Sūrah al-Kahf

Gratitude is for God alone Who has revealed this Book to His servant and did not leave any complexity in it; correct in every way and clear so that it can inform the rejecters of a stern torment from Him and give glad tidings to those who have accepted faith and done righteous deeds that for them is a very nice reward wherein they shall abide forever; inform those people who say: “God has begotten children.” They do not have any knowledge of this. Their forefathers too had none. It is a very grave word that they are uttering from their mouths. In reality, they are just telling lies.

Then if they do not profess faith in this word, you may well take your life because of sorrow while venturing after them. Whatever is on the earth, We have made it its adornment so that We test people that who among them does good deeds. [They have been lured by this adornment, even though one day] We [shall totally destroy] all the things on earth, making [it] a barren field.

Do you think that the people of the cave and raqīm were among a very strange sign from among Our signs. At the time when those youth took refuge in the cave; then prayed [to their Lord:] “Our Lord! Bless us with mercy specially from Yourself and in this matter of Ours provide us with guidance.” At this, We lulled them to sleep for many years in the cave. Then We woke them up to see which of the two groups has correctly counted the period of their stay.¹²

We relate to you their anecdote in truth. They were a few youngsters who professed faith in their Lord and We increased them in their guidance and strengthened their hearts at that time when they [launched a campaign in favour of monotheism] and declared: “Our Lord is He Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We shall not call upon anyone except Him as God and if we do this, we would say what is totally far from the truth. These are the people of our nation who have made some others besides Him as deities. Why do they not present clear evidence in their favour? Then who will be more unjust than them who invent falsehood against God?”

[They continued to invite people to this call until people sought to kill them. Then they were given glad tidings:] “When you have separated yourselves from them and from their deities who they worship besides God, go and seek refuge in a certain cave. Your God shall spread His mercy for you and shall provide you in this matter of yours whatever you need.”

You should have seen the sun when it rises, it declines from the right of their cave and when it sets, it moves away to the left side and they lie in its open space. This is from among the signs of God. He who is guided by God, is the one guided and he whom God leads astray [according to His law], you will not find for him any helping guide.

[Had you seen them,] you would have thought that they are awake even though they were asleep. We had continued to turn them on their right and left, and their dog sat at the cave entrance with hands outstretched. Had you caught their glimpse, you would have turned and fled and you would have been awe-struck by them.

[The way We had made them sleep through Our power,] in a similar way, We woke them that they may mutually question one another as a result. An asker from them asked: “How much time would you have stayed here?” They replied: “We must have stayed for a day or even less.” They said: “Only your Lord knows best the period you stayed. Anyway, send anyone among you to the city with this currency; then he should fully scrutinize in which part of the city pure food is found and should bring from it some edibles for you. He should go there in secrecy and not let anyone know about you. For if they are informed about you, they will stone you to death or will force you back to their religion and if this happens, you will never succeed.”

In a similar way, We informed people about them [through Our power] so that they know that the promise of God is true and there is no doubt in the advent of the Hereafter. Just think when people were disputing among themselves about them. So, some people said: “Build a monument on their cave [and do not investigate much]. Their Lord knows their circumstances better.” On the contrary, those who held the dominant opinion in their matter, said: “We will build a mosque on their cave.”

Now these people will say: “They were three and the fourth was their dog,” and [some among them] will say: “They were five and the sixth was their dog.” Mere conjecture! and some will say: “They were seven and the eighth was their dog.” Say: My Lord knows better their number. Few people know them. Thus [O Prophet!] Do not debate about them except if you have to say something to divert them and you should also not ask about them from any of them – and [listen] do not say about any matter: “I shall do it tomorrow.” [You cannot do anything] except if God intends. And when you forget, immediately remember your Lord and say: Hopefully, my Lord will guide me to what is correct in even lesser time than this.

