out, even if you double the ink supply.

[18:110] Say, I am no more than a human being like you; I have been inspired that indeed your god is one god. Hence, whoever seeks the meeting of his Lord; shall lead a righteous life and never set up any one as a partner in worshiping his Lord.