The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

The Night Journey
181
17: 105

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warning –
–
106it is a recitation that We have revealed in parts, so that
you can recite it to people at intervals; We have sent it down little by
little. 
107Say, ‘Whether you believe it or not, those who were given
knowledge earlier fall down on their faces when it is recited to them,
108and say, “Glory to our Lord! Our Lord’s promise has been ful-
filled.” 109They fall down on their faces, weeping, and [the Quran]
increases their humility.’
110Say [to them], ‘Call on God, or on the
Lord of Mercy –
– whatever names you call Him, the best names
belong to Him.’ [Prophet], do not be too loud in your prayer, or too
quiet, but seek a middle way 
111and say, ‘Praise belongs to God, who
has no child nor partner in His rule. He is not so weak as to need a
protector. Proclaim His limitless greatness!’
The Qur
an
17: 106
182

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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 unidenti
fied 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 Qur
an itself.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1Praise be to God, who sent down the Scripture to His servant and
made it unerringly straight, 
2warning of severe punishment from
Him, and [giving] glad news to the believers who do good deeds –– an
excellent reward 
3that they will always enjoy. 4It warns those people
who assert, ‘God has o
ffspring.’
a
5They 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. 
6But [Prophet]
are you going to worry yourself to death over them if they do not
believe in this message?
7We have adorned the earth with attractive things so that We may
test people to 
find out which of them do best, 8but 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?
10When 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,’
11We sealed their ears [with sleep] in the cave for years. 12Then 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.

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and more guidance. 
14We gave strength to their hearts when they
stood up and said, ‘Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and earth.
We shall never call upon any god other than Him, for that would be
an outrageous thing to do. 
15These people of ours have taken gods
other than Him. Why do they not produce clear evidence about
them? Who could be more unjust than someone who makes up lies
about God? 
16Now that you have left such people, and what they
worshipped instead of God, take refuge in the cave. God will shower
His mercy on you and make you an easy way out of your ordeal.’
17You could have seen the [light of the] sun as it rose, moving away
to the right of their cave, and when it set, moving away to the left of
them, while they lay in the wide space inside the cave. (This is one
of God’s signs: those people God guides are rightly guided, but you
will
find no protector to lead to the right path those He leaves to
stray.) 
18You would have thought they were awake, though they lay
asleep. We turned them over, to the right and the left, with their dog
stretching out its forelegs at the entrance. If you had seen them, you
would have turned and run away, 
filled with fear of them.
19In time We woke them, and they began to question one another.
One of them asked, ‘How long have you been here?’ and [some]
answered, ‘A day or part of a day,’ but then [others] said, ‘Your Lord
knows best how long you have been here. One of you go to the
city with your silver coins, 
find out where the best food is there,
and bring some back. But be careful not to let anyone know about
you: 
20if they found you out, they would stone you or force you to
return to their religion, where you would never come to any good.’
21In this way We brought them to people’s attention so that they
might know that God’s promise [of resurrection] is true and that
there is no doubt about the Last Hour, [though] people argue among
themselves.
[Some] said, ‘Construct a building over them: their Lord knows
best about them.’ Those who prevailed said, ‘We shall build a place
of worship over them.’
22[Some] say, ‘The sleepers were three, and
their dog made four,’ others say, ‘They were 
five, and the dog made
six’–
– guessing in the dark –
– and some say, ‘They were seven, and
their dog made eight.’ Say [Prophet], ‘My Lord knows best how
many they were.’ Only a few have real knowledge about them,
so do not argue, but stick to what is clear, and do not ask any of
these people about them; 
23do not say of anything, ‘I will do that