[Similarly, they will say that] they remained in their cave for three hundred years and a further nine as well. Say: only God better knows the time of their stay. It is He Who knows the Unseen of the heavens and the earth. How amazing is He in seeing and hearing! No one except Him is their guardian, and He also does not allow anyone share His authority. (25-26)

[Do not give them any importance, O Prophet!] and recite to people the Book of God that is being revealed to you. None can change the laws of God. [If] you [want something contrary to these laws,] you shall never find anyone except Him as a refuge. Attach yourself deeply to people who call God morning and evening to please Him. Your eyes must not turn away from them because of the allurements of worldly life, and do not pay heed to what they say who We have made heedless to Our remembrance and who are engrossed in their desires and whose matter has exceeded the limits. Tell them: This only is the truth from your Lord. So, whoever wants can profess faith and whoever wants can reject. [However, bear in mind that] We have prepared for the unjust a fire whose tall tents shall embrace them. If they plead for water, their pleadings shall be answered by water which shall be like molten brass. It shall roast faces. What nasty water and what an evil abode!

As for those people who accepted faith and did righteous deeds, We shall certainly not lay waste the reward of the deeds of those who are thorough in their deeds. For them shall be orchards of eternal residence such that rivers shall be flowing beneath them. There they shall be made to wear gold bracelets. They shall adorn green attires of sundus and istabraq, sitting in it reclining on couches. What a wonderful reward and what a blissful abode!

Mention before them an example. There were two people. To one of them, We gave two orchards of grapes and had surrounded them from all sides with date-palms and placed between them pieces of cultivatable land. Both orchards would bear a lot of fruit; they would not diminish it. And in their centre We had made a stream to flow. When its time to bear fruit arrived, he argued with his companion: “I have more wealth than you and my group is also powerful.” He entered his orchard [saying these words] while he was being unjust to his soul. He said: “I do not think that this shall ever perish and I do not suppose that the Day of Judgement shall ever come. However, even if I am returned to my Lord, I shall only find a better place to where I return.”

His companion, while conversing with him, replied: “Are you denying the Being Who created you from clay, then from a drop of fluid, then made you a complete human being? [Say whatever you may] but [I only think that] my Lord is precisely that God and I do not associate any partners with my Lord. When you were entering your orchard, why did you not say: ‘Whatever God has willed; no one has any power without God.’ If you see me as having lesser wealth and children than you, then it may well be that my Lord gives me a better orchard than yours and sends a calamity on your orchard from the heavens so that it becomes a barren land or its water goes into the earth; then you are not able to find it in any way.”

[Thus, this is what happened] and all its fruit was ruined [by torment]. So, whatever he had spent on the orchard, he ended up wringing his hand on it in grief. His orchard had fallen down on its fences and he was saying: “Alas! Would that I had not associated any partner with my Lord!” He did not have any group which could have helped him against God and neither could he himself take [its] revenge. At that time, all authority was with God, the true God. [In reality,] only His reward is better and best is the fate He ordains.³

Recount to them the example of that worldly life [they have been allured by]. It is like water that We sent down from the heavens [as rain]. Then the earth’s vegetation became lush green because of it; then it turned into stubble that winds scatter about. God has power over all things. This wealth and sons are pleasures of this worldly life. In reality, with your Lord those deeds are better with regard to their reward which are good and lasting and also ones on which hopes can be pinned. Bear in mind the day when We shall make the mountains move and you will see that the earth has become totally bare and We shall bring them together; then We shall not leave any of them. And everyone will be brought before your Lord in rows – indeed, you have come before us the way We had created you the first time. In fact, you had thought that We shall never fix a time of promise for you – At that time, the register of deeds shall be placed in front. Then you will see the wrongdoers fearing whatever is [written] in it and they will say: “Alas our misfortune! What kind of a register is this that it has not omitted anything small or big from writing it down?” They found before them all that they had done in [their worldly life], and your Lord will not be unjust to anyone [on that Day].

