18:1  All praises are for Allah, He who sent down the Book to his servant. It does not bend the truth,

18:2  but is factual, so He gives warning of severe punishment and good news to the believers who do righteous deeds, they will have Paradise,

18:3  where they will stay forever.

18:4  You must warn those who said Allah has taken a child;

18:5  neither they nor their forefathers had any knowledge. It is an outrageous insult they spout with their mouths; they are lying.

18:6  So will you worry yourself to death over their actions, if they don’t believe in this message?

18:7  We’ve made attractive what is on Earth, to test who is best in deeds.

18:8  Eventually, We will turn the Earth into a barren land

18:9  Messenger, did you know the People of the Cave and Al-Raqim were our amazing signs?

18:10  The young men took refuge in the cave and prayed: “Our Lord be kind to us and guide us during our test.”

18:11  While they were inside the cave for many years We blocked their ears,

18:12  then awakened them, to see which of the two groups was better in assessing the length of their stay

18:13  We will tell you their story exactly as it happened: they were young men who had faith in their Lord; We increased them in guidance,

18:14  and improved self-confidence. They stood up boldly before their people and proclaimed: “Our Lord is the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth. Never will we worship gods beside Him; that would be an outrageous lie.

18:15  Our people have taken gods beside Him, without any clear evidence. Can anyone be more wrong than the one who makes up lies about Allah?”

18:16  It was said, “You have now separated yourselves from those people and what they worship beside Allah, so take refuge in the cave and your Lord will be kind to you, He will prepare suitable arrangements for you.

18:17  Messenger, while they laid in the clear opening of the cave, you could see the sun rise then move away from them, and turned to their left as it set. This was from the signs of Allah. Anyone guided by Allah is truly guided, and anyone gone astray won’t find a guide or a protector.

18:18  You thought they were awake, but they were asleep. We kept turning them from right to left. At the entrance of the cave lay their dog with its forelegs stretched out. Were you to stumble across them, you would be filled with fear, turn your back on them, and flee

18:19  Eventually We awakened them, and they questioned each other. One of them asked, “How long did we stay here?” They said, “We stayed a day or a part of a day.” Others said, “Your Lord knows best how long you stayed, now send someone with the silver coin to town to buy pure food so he may bring it for you. They told him, “Be polite and courteous, and don’t let anyone know who you are,

18:20  if they find out who you are, they will torture you, or force you to revert to their religion. Then you will never be successful.”

18:21  In this way We brought them to people’s attention, so they may know that Allah’s promise is true, and there is no doubt about the Final Hour. The townspeople disputed about what to do with them. Some said, “Erect a building over the cave; their Lord knows best about them.” However, those who had an upperhand concerning their matter said, “We’ll build a Mosque over the cave.

18:22  Some will say the People of the Cave were three, and their dog was the fourth; others will say they were five and the sixth their dog; these are mere guesses; some will say they were seven and the eighth their dog. Say: “My Lord knows best their number.” Only a few have real knowledge of them. So, don’t argue or ask anyone else about them, say what’s known clearly

18:23  When you intend to do something don’t say, “I will do it tomorrow.”

18:24  Instead say, “Allah willing I will do it.” Remember your Lord whenever you forget Him, and say, “I hope my Lord will guide me to the right path closer, and closer.

18:25  “People say they stayed in the cave for three hundred years, plus nine.”

18:26  Say: “only Allah knows exactly how long they stayed. He has the knowledge of the unseen in the Heavens and the Earth. How wonderful is His Seeing and Hearing. They have no helper beside Him, and He does not allow anyone to share His rule.”

18:27  And recite what is revealed to you from your Lord’s book; none can change His words, nor can you find beside Him a place of refuge

18:28  Keep yourself with those who worship their Lord morning and evening, longing for His pleasure. Don’t turn your eyes away from them to seek the delights of worldly life. Neither follow him whose mind is forgetful of Our remembrance, and follows his whims; his case is beyond limits

18:29  Say: “The truth is from Your Lord; so, whoever wants to believe, let him do so, and whoever wishes to deny, let him.” We have prepared for the evil doers a fire; its walls will surround them. When they plead for water, they will be relieved with boiling water hotter than molten brass that will burn their faces – a dreadful drink, and an unbearable place of rest.

18:30  On the other hand, those who believed and did righteous deeds, We will not waste the reward of those who did good work;

18:31  they will have everlasting gardens with streams running beneath them. Here, they will be wearing golden bracelets, green dresses with silk embroidery, and rich patterns. They will be sitting on couches. What a wonderful reward, an amazing resting place

18:32  Tell them the parable of two men; to one We gave two vineyards, hedged by palm trees, with a cornfield lying in the middle.

18:33  Both vineyards had a stream running between them, so they produced an abundant crop throughout the year,

18:34  he had plenty of agricultural produce. One day he said to his friend, as they were talking among themselves, “I have more wealth and a larger family than you.”

