18:1  Praise be to God who sent down the Scripture to His servant, and He did not make in it any crookedness

18:2  It is valuable, giving warning of the severe punishment from Him; and it gives glad tidings to the believers who do good works, that they will have a fair reward

18:3  In which they will abide eternally

18:4  And to warn those who said: "God has taken a son."

18:5  They have no knowledge of this, nor do their fathers. Tremendous indeed is the word coming out of their mouths. They are but saying a lie

18:6  Perhaps you will torment yourself in grief over them, because they will not believe in this saying at all

18:7  We have made what is on Earth an adornment for them, so that We will test them as to who is better in deeds

18:8  And We will then make what is on it a barren wasteland

18:9  Did you perceive that the dwellers of the cave and the numbers related were of Our wondrous sign

18:10  When the youths hid in the cave, and they said: "Our Lord, bring us a mercy from Yourself, and help us in our affair!"

18:11  So We sealed upon their ears in the cave for a number of years

18:12  Then We sent them to know which of the two groups had remained for as long as they stayed

18:13  We narrate to you their news with truth. They were youths who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance

18:14  And We made firm their hearts when they stood and said: "Our Lord, the Lord of heavens and Earth, we will not call besides Him any god. If we have done so then it was in error."

18:15  "Here are our people, they have taken gods besides Him, while they do not come with any clear authority. Who then is more wicked than one who invents lies about God"

18:16  So when you withdraw from them and what they serve besides God, seek refuge in the cave, and your Lord will distribute His mercy upon you and prepare for your problem a solution

18:17  And you see the sun when it rises, it visits their cave from the right, and when it sets, it touches them from the left, while they are in an enclosure from it. That is from God's signs. Whomever God guides is the guided one, and whomever He misguides, you will not find for him any ally to lead

18:18  And you would think they are awake while they are asleep. And We turn them on the right-side and on the left-side, and their dog has his legs outstretched in their midst. If you looked upon them you would have run away from them and you would have been filled with terror from them

18:19  And it was thus that We delivered them so they would ask themselves. A speaker from amongst them said: "How long have you stayed" They said: "We stayed a day or part of a day." He said: "Your Lord is surely aware how long you stayed, so send one of you with these stamped coins of yours to the city, and let him see which is the tastiest food, and let him come with a provision of it. And let him be careful and let no one take notice of you."

18:20  "If they discover you, they will stone you or return you to their creed. Then you will never be successful."

18:21  And as such, We revealed their case so that they would know that God's promise is true and that there is no doubt regarding the Hour. They argued amongst themselves regarding them, so they said: "Erect a monument for them!" Their Lord is fully aware of them, those who managed to win the argument said: "We will construct a temple over them."

18:22  They will Say: "Three, the fourth is their dog." And they Say: "Five, the sixth is their dog," guessing at what they do not know. And they Say: "Seven, and the eighth is their dog." Say: "My Lord is fully aware of their number, none know them except for a few." So do not debate in them except with proof, and do not seek information regarding them from anyone

18:23  And do not say of anything: "I will do this tomorrow."

18:24  "Except if God wills." And remember your Lord if you forget and Say: "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer to this in wisdom."

18:25  And they remained in their cave for three hundred years, and increased by nine

18:26  Say: "God is fully aware how long they remained, to Him is the unseen of heavens and Earth, He sees and hears. They do not have besides Him any ally, nor does He share in His judgment with anyone."

18:27  And recite what has been inspired to you from your Lord's Scripture, there is no changing His words, and you will not find besides Him any refuge

18:28  And have patience upon yourself regarding those who call their Lord in the morning and evening seeking His direction, and let not your eyes overlook them that you seek the beauty of this worldly life. And do not obey the one whom We have made his heart heedless of Our remembrance and he followed his desire, and his fate was lost

18:29  And Say: "The truth is from your Lord, so let whomever desires believe, and whomever desires reject." We have prepared for the wicked a Fire whose walls will be surrounding them. And if they cry out, they are given a water like boiling oil which burns their faces. What a miserable place

18:30  Those who believe and do good works, We do not waste the reward of those who have done well

18:31  They will have the gardens of Eden with rivers flowing beneath them, and they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and they will wear green garments of fine silk. They will sit in it on raised thrones. Beautiful is the reward, and beautiful is the dwelling place

18:32  And give them the example of two men. We made for one of them two gardens of grapes, and We surrounded them with palm trees, and We made between them a green field

18:33  Both gardens brought forth their fruit, and none failed in the least. And We caused a river to pass through them

18:34  And he had abundant fruit, so he said to his friend while discussing with him: "I am better off than you financially, and of great influence."