Remember when We directed the angels: “Prostrate before Adam.” They prostrated except Iblīs. He was among the jinn. So, he evaded the directive of his Lord. Now, leaving Me, are you making him and his progeny as your guardian, even though they are your open enemies? What an evil substitute these wrongdoers are adopting! [They are making them My associates, whereas] I called none of these [devils] at the time of creating the heavens and the earth nor at the time of their own creation. I am not One Who makes My helpers those who lead astray.⁴

[What will they do] on the day God says: “Now call those who you regarded as My associates.” So, they will call them, but they will not reply. We shall place before them a ditch of destruction and these wrongdoers will see its fire and will know that they are about to fall in it, and will not be able to find any way to escape from it.

We have mentioned all kinds of warnings in various ways in this Qur’ān to guide people, but man is quarrelsome. When guidance has come to people, the only thing stopping them from accepting faith and seeking forgiveness from their Lord is that the fate met by the previous ones also manifests for them or the torment appears before them. [Tell them that] We only send messengers as bearers of glad tidings and warnings, and such are these disbelievers that they frivolously dispute the truth with the help of evil so that through it they are able to defeat the truth. And they have made My revelations a piece of jest and that also of which they have been warned. Who can be more unjust than those who when reminded through their Lord’s revelations turn away their faces and forget the earning of their hands that they have sent forward. We have put covers on their hearts [because of this attitude] so that they are not able to understand this Qur’ān and have made their ears hard of hearing so that they are not able to listen to it. However much you may call them to guidance, they shall never be guided in this state. In reality, your Lord is very Forgiving and Merciful. Had He wanted to seize them [right now] because of their deeds, He would have immediately sent them a torment. Yet a time has been appointed for them. [When it comes,] they shall not be able to find any refuge against it. These cities are [in front of you]. When their people became oppressive, We destroyed them and We had also appointed a time for their destruction.

[Be patient on their attitude O Prophet! and for this bear in mind the incident] when Moses said to his student: “I shall keep walking until I reach the place where two seas meet or keep walking for years in this way.” So, when they reached the meeting place of the seas, they forgot their fish [fried for breakfast] and it went forth by tunnelling towards the sea. Then when they moved forward, Moses said to his student: “Bring our food now. We are very tired because of this journey of Ours.” The student replied: “What should I say. When we were stationed near that large rock, at that time I forgot the fish and it was Satan who made me negligent of remembering it and it took to the sea in a strange way.” Moses said: “It was that very place we were searching for.” Thus they returned tracing their footsteps. So, they found there a servant from among Our servants whom We had specially blessed and had bestowed on him a special type of knowledge from Ourselves.⁵

Moses requested him: “If you allow me, I shall be your companion on the condition that you teach me a little also from the knowledge given to you?” He replied: “You will not be able to be patient along with me and how at all can you be patient at what is beyond your sphere of knowledge?” Moses said: “God willing, you will find me patient and I shall not disobey you in any matter.”

He said: “Then if you have to accompany me, do not ask me about anything until I mention it to you myself.” At last, both of them set off until when [at one place] they boarded a ship, that person made a hole in it. Moses said: “You have made a hole in it that you may drown all the people of the ship? This is a very strange thing that you have done!” He said: “Did I not say to you that you will not be able to exercise patience along with me?” Moses said: “Do not hold me accountable for what I forgot and please do not be very stern with me in my matter.”

Then both set off until when they met a boy [on the way], he killed that boy. Moses said: “You have slain an innocent person even though he has not slain anyone? This is a very terrible thing that you have done.” He said: “Did I not say to you that you will not be able to exercise patience along with me?” Moses said: “If after this I ask you something, you may not keep me with you. You would have reached an excuse from me.” At this, both journeyed ahead until when they reached the inhabitants of a city, they asked their people to provide food. But they refused their hospitality. Then they saw a wall there that was about to fall. So, he restored it. Moses said: “If you wanted, you could have asked for some compensation for it.” He replied: “Now this is parting of ways between you and me. I shall now tell you the reality behind the acts on which you have not been able to exercise patience.