18:35  He walked into his garden with these wrong thoughts and said, “I don’t think that these vineyards will ever perish,

18:36  nor do I think that Judgement Day will come. Even if I was returned to My Lord, I will certainly go to somewhere better than this.

18:37  His friend said to him as they argued, “How can you deny the One who created you from dust and then from a drop of sperm?

18:38  For me, He is Allah, my Lord, and I do not associate anyone with my Lord

18:39  When you entered your vineyard why didn’t you say, “There is no power except that of Allah. Even if you saw that I was less than you in wealth and number of children,

18:40  I am hopeful that my Lord will give me better than your vineyards; He could send a thunderbolt from the sky on them and turn the land barren,

18:41  or make its water sink deep into the ground so that you wouldn’t be able to reach it.

18:42  So his fruits were destroyed. There he was, wringing his hands, regretting what he had spent on it. The trellises had fallen; he sobbed, “I wish I had never associated anyone with my Lord.”

18:43  There was no army that could help him against Allah, nor could he defend himself.

18:44  This shows, all power belongs to Allah, the Truth. The belief in Him produces the best reward and the best outcome

18:45  Tell them a parable of worldly life; it’s like the rain We send down from the sky, the soil soaks it, plants grow, then turn into dry straw that is scattered by the winds. Allah has power over all things.

18:46  Wealth and children are beautiful decorations of this life. However, the fruit of good deeds will remain with your Lord, an excellent reward and hope

18:47  The day when We clear away the mountains, you will see the Earth spread out as a vast plain, and We shall gather the dead; no one will be left out.

18:48  They will be presented before your Lord in rows, it will be said, “You have come to Us as We created you the first time; you thought We wouldn’t fulfil Our promise.”

18:49  When the record will be laid out before them, the sinners will be frightened of what they see in it, and they will say, “Woe to us, what kind of record is this that doesn’t leave out anything small or big, it records everything.” They will find everything they had ever done in front of them. And your Lord is not unjust to anyone

18:50  And remember when We said to the Angels, “Prostrate to Adam,” they prostrated except Satan. He was from the Jinns. He disobeyed his Lord’s order. So, are you going to take him and his followers as your friends beside Me, yet they are your enemies? What a wretched alternative have the wrongdoers chosen!

18:51  I didn’t make them witnesses at the time of creation of the Heavens and Earth, nor in their own creation. I don’t take as helpers those who misguide others.

18:52  On the Day He will say, “Call upon those who you thought were My partners,” they will not answer them. We will place between them an unbridgeable gulf.

18:53  When the sinners see the Fire they will be convinced they are falling into it, and they will find no other place to turn to

18:54  We have explained all sorts of lessons for people’s benefit in this Quran, but humans are quarrelsome creatures.

18:55  What stops people from believing and seeking the forgiveness of their Lord when the guidance has come to them? Are they waiting for the same fate as the earlier generations? Or for the punishment to be brought right in front of them?

18:56  The messengers were sent to give good news and a warning; the disbelievers disputed using false arguments to weaken the truth, and they mocked My verses and warnings

18:57  Who is more unjust than the one who is reminded of his Lord’s verses and turns away from them? Forgetting what he is sending ahead of him. We have locked their minds: they cannot understand. We made them hard of hearing, so when you call them to the guidance, they will never be guided.

18:58  Your Lord is Forgiving, Kind. Had He punished them for what they did, then it would have come sooner, but there is a fixed time from which they will find no escape.

18:59  We destroyed these towns because they did wrong; We fixed the time of their destruction

18:60  Remember when Musa said to his young servant, “I will travel on until I reach the place where the two seas meet, no matter how long it takes.”

18:61  When they reached it, they forgot the fish, which quietly made its way into the sea and swam away.

18:62  After travelling for some time, Musa asked his young servant, “Bring our meal, the journey has worn us out!”

18:63  He replied, “Did you notice, when we rested at the rock I forgot the fish – none but Satan made me forget it – amazingly it made its way into the sea.”

18:64  Musa said, “That’s the place we were looking for.” So they turned back, carefully retracing their footsteps.

18:65  They found a servant of Ours there, Khidr, to whom We were especially kind – We taught him Our special knowledge

18:66  Musa asked him, “Can I follow you, so you may teach me something of higher guidance which you have been taught?”

18:67  He replied, “You will not be able to have patience with me;

18:68  how could you have patience about things that you don’t fully know?”

18:69  Musa said, “Allah willing, you will find me patient and I will not disobey your orders.”

18:70  The man said, “If you must follow me then don’t ask questions until I speak about it to you.

18:71  So both set off walking along the beach until they got a boat, but when they got off Khidr damaged it. Musa said, “Did you damage it to drown those on board? You’ve done an awful thing.”