18:1  All praise belongs to Allah, who has sent down the Book to His servant and did not let any crookedness be in it

18:2  [a Book] upright, to warn of a severe punishment from Him, and to give good news to the faithful who do righteous deeds, that there shall be for them a good reward

18:3  to abide in it forever

18:4  and to warn those who say, ‘Allah has taken a son.’

18:5  They do not have any knowledge of that, nor did their fathers. Monstrous is the utterance that comes out of their mouths, and they say nothing but a lie

18:6  You are liable to imperil your life for their sake, if they should not believe this discourse, out of grief

18:7  Indeed We have made whatever is on the earth an adornment for it that We may test them [to see] which of them is best in conduct

18:8  And indeed We will turn whatever is on it into a barren plain

18:9  Do you suppose that the Companions of the Cave and the Inscription were among Our wonderful signs

18:10  When the youths took refuge in the Cave, they said, ‘Our Lord! Grant us a mercy from Yourself, and help us on to rectitude in our affair.’

18:11  So We put them to sleep in the Cave for several years

18:12  Then We aroused them that We might know which of the two groups better reckoned the period they had stayed

18:13  We relate to you their account in truth. They were indeed youths who had faith in their Lord, and We had enhanced them in guidance

18:14  and fortified their hearts, when they stood up and said, ‘Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We will never invoke any god besides Him, for then we shall certainly have said an atrocious lie

18:15  These—our people— have taken gods besides Him. Why do they not bring any clear authority touching them? So who is a greater wrongdoer than he who fabricates a lie against Allah

18:16  When you have dissociated yourselves from them and from what they worship except Allah, then take refuge in the Cave. Your Lord will unfold His mercy for you, and He will help you on to ease in your affair.’

18:17  You may see the sun, when it rises, slanting toward the right of their cave, and, when it sets, cut across them towards the left, while they are in a cavern within it. That is one of Allah’s signs. Whomever Allah guides is rightly guided, and whomever He leads astray, you will never find for him any guardian or guide

18:18  You will suppose them to be awake, although they are asleep. We turn them to the right and to the left, and their dog [lies] stretching its forelegs at the threshold. If you come upon them, you will surely turn to flee from them, and you will surely be filled with a terror of them

18:19  So it was that We aroused them [from sleep] so that they might question one another. One of them said, ‘How long have you stayed [here]?’ They said, ‘We have stayed a day, or part of a day.’ They said, ‘Your Lord knows best how long you have stayed. Send one of you to the city with this money. Let him observe which of them has the purest food, and bring you provisions from there. Let him be attentive, and let him not make anyone aware of you

18:20  Indeed should they prevail over you, they will [either] stone you [to death], or force you back into their creed, and then you will never be saved.’

18:21  So it was that We let them come upon them, that they might know that Allah’s promise is true, and that there is no doubt in the Hour. As they were disputing among themselves about their matter, they said, ‘Build a building over them. Their Lord knows them best.’ Those who had the say in their matter said, ‘We will set up a place of worship over them.’

18:22  They will say, ‘[They are] three; their dog is the fourth of them. They will say, ‘[They are] five, their dog is the sixth of them,’ taking a shot at the invisible. They will say, ‘[They are] seven, their dog is the eighth of them.’ Say, ‘My Lord knows best their number, and none knows them except a few.’ So do not dispute concerning them, except for a seeming dispute, and do not question about them any of them

18:23  Do not say about anything, ‘I will indeed do it tomorrow,’

18:24  without [adding], ‘if Allah wishes.’ And when you forget, remember your Lord, and say, ‘Maybe my Lord will guide me to [something] more akin to rectitude than this.’

18:25  They remained in the Cave for three hundred years, and added nine more [to that number]

18:26  Say, ‘Allah knows best how long they remained. To Him belongs the Unseen of the heavens and the earth. How well does He see! How well does He hear! They have no guardian besides Him, and none shares with Him in His judgement.’

18:27  Recite what has been revealed to you from your Lord’s Book. Nothing can change His words, and you will never find any refuge besides Him

18:28  Content yourself with the company of those who supplicate their Lord morning and evening, desiring His Face, and do not loose sight of them, desiring the glitter of the life of this world. And Do not obey him whose heart We have made oblivious to Our remembrance, and who follows his own desires, and whose conduct is [mere] profligacy

18:29  And say, ‘[This is] the truth from your Lord: let anyone who wishes believe it, and let anyone who wishes disbelieve it.’ Indeed We have prepared for the wrongdoers a Fire whose curtains will surround them [on all sides]. If they cry out for help, they will be helped with a water like molten copper which will scald the faces. What an evil drink, and how ill a resting place

18:30  As for those who have faith and do righteous deeds —indeed We do not waste the reward of those who are good in deeds

18:31  For such there will be the Gardens of Eden with streams running in them. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and wear green garments of silk and brocade, reclining therein on couches. How excellent a reward, and how good a resting place

18:32  Draw for them the parable of two men for each of whom We had made two gardens of vines, and We had surrounded them with date palms, and placed crops between them

18:33  Both gardens yielded their produce without stinting anything of it. And We had set a stream gushing through them

18:34  He had abundant fruits, so he said to his companion, as he conversed with him: ‘I have more wealth than you, and am stronger with respect to numbers.’

