(18:8) And indeed, We will make that which is upon it [into] a barren ground. (18:9) Or have you thought that the companions of the cave and the inscription were, among Our signs, a wonder? (18:10) [Mention] when the youths retreated to the cave and said, "Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us from our affair right guidance." (18:11) So We cast [a cover of sleep] over their ears within the cave for a number of years. (18:12) Then We awakened them that We might show which of the two factions was most precise in calculating what [extent] they had remained in time. (18:13) It is We who relate to you, [O Muhammad], their story in truth. Indeed, 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 up and said, "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. Never will we invoke besides Him any deity. We would have certainly spoken, then, an excessive transgression.
