1. Praise belongs to Allah – this is ascribing all good and beauty to Him, as is confirmed for Allah. As to whether this is a pronouncement of faith, praise, or both, the most useful view is that it is the third – Who has sent down the Book (the Qur’an) to His slave (Muhammad) and has put no crookedness – no disagreement or contradiction – in it.

2. It is straight, to warn – the unbelievers through it – of violent force (punishment) direct from Him, and to give the good news to the believers, those who do right actions, that for them there is an excellent reward:

3. …a place (the Garden) in which they will remain for ever,

4. … and to warn those unbelievers who say ‘Allah has a son.’

5. They have no knowledge of this claim, neither they nor their fathers – nor was it stated by their ancestors before them. It is a monstrous utterance which has issued from their mouths. These words are terrible. What they say is nothing but a lie.

6. Perhaps you may destroy yourself with grief, chasing after them – after they turn away from you – if they do not believe in these words (the Qur’an). The adverbial phrase “with grief”, asafan, expresses the exasperation and sorrow which the Prophet experienced on account of his eagerness for his people to believe.

7. We made everything – animals, plants, trees, rivers and other things – on the earth to be adornment for it so that We could test them to see whose actions are the best – which of them are least greedy with respect to the adornment of this world.

8. We will certainly make everything on it a barren wasteland – infertile, dry land with no plants in it.

9. Do you consider (think) that the Companions of the Cave and ar-Raqim – the tablet on which their names and lineages were written. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked about their story – were one of the most remarkable of Our Signs? Do you think that their story was a greater marvel among the Signs of Allah than other Signs, or indeed that it was the most extraordinary? That is not, in fact, the case.

10. Remember when the noble young men – the word used here, fitya, is the plural of fata, meaning a perfect young man – took refuge in the cave – fearing for their faith on account of their unbelieving people – and said, ‘Our Lord, give us mercy directly from You and open the way for us to right guidance in our situation.’

11. So We sealed their ears with sleep – making them sleep – in the cave for a number of years.

12. Then We wo ke them up again so that We might openly see which of the two groups – who would disagree about how long they had remained there – would better calculate the time they had stayed there.

13. We will relate their story to you with truth. They were young men who believed in their Lord and We increased them in guidance.

14. We fortified their hearts when they stood up – thereby making their hearts strong enough to speak the truth when they stood before their king, who had commanded them to bow to idols – and said, ‘Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth and We will not call on any god apart from Him. We would in that case have uttered an abomination. We would have made an utterance involving transgression and excessive unbelief if we were to claim that there is another god besides Allah.

15. These people of ours have taken gods apart from Him. Why do they not produce a clear authority concerning them – for worshipping them? Who could do greater wrong than someone who invents a lie against Allah and ascribes a partner to Him?

16. The youths said to one another: ‘When you have separated yourselves from them and everything they worship except Allah, take refuge in the cave and your Lord will unfold His mercy to you and open the way to the best (read as marfiqan and mirfaqan) – literally this refers to the midday and evening meal but implies here complete maintenance – for you in your situation.’

17. You would have seen the sun, when it rose, inclining away (read as tazwaru and tazzwaru) from their cave towards the right, and, when it set, leaving them behind on the left, while they were lying in an open part of it. The meaning is that direct sunlight did not touch them from sunrise to sunset. They were in a north-facing opening of the cave, where the coolness and breeze of the wind reached them. That was one of Allah’s Signs – of His power. Whoever Allah guides is truly guided, but if He misguides someone, you will find no protector for them to guide them rightly.

18. If you had seen them you would have supposed them to be awake – because their eyes were open – whereas in fact they were asleep. We moved them to the right and to the left so that the earth would not consume their flesh, and at the entrance of the cave their dog stretched out its paws. Whenever they moved, it moved just as they did. If you had looked down and seen them, you would have turned from them and run and have been filled (read as muli’ta and mulli’ta ) with terror (read as ru‘b and ru‘ub) at the sight of them. By this means Allah prevented anyone entering where they were.

19. That which We have described was the situation when we woke them up so they could question one another. One of them asked, ‘How long have you been here?’ They replied, ‘We have been here for a day or part of a day’ – because they had entered the cave at sunrise and were awakened at sunset and so they thought that it was sunset of the day that they entered it. They said – in a more judicious response – ‘ Your Lord knows best how long you have been here. Send one of your number into the city – said to be the one known today as Tarsus – with this silver (read as wariq and warq) you have, so he can see which food is purest – the most lawful (hall) food available – and bring you some of it to eat. But he should go about with caution so that no one is aware of you,

20. …for if they find out about you they will stone you – kill you with stones – or make you revert to their religion, and then you will never have success – if you do that.’

21. Accordingly – having made them wa ke up in this way – We made them (their people and the believers) chance upon them unexpectedly so they (their people) might know that Allah’s promise of the Resurrection is true since the One who has the power to make these young men die for a such long period and maintain them as they were without food must also be able to bring the dead to life – and that there is no doubt about the Hour. When they (the believers and unbelievers) were arguing among themselves about the matter – about what to build around the young men – they (the unbelievers) said, ‘Wall up their cave around them to conceal them. Their Lord knows best about them.’ But those who got the better of the argument concerning them – that is, the believers – said, ‘We will build a place of worship over them.’ That was at the mouth of the cave.