18:35  He entered his garden while he wronged himself. He said, ‘I do not think that this will ever perish

18:36  and I do not think that the Hour will ever set in. And even if I am returned to my Lord I will surely find a resort better than this.’

18:37  His companion said to him, as he conversed with him: ‘Do you disbelieve in Him who created you from dust, then from a drop of [seminal] fluid, then fashioned you as a man

18:38  But I [say], ‘‘He is Allah, my Lord,’’ and I do not ascribe any partner to my Lord

18:39  Why did you not say, when you entered your garden, ‘‘[This is] as Allah has wished! There is no power except by Allah!’’ If you see that I have lesser wealth than you and children

18:40  maybe my Lord will give me [something] better than your garden, and He will unleash upon it bolts from the sky, so that it becomes a bare plain

18:41  Or its water will sink down, so that you cannot obtain it.’

18:42  And ruin closed in on his produce, and he began to wring his hands for what he had spent on it, as it lay fallen on its trellises. He was saying, ‘I wish I had not ascribed any partner to my Lord.’

18:43  He had no party to help him, besides Allah, nor could he help himself

18:44  There, all authority belongs to Allah, the Real. He is best in rewarding, and best in requiting

18:45  Draw for them the parable of the life of this world: [It is] like the water We send down from the sky. Then the earth’s vegetation mingles with it. Then it becomes chaff, scattered by the wind. And Allah is omnipotent over all things

18:46  Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of the world, but lasting righteous deeds are better with your Lord in reward and better in hope

18:47  The day We shall set the mountains moving and you will see the earth in full view, We shall muster them, and We will not leave out anyone of them

18:48  They will be presented before your Lord in ranks: ‘Certainly you have come to Us just as We created you the first time. Rather you maintained that We shall not appoint a tryst for you.’

18:49  The Book will be set up. Then you will see the guilty apprehensive of what is in it. They will say, ‘Woe to us! What a book is this! It omits nothing, big or small, without enumerating it.’ They will find present whatever they had done, and your Lord does not wrong anyone

18:50  When We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate before Adam,’ they prostrated, but not Iblis. He was one of the jinn, so he transgressed against his Lord’s command. Will you then take him and his offspring for guardians in My stead, though they are your enemies? How evil a substitute for the wrongdoers

18:51  I did not make them a witness to the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor to their own creation, nor do I take those who mislead as assistants

18:52  The day He will say, ‘Call those whom you maintained to be My partners,’ they will call them, but they will not respond to them, for We shall place an abyss between them

18:53  The guilty will sight the Fire and know that they will fall into it, for they will find no means to circumvent it

18:54  Certainly We have made this Qur’an interspersed with every kind of parable for mankind. But man is the most disputatious of creatures

18:55  People do not refuse to have faith when guidance comes to them and to plead to their Lord for forgiveness, without being overtaken by the precedent of the ancients, or confronting the punishment

18:56  We do not send the apostles except as bearers of good news and as warners, but those who are faithless dispute fallaciously to refute thereby the truth, having taken My signs and what they are warned of in derision

18:57  Who is a greater wrongdoer than he who is reminded of the signs of his Lord, whereat he disregards them and forgets what his hands have sent ahead? Indeed We have cast veils on their hearts lest they should understand it, and a deafness into their ears; and if you invite them to guidance they will never [let themselves] be guided

18:58  Your Lord is the All-forgiving dispenser of mercy. Were He to take them to task because of what they have committed, He would have surely hastened their punishment. But they have a tryst, [when] they will not find a refuge besides Him

18:59  Those are the towns that We destroyed when they were wrongdoers, and We appointed a tryst for their destruction

18:60  When Moses said to his lad, ‘I will go on [journeying] until I have reached the confluence of the two seas, or have spent a long time [travelling].&rsquo

18:61  So when they reached the confluence between them, they forgot their fish, which found its way into the sea, sneaking away

18:62  So when they had passed on, he said to his lad, ‘Bring us our meal. We have certainly encountered much fatigue on this journey of ours.’

18:63  He said, ‘Did you see?! When we took shelter at the rock, indeed I forgot about the fish —and none but Satan made me forget to mention it!— and it made its way into the sea in an amazing manner!’

18:64  He said, ‘That is what we were after!’ So they returned, retracing their footsteps

18:65  [There] they found one of Our servants whom We had granted a mercy from Ourselves, and taught him a knowledge from Our own

18:66  Moses said to him, ‘May I follow you for the purpose that you teach me some of the probity you have been taught?’