In the case of the ship, it belonged to some poor people who would earn their living in the sea. So, I intended to make it defective [because] there lived a king ahead who was snatching every ship.

As for the boy, both his parents were people of faith. So, We feared that [after growing up] he may harass them because of his rebelliousness and disbelief. Hence We wanted that their Lord bless them with a child in his place who is purer and more affectionate than him.

And the matter of the wall was that it belonged to two orphans of the city. Beneath it was their treasure, and their father was a pious person. [It was he who had buried the treasure.] So, your Lord wanted that they reach maturity and take out their treasure themselves. This happened because of your God’s grace. And all this that I did was not out of my own intention. This is the reality behind the acts on which you have not been able to show patience.”

They are also asking you about Dhū al-Qarnayn. Tell them: I shall presently narrate to you some of his account. We had given him authority in the land and had blessed him with means and resources of all kinds. Then [once] he prepared for an expedition until when he reached the place where the sun sets, he saw that the sun was setting in a pond of black mud, and he met a nation near it. We said: “O Dhū al-Qarnayn! [It is up to you whether] you punish them or treat them kindly.” He replied: “The oppressive among them we shall punish. Then he will be returned to his Lord. So, He too shall sternly punish him. On the contrary, he who embraces faith and does righteous deeds, for him in return is a good reward [with his Lord also] and We too shall gently deal with him.”⁶

Then he prepared for a second expedition until when he reached the place where the sun rises, he saw that it was rising on a nation for which We had placed no barrier between them and the sun. This is precisely what happened and We knew full well whatever Dhū al-Qarnayn had.⁷

He then prepared for another expedition until when he reached [a pass] between two mountains, he found at this side of them people who could not understand anything. They requested: “O Dhū al-Qarnayn! Gog and Magog spread disorder in this land; so, is it possible that if we can arrange expenses for you and you make a barrier between us and them?” He replied: “Whatever my Lord has given in my control is quite sufficient. You may however help me with your might. I shall construct a wall between you and them. Bring me slabs of iron.” [Thus, these were provided to him] until when he filled the gap between the two mountains, he said: “Blow!” Until when he made it into fire, he commanded: “Bring me some molten brass that I may pour over it.” So, [it became such a wall that] Gog and Magog could neither climb it now nor create a fissure in it. Dhū al-Qarnayn said: “This is my God’s blessing. Then when the time of the fulfilment of my Lord’s promise arrives, He shall level it to the ground and true is the promise of my Lord.”

On that Day, We shall leave people so that they shall be striking one another like waves do, and the trumpet shall be sounded and in this way, We shall gather all of them. On that Day, We shall bring forth Hell before those disbelievers whose eyes were covered from remembering Me and they were not able to listen.

Then do these disbelievers think that they will make My servants to be their guardian except Me? [This is mere wishful thinking.] For the hospitality of such disbelievers, We have prepared Hell.

Tell them: Should We inform you who the greatest losers are with regard to their deeds? Those people all of whose efforts were wasted in the life of the world while they thought that they were doing very noble deeds. It is these people who denied their Lord’s revelations as well as meeting Him. So, their deeds went waste. Now, on the Day of Judgment, We shall not give them any weight. Their reward is this Hell because they have disbelieved and have made fun of My revelations and My messengers.

However, those who have accepted faith and have done righteous deeds, for them is the hospitality of the orchards of Paradise. They shall abide in it forever; they shall never want to leave that place.

[They demand signs.] Tell them [O Prophet]: If the sea becomes ink to write down the signs of my Lord, the sea would run dry before the signs of my Lord run out even if We add to it another similar sea.

Tell them: [Who do you ask for the signs?] I am also a human being like you. I receive the revelation that your God is only one God. So, he who is hopeful of meeting his Lord should do righteous deeds and not associate anyone in worshipping his Lord.