The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

The Qur
an
18: 14
184

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tomorrow,’
a
24without adding, ‘God willing,’ and, whenever you
forget, remember your Lord and say, ‘May my Lord guide me closer
to what is right.’
25[Some say], ‘The sleepers stayed in their cave
for three hundred years,’ some added nine more. 
26Say [Prophet],
‘God knows best how long they stayed.’ His is the knowledge of all
that is hidden in the heavens and earth –
– How well He sees! How
well He hears! –
– and they have no one to protect them other than
Him; He does not allow anyone to share His rule.
27[Prophet], follow what has been revealed to you of your Lord’s
Scripture: there is no changing His words, nor can you 
find any
refuge except with Him. 
28Content yourself with those who pray to
their Lord morning and evening, seeking His approval, and do not
let your eyes turn away from them out of desire for the attractions of
this worldly life:
b
do not yield to those whose hearts We have made
heedless of Our Qur
an, those who follow their own low desires,
those whose ways are unbridled. 
29Say, ‘Now the truth has come
from your Lord: let those who wish to believe in it do so, and let
those who wish to reject it do so.’ We have prepared a Fire for the
wrongdoers that will envelop them from all sides. If they call for
relief, they will be relieved with water like molten metal, scalding
their faces. What a terrible drink! What a painful resting place! 
30As
for those who believe and do good deeds –
– We do not let the reward
of anyone who does a good deed go to waste –
–
31they will have
Gardens of lasting bliss graced with 
flowing streams. There they will
be adorned with bracelets of gold. There they will wear green gar-
ments of 
fine silk and brocade. There they will be comfortably seated
on soft chairs. What a blessed reward! What a pleasant resting place!
32Tell them the parable of two men: for one of them We made two
gardens of grape vines, surrounded them with date palms, and put
corn 
fields in between; 33both gardens yielded fruit and did not fail
in any way; We made a stream 
flow through them, 34and so he had
abundant fruit. One day, while talking to his friend, he said, ‘I have
more wealth and a larger following than you.’
35He went into his
garden and wronged himself by saying, ‘I do not think this will ever
a
When the Prophet was challenged by the Meccans, prompted by the Jews, to
explain the story of the Sleepers, he promised to do it ‘tomorrow’, but did not receive
revelation about it for some days afterwards.
b
The notables of Mecca tried to persuade the Prophet to attend to them and drive
away his humble followers. See 
17: 73–4, 80: 1–10.
The Cave
185
18: 35

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perish,
36or that the Last Hour will ever come–– even if I were to be
taken back to my Lord, I would certainly 
find something even better
there.’
37His companion retorted, ‘Have you no faith in Him who
created you from dust, from a small drop of 
fluid, then shaped you
into a man? 
38But, for me, He is God, my Lord, and I will never set
up any partner with Him. 
39If only, when you entered your garden,
you had said, “This is God’s will. There is no power not [given] by
God.” Although you see I have less wealth and o
ffspring than you,
40my Lord may well give me something better than your garden, and
send thunderbolts on your garden from the sky, so that it becomes a
heap of barren dust; 
41or its water may sink so deep into the ground
that you will never be able to reach it again.’
42And so it was: his fruit
was completely destroyed, and there he was, wringing his hands over
what he had invested in it, as it drooped on its trellises, and saying, ‘I
wish I had not set up any partner to my Lord.’
43He had no forces to
help him other than God –
– he could not even help himself. 
44In that
situation, the only protection is that of God, the True God: He gives
the best rewards and the best outcome.
45Tell them, too, what the life of this world is like: We send water
down from the skies and the earth’s vegetation absorbs it, but soon
the plants turn to dry stubble scattered about by the wind: God has
power over everything. 
46Wealth and children are the attractions of
this worldly life, but lasting good works have a better reward with
your Lord and give better grounds for hope. 
47One day We shall make
the mountains move, and you will see the earth as an open plain. We
shall gather all people together, leaving no one. 
48They will be lined
up before your Lord: ‘Now you have come to Us as We 
first created
you, although you claimed We had not made any such appointment
for you.’
49The record of their deeds will be laid open and you will
see the guilty, dismayed at what they contain, saying, ‘Woe to us!
What a record this is! It does not leave any deed, small or large,
unaccounted for!’ They will 
find everything they ever did laid in
front of them: your Lord will not be unjust to anyone.
50We said to the angels, ‘Bow down before Adam,’ and they all
bowed down, but not Iblis: he was one of the jinn and he disobeyed
his Lord’s command. Are you [people] going to take him and his
o
ffspring as your masters instead of Me, even though they are your
enemies? What a bad bargain for the evildoers! 
51I did not make
them witnesses to the creation of the heavens and earth, nor to their