The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

18. THE CAVE
A Meccan sura which gets its name from the Sleepers of the Cave, whose story
takes a prominent place in the sura (verses 9–26). This sura also deals with two
other stories: Moses’ meeting with an unidentified figure (verses 60–82), and
the story of Dhu ’l-Qarnayn (verses 83–99). A parable is put forward for the
people of Mecca: the parable of the luscious gardens belonging to an arrogant
and ungrateful man, which God reduces to dust. The sura opens and closes with
references to the Quran itself.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1 Praise be to God, who sent down the Scripture to His servant and
made it unerringly straight, 2 warning of severe punishment from
Him, and [giving] glad news to the believers who do good deeds––an
excellent reward 3 that they will always enjoy. 4 It warns those people
who assert, ‘God has offspring.’ a 5 They have no knowledge about
this, nor did their forefathers––it is a monstrous assertion that comes
out of their mouths: what they say is nothing but lies. 6 But [Prophet]
are you going to worry yourself to death over them if they do not
believe in this message?
7 We have adorned the earth with attractive things so that We may
test people to find out which of them do best, 8 but We shall reduce
all this to barren dust. 9 [Prophet], do you find the Companions in the
Cave and al-Raqim b so wondrous, among all Our other signs?
10 When the young men sought refuge in the cave and said, ‘Our
Lord, grant us Your mercy, and find us a good way out of our ordeal,’
11 We sealed their ears [with sleep] in the cave for years. 12 Then We
woke them so that We could make clear which of the two parties c was
better able to work out how long they had been there.
13 [Prophet], We shall tell you their story as it really was. They
were young men who believed in their Lord, and We gave them more
a Walad in classical Arabic applies to masculine and feminine, singular and plural. As
this sura is Meccan, it most probably refers to Meccan claims that the angels are
daughters of God.
b Al-Raqim is variously interpreted as being the name of the mountain in which the
cave was situated, the name of their dog, or an inscription bearing their names.
c See verse 19.