الكهف
The Cave
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
wakadhālika aʿtharnā ʿalayhim liyaʿlamū anna waʿda l-lahi ḥaqqun wa-anna l-sāʿata lā rayba fīhā idh yatanāzaʿūna baynahum amrahum faqālū ib'nū ʿalayhim bun'yānan rabbuhum aʿlamu bihim qāla alladhīna ghalabū ʿalā amrihim lanattakhidhanna ʿalayhim masjidan
And similarly, We caused them to be found that they [who found them] would know that the promise of Allāh is truth and that of the Hour there is no doubt. [That was] when they disputed among themselves about their affair and [then] said, "Construct over them a structure. Their Lord is most knowing about them." Said those who prevailed in the matter, "We will surely take [for ourselves] over them a masjid."
sayaqūlūna thalāthatun rābiʿuhum kalbuhum wayaqūlūna khamsatun sādisuhum kalbuhum rajman bil-ghaybi wayaqūlūna sabʿatun wathāminuhum kalbuhum qul rabbī aʿlamu biʿiddatihim mā yaʿlamuhum illā qalīlun falā tumāri fīhim illā mirāan ẓāhiran walā tastafti fīhim min'hum aḥadan
They [i.e., people] will say there were three, the fourth of them being their dog; and they will say there were five, the sixth of them being their dog - guessing at the unseen; and they will say there were seven, and the eighth of them was their dog. Say, [O Muḥammad], "My Lord is most knowing of their number. None knows them except a few. So do not argue about them except with an obvious argument and do not inquire about them among [the speculators] from anyone."
walā taqūlanna lishāy'in innī fāʿilun dhālika ghadan
And never say of anything, "Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,"
illā an yashāa l-lahu wa-udh'kur rabbaka idhā nasīta waqul ʿasā an yahdiyani rabbī li-aqraba min hādhā rashadan
Except [when adding], "If Allāh wills." And remember your Lord when you forget [it] and say, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct."
walabithū fī kahfihim thalātha mi-atin sinīna wa-iz'dādū tis'ʿan
And they remained in their cave for three hundred years and exceeded by nine.
quli l-lahu aʿlamu bimā labithū lahu ghaybu l-samāwāti wal-arḍi abṣir bihi wa-asmiʿ mā lahum min dūnihi min waliyyin walā yush'riku fī ḥuk'mihi aḥadan
Say, "Allāh is most knowing of how long they remained. He has [knowledge of] the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth. How Seeing is He and how Hearing! They have not besides Him any protector, and He shares not His legislation with anyone."
wa-ut'lu mā ūḥiya ilayka min kitābi rabbika lā mubaddila likalimātihi walan tajida min dūnihi mul'taḥadan
And recite, [O Muḥammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. There is no changer of His words, and never will you find in other than Him a refuge.
wa-iṣ'bir nafsaka maʿa alladhīna yadʿūna rabbahum bil-ghadati wal-ʿashiyi yurīdūna wajhahu walā taʿdu ʿaynāka ʿanhum turīdu zīnata l-ḥayati l-dun'yā walā tuṭiʿ man aghfalnā qalbahu ʿan dhik'rinā wa-ittabaʿa hawāhu wakāna amruhu furuṭan
And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His face [i.e., acceptance]. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect.
waquli l-ḥaqu min rabbikum faman shāa falyu'min waman shāa falyakfur innā aʿtadnā lilẓẓālimīna nāran aḥāṭa bihim surādiquhā wa-in yastaghīthū yughāthū bimāin kal-muh'li yashwī l-wujūha bi'sa l-sharābu wasāat mur'tafaqan
And say, "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills - let him believe; and whoever wills - let him disbelieve." Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like murky oil, which scalds [their] faces. Wretched is the drink, and evil is the resting place.
inna alladhīna āmanū waʿamilū l-ṣāliḥāti innā lā nuḍīʿu ajra man aḥsana ʿamalan
Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds - indeed, We will not allow to be lost the reward of any who did well in deeds.
ulāika lahum jannātu ʿadnin tajrī min taḥtihimu l-anhāru yuḥallawna fīhā min asāwira min dhahabin wayalbasūna thiyāban khuḍ'ran min sundusin wa-is'tabraqin muttakiīna fīhā ʿalā l-arāiki niʿ'ma l-thawābu waḥasunat mur'tafaqan
Those will have gardens of perpetual residence; beneath them rivers will flow. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and will wear green garments of fine silk and brocade, reclining therein on adorned couches. Excellent is the reward, and good is the resting place.
wa-iḍ'rib lahum mathalan rajulayni jaʿalnā li-aḥadihimā jannatayni min aʿnābin waḥafafnāhumā binakhlin wajaʿalnā baynahumā zarʿan
And present to them an example of two men: We granted to one of them two gardens of grapevines, and We bordered them with palm trees and placed between them [fields of] crops.
kil'tā l-janatayni ātat ukulahā walam taẓlim min'hu shayan wafajjarnā khilālahumā naharan
Each of the two gardens produced its fruit and did not fall short thereof in anything. And We caused to gush forth within them a river.
wakāna lahu thamarun faqāla liṣāḥibihi wahuwa yuḥāwiruhu anā aktharu minka mālan wa-aʿazzu nafaran
And he had fruit, so he said to his companion while he was conversing with him, "I am greater than you in wealth and mightier in [numbers of] men."
wadakhala jannatahu wahuwa ẓālimun linafsihi qāla mā aẓunnu an tabīda hādhihi abadan
And he entered his garden while he was unjust to himself. He said, "I do not think that this will perish - ever.
wamā aẓunnu l-sāʿata qāimatan wala-in rudidttu ilā rabbī la-ajidanna khayran min'hā munqalaban
And I do not think the Hour will occur. And even if I should be brought back to my Lord, I will surely find better than this as a return."
qāla lahu ṣāḥibuhu wahuwa yuḥāwiruhu akafarta bi-alladhī khalaqaka min turābin thumma min nuṭ'fatin thumma sawwāka rajulan
His companion said to him while he was conversing with him, "Have you disbelieved in He who created you from dust and then from a sperm-drop and then proportioned you [as] a man?
lākinnā huwa l-lahu rabbī walā ush'riku birabbī aḥadan
But as for me, He is Allāh, my Lord, and I do not associate with my Lord anyone.
walawlā idh dakhalta jannataka qul'ta mā shāa l-lahu lā quwwata illā bil-lahi in tarani anā aqalla minka mālan wawaladan
And why did you, when you entered your garden, not say, 'What Allāh willed [has occurred]; there is no power except in Allāh'? Although you see me less than you in wealth and children,
faʿasā rabbī an yu'tiyani khayran min jannatika wayur'sila ʿalayhā ḥus'bānan mina l-samāi fatuṣ'biḥa ṣaʿīdan zalaqan
It may be that my Lord will give me [something] better than your garden and will send upon it a [disastrous] penalty from the sky, and it will become a smooth, dusty ground,