18:67  He said, ‘Indeed you cannot have patience with me

18:68  And how can you have patience about something you are not in the know of?’

18:69  He said, ‘You will find me, God willing, to be patient, and I will not disobey you in any matter.’

18:70  He said, ‘If you follow me, do not question me concerning anything until I [myself] make a mention of it to you.’

18:71  So they went on. When they boarded the boat, he made a hole in it. He said, ‘Did you make a hole in it to drown its people? You have certainly done a monstrous thing!’

18:72  He said, ‘Did I not say, indeed you cannot have patience with me?’

18:73  He said, ‘Do not take me to task for my forgetting, and do not be hard upon me.’

18:74  So they went on. When they encountered a boy, he slew him. He said, ‘Did you slay an innocent soul, without [his having slain] anyone? You have certainly done a dire thing!’

18:75  He said, ‘Did I not tell you, indeed you cannot have patience with me?’

18:76  He said, ‘If I question you about anything after this, do not keep me in your company. You have already got sufficient excuse on my part.’

18:77  So they went on. When they came to the people of a town, they asked its people for food, but they refused to extend them any hospitality. There they found a wall which was about to collapse, so he erected it. He said, ‘Had you wished, you could have taken a wage for it.’

18:78  He said, ‘This is where you and I shall part. I will inform you about the interpretation of that over which you could not maintain patience

18:79  As for the boat, it belonged to some poor people who work on the sea. I wanted to make it defective, for behind them was a king seizing every ship usurpingly

18:80  As for the boy, his parents were faithful [persons], and We feared he would overwhelm them with rebellion and unfaith

18:81  So We desired that their Lord should give them in exchange one better than him in respect of purity and closer in mercy

18:82  As for the wall, it belonged to two boy orphans in the city. Under it there was a treasure belonging to them. Their father had been a righteous man. So your Lord desired that they should come of age and take out their treasure —as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do that out of my own accord. This is the interpretation of that over which you could not maintain patience.’

18:83  They question you concerning Dhul Qarnayn. Say, ‘I will relate to you an account of him.’

18:84  Indeed We had granted him power in the land and given him the means to all things

18:85  So he followed a means

18:86  When he reached the place where the sun sets, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and by it he found a people. We said, ‘O Dhul Qarnayn! You may either punish them, or treat them with kindness.’

18:87  He said, ‘As for him who is a wrongdoer, we will punish him. Then he shall be returned to his Lord and He will punish him with a dire punishment

18:88  But as for him who has faith and acts righteously, he shall have the best reward, and we will speak to him gently of our command.’

18:89  Then he followed a means

18:90  When he reached the place where the sun rises, he found it rising on a people for whom We had not provided any shield against it

18:91  So it was, and We comprehended whatever pertained to him

18:92  Then he followed a means

18:93  When he reached [the place] between the two barriers, he found between them a people who could hardly understand a word

18:94  They said, ‘O Dhul Qarnayn! Indeed Gog and Magog are causing corruption in the land. Shall we pay you a tribute on condition that you build a barrier between them and us?’

18:95  He said, ‘What my Lord has furnished me is better. Yet help me with some power, and I will make a bulwark between you and them

18:96  Bring me pieces of iron!’ When he had levelled up between the flanks, he said, ‘Blow!’ When he had turned it into fire, he said, ‘Bring me molten copper to pour over it.’

18:97  So they could neither scale it, nor could they make a hole in it

18:98  He said, ‘This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord is fulfilled, He will level it; and my Lord’s promise is true.’

18:99  That day We shall let them surge over one another, and the Trumpet will be blown, and We shall gather them all

18:100  and that day We shall bring hell into view visibly for the faithless

18:101  —Those whose eyes were blindfolded to My remembrance and who could not hear

18:102  Do the faithless suppose that they have taken My servants for guardians in My stead? Indeed We have prepared hell for the hospitality of the faithless

18:103  Say, ‘Shall we inform you about the biggest losers in regard to works

18:104  Those whose endeavour goes awry in the life of the world, while they suppose they are doing good.’

18:105  They are the ones who deny the signs of their Lord and the encounter with Him. So their works have failed. On the Day of Resurrection We will not set for them any weight

18:106  That is their requital—hell— because of their faithlessness and taking My signs and My apostles in derision

18:107  As for those who have faith and do righteous deeds they shall have the gardens of Firdaws for abode

18:108  to remain [forever]in them, from where they will not seek to shift

18:109  Say, ‘If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would be spent before the words of my Lord are spent, though We brought another like it for replenishment.’

18:110  Say, ‘I am just a human being like you. It has been revealed to me that your God is the One God. So whoever expects to encounter his Lord —let him act righteously, and not associate anyone with the worship of his Lord.’