All praise is for Allah, Who has sent down this Book to His Servant, and assigned nothing crooked to it.1 This Book says everything directly so that he may warn the people of the severe chastisement of Allah and give good news to the Believers, who do righteous deeds, that they will have an excellent recompense, which they will always enjoy and that he should warn those people who say, “Allah has begotten a son.”2 Neither had they any knowledge of this3 nor their forefathers; it is a monstrous word that comes out of their mouths: they utter a sheer lie. Well, O Muhammad, it may be that you will consume your life for their sake out of sorrow, if they do not believe in this message.4 The fact is that whatsoever is on the earth, We have made it as its adornment so that we may test the people as to which of them does best deeds. In the end, We will turn all that is in it into a bare plain.5 Do you consider “the Sleepers of the Cave,”6 and the bearers of the “Inscription”7 to be among Our strange Signs?8 When those few young men took refuge in the Cave, they said, "Our Lord! have a special mercy on us from Thyself and guide us out of our ordeal aright." Accordingly We lulled them to a deep sleep in the Cave for a number of years. Then We raised them up in order to test which of them were able to calculate correctly the period of their stay there.