18:35  And he went back into his garden while he had wronged himself. He said: "I do not think that this will ever perish."

18:36  "And I do not think that the Hour is coming. And if I am indeed returned to my Lord, then I will surely find even better things for me."

18:37  His friend said to him while discussing with him: "Have you disbelieved in the One who created you from dirt, then from a seed, then He evolved you into a man"

18:38  "But He is God, my Lord, and I do not place any partners at all with my Lord."

18:39  "And if you enter your garden, you should have said: "This is what God has given, there is no power except by God." You see me as being less than you in wealth and in children"

18:40  "Perhaps my Lord will give me better than your garden, and He should send upon it a violent storm from the sky, so it becomes completely barren."

18:41  "Or that its water becomes deep under-ground, so you will not be able to seek it."

18:42  So his fruits were ruined, and he began turning his hands at that which he has spent on it while it remained destroyed upon its foundations. And he said: "I wish I did not make any partner with my Lord!"

18:43  And he had no group which could help against God, and he would not have had victory

18:44  Such is the true authority of God. He is best to reward, and best to punish

18:45  And give them the parable of this worldly life is like a water which We have sent down from the sky, so that the plants of the Earth mix with it and it becomes murky being moved by the wind. And God is capable of all things

18:46  Wealth and buildings are the beauty of this life. But the good deeds that remain behind are better with your Lord for a reward, and better for hope

18:47  And the Day We move the mountains, and you see the Earth barren, and We gather them. We did not forget anyone of them

18:48  And they are displayed before your Lord as a column: "You have come to Us as We had created you the first time. No, you claimed We would not make for you an appointed time!"

18:49  And the record was displayed, so you see the criminals fearful of what is in it. And they Say: "Woe to us!, what is wrong with this record that it does not leave out anything small or large except that it has counted it." And they found what they had done present. And your Lord does not wrong anyone

18:50  And We said to the Angels: "Submit to Adam." So they all submitted except for Satan, he was of the Jinn, so he disobeyed the order of his Lord. "Will you take him and his progeny as allies besides Me, while they are your enemy" Miserable for the wicked is the substitute

18:51  I did not make them witness the creation of heavens and Earth, nor the creation of themselves. Nor do I take the misleaders as helpers

18:52  The Day when He says: "Call on your partners that you had claimed." So they called them, but they did not respond to them. And We made between them a barrier

18:53  And the criminals saw the Fire, and they realized they will be placed in it, and they did not find any way to avert it

18:54  And We have cited in this Quran every example for the people. But man was always most argumentative

18:55  And what prevented the people from believing when the guidance came to them, and to seek forgiveness from their Lord Are they waiting for what happened to the people of old to come to them, or that the retribution be brought to them face to fac

18:56  And We do not send the messengers except as bearers of good news and warners. But those who reject will argue using falsehood to overshadow the truth with it. And they took My revelations and what they have been warned by as a joke

18:57  And who is more wicked than one who is reminded of his Lord's verses but he turned away from them, and he forgot what his hands had done. We have made veils upon their hearts from understanding them, and a deafness in their ears. And if you invite them to the guidance, they will never be guided

18:58  And your Lord is forgiving, with mercy. If He were to judge the people for what they had already earned, He would hasten for them the retribution. No, they have an appointment, beyond which they will find no escape

18:59  And such are the towns which We had destroyed when they transgressed. And We made for their destruction an appointed time

18:60  And Moses said to his youth: "I will not stop until I reach the junction of the two seas, or I spend a lifetime trying."

18:61  But when they did reach the junction between, they forgot their fish, and it was able to make its way back to the sea in a stream

18:62  And when they had passed further on, he said to his youth: "Bring us our lunch; we have found much fatigue in this journey of ours."

18:63  He said: "Do you remember when we rested upon the rock I forgot the fish, and it was the devil that made me forget to remember it. It made its way back to the sea amazingly!"

18:64  He said: "That is what we have been seeking!" So they went back retracing their steps

18:65  So they came upon a servant of Ours whom We had given him mercy from Us and We taught him knowledge from Us

18:66  Moses said to him: "Can I follow you so that you will teach me from the guidance you have been taught"

18:67  He said: "You will not be able to have patience with me."

18:68  "And how can you be patient about that which you have not been given any news"

18:69  He said: "You will find me, God willing, to be patient. And I will not disobey any command of yours."

18:70  He said: "If you follow me, then do not ask about anything until I relate it to you."

18:71  So they ventured forth until they rode in a boat and he made a hole in it. He said: "Did you make a hole in it to drown its people You have done something dreadful!"

18:72  He said: "Did I not tell you that you will not be able to have patience with me"

18:73  He said: "Forgive me for what I forgot, and do not be hard upon my request with you."

18:74  So they ventured forth until they came upon a youth, and he killed him. He said: "Have you killed an innocent person without justice You have truly come with something awful!"

18:75  He said: "Did I not tell you that you will not be able to have patience with me"

18:76  He said: "If I ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me in your company. You will then have a reason over me."

18:77  So they ventured forth until they came to the people of a town. They requested food from its people but they refused to host them. Then they found a wall which was close to collapsing, so he built it. He said: "If you wished, you could have asked a wage for it!"

18:78  He said: "For this, we will now part ways. I will inform you of the meanings of those things that you could not have patience over."

18:79  "As for the boat, it belonged to some poor people who were working the sea, so I wanted to damage it as there was a king coming who takes every boat by force."

18:80  "And as for the youth, his parents were believers, so we feared that he would oppress them by his transgression and disbelief."

18:81  "So we wanted their Lord to replace for them with one who is better than him in purity and closer to mercy."

18:82  "And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphaned boys in the city, and underneath it was a treasure for them, and their father was a good man, so your Lord wanted that they would reach their maturity and take out their treasure as a mercy from your Lord. And none of what I did was of my own accord. That is the meaning of what you could not have patience for."

18:83  And they ask you about the one who is from Two Eras, Say: "I will recite to you a memory from him."

18:84  We had facilitated for him in the land, and We had given him the means of everything

18:85  So he followed the means

18:86  Until he reached the setting of the sun, and he found it setting at a boiling lake, and he found near it a people. We said: "O Two Eras, either you are to punish, or you are to do them good."

18:87  He said: "As for he who has transgressed, we will punish him then he will be returned to his Lord and He will punish him an awful punishment."

18:88  "And as for he who believes and does good, then he will have the reward of goodness, and we will speak to him simply of our plan."

18:89  Then he followed the means

18:90  So when he reached the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people whom We did not make for them any cover except it

18:91  So it was, and We knew ahead of time about what he intended

18:92  Then he followed the means

18:93  Until he reached the area between the two barriers, he found no one beside it except a people who could barely understand anything said

18:94  They said: "O Two Eras, Gog and Magog are destroyers of the land, so shall we make a tribute for you that you will make between us and them a barrier"

18:95  He said: "What my Lord has given me is far better. So help me with strength and I will make between you and them a barrier."

18:96  "Bring me iron ore." Until he levelled between the two walls, he said: "Blow," until he made it a furnace, he said: "Bring me tar so I can pour it over."

18:97  So they could not come over it, and they could not make a hole in it

18:98  He said: "This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it rubble. And the promise of my Lord is truth."

18:99  And We left them till that day to surge like waves on one another. And the horn was blown so We gathered them together

18:100  And We displayed Hell on that Day to the disbelievers openly

18:101  Those whose eyes were closed from My remembrance, and they were unable to hear

18:102  Did those who reject think that they can take My servants as allies besides Me We have prepared Hell for the rejecters as a dwelling place

18:103  Say: "Shall we inform you of the greatest losers"

18:104  "Those whose efforts in the worldly life were wasted while they thought they were doing good!"

18:105  These are the ones who rejected the revelations of their Lord and His meeting. So their works were in vain, and We will not give them any value on the Day of Resurrection

18:106  That is their recompense, Hell; for what they rejected and for taking My revelations and My messengers for mockery

18:107  Those who believe and do good works, they will have gardens of Paradise as a dwelling place

18:108  Abiding therein. They will not want to be moved from it

18:109  Say: "If the sea were an inkwell for the words of my Lord, then the sea would run out before the words of my Lord run out;" even if We were to bring another like it for its aid

18:110  Say: "I am but a human being like you, being inspired that your god is One god. So whoever looks forward to meeting his Lord, then let him do good works and not set up any partner in the service of his Lord."