22. They – here referring to those who disputed about the number of the young men in the time of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace – will say, ‘There were three of them, their dog being the fourth.’ They will say, ‘There were five of them, their dog being the sixth,’ guessing at the Unseen – conjecturing about something they had no real knowledge of, referring to both the preceding statements, which were made by the Christians of Najran. And they (the believers) will say, ‘There were seven of them, their dog being the eighth.’ The first two views are described as being guesswork whereas the third is not, which indicates that it is pleasing and sound. Say: ‘My Lord knows best their number. Those who know about them are very few.’ Ibn ‘Abbas said, “I am one of the few,” and he mentioned that they were seven. So do not enter into any argument concerning them, except in relation to what is clearly known – what has been revealed to you. And do not seek the opinion (verdict) of any of them (the Christians and Jews) regarding them. The people of Makka asked the Prophet about the people of the Cave and he said, “I will tell them tomorrow,” but did not say, “Allah willing.”

23. Never say about anything, ‘I will do that tomorrow,’

24. …without adding ‘If Allah wills.’ The matter is recognised as being subject to the will of Allah by one’s saying, “If Allah wills.” Remember the will of your Lord when you forget – by mentioning it in the way you have been instructed to, and al-Hasan and others said, “While you are still in the gathering” – and say, ‘It may be that my Lord will guide me to something closer to right guidance than this about the details of the people of the Cave which will provide clearer evidence of my Prophethood.’ Allah responded to him by saying:

25. They stayed in their Cave for three hundred years and added nine. The meaning of this is that counting in solar years the number was three hundred, whereas in the lunar years which the Arabs use for calculation it was three hundred and nine.

26. Say: ‘Allah knows best how long they stayed – that being the subject of their disagreement. The – knowledge of the – Unseen of the heavens and the earth belongs to Him. How perfectly He sees, how well He hears! The meaning of this is that there is nothing whatsoever that is not perceived by His sight and heard by His hearing. They – the inhabitants of heaven and earth – have no protector apart from Him. Nor does He share His rule with anyone.’ He has no need of any partner.

27. Recite what has been revealed to you of your Lord’s Book. No one can change His Words. You will never find any safe haven apart from Him.

28. Restrain yourself patiently with those who call on their Lord in worship in the morning and evening, desiring His face – without any ulterior motive in the form of desire for things of this world. This refers to the poor. Do not turn your eyes from them – this being addressed to the person looking – desiring the attractions of this world. And do not obey someone whose heart We have made neglectful of Our remembrance (the Qur’an) – the persons referred to are ‘Uyayna ibn Hisn and his fellows – and who follows his own whims and desires by worshipping idols, and whose life has transgressed all bounds.

29. Say to him and his companions: ‘It (the Qur’an) is the truth from your Lord; so let whoever wishes believe and whoever wishes disbelieve.’ This is a threat to them. We have prepared for the wrongdoers (the unbelieve rs) a Fire whose billowing walls of smoke will hem them in. If they call for help, they will be helped with water like seething molten brass – like boiling oil – frying their faces with its heat when it is close to them. What a noxious drink! What an evil repose! This is in contrast with the image of the people in the Garden: “What a wonderful repose!” There is no repose in the Fire.

30. But as for those who believe and do right actions, We will not let the wage of good-doers go to waste.

31. They will have Gardens of Eden with rivers flowing under them. They will be adorned in them with bracelets made of gold and wear green garments made of the finest silk – the word used here for “silk”, sundus, is a kind of fine brocade – and rich brocade – the word for “brocade”, istabraq, is a coarser variety of brocade and is also mentioned in Surat ar-Rahman, “on couches lined with rich brocade.” (55:54) – reclining there on couches – the word ara’ik is the plural of arıka, which means a couch in an alcove, which is a room adorned with canopies and curtains ready for a bride – under canopies. What an excellent reward (the Garden)! What a wonderful repose!

32. Make an example for them – of the unbelievers and the believers – of two men. To one of them (the unbeliever) We gave two gardens of grape-vines and surrounded them with date-palms, putting between them some cultivated land from which he harvested crops.

33. Both gardens yielded their crops and did not suffer any loss, and We made a river flow right through the middle of them – between the two gardens.

34. He – the man with the two gardens – was a man of wealth (read asthamar, thumur and thumr, all of which are plurals of thamra) and property and he said to his companion (the believer), debating with him, ‘I have more wealth than you and more people of my clan under me.’

35. He entered his garden with his companion and walked around in it and showed him its fruits; Allah did not say “both gardens” but means by “garden” here the whole expanse of land. It is also said that it is sufficient to mention one – and wronged himself with unbelief by saying, ‘I do not think that this will ever end.

36. I do not think the Hour will ever come. But if I should be sent back to my Lord – in the Next World as you claim I will be – I will definitely get something better in return.’

37. His companion, with whom he was debating, said to him, ‘Do you then disbelieve in Him who created you from dust, because Adam was created from dust, then from a drop of sperm, and then formed you – balanced – as a man?

38. But He is Allah, my Lord, and I will not associate anyone with my Lord.

39. Why, when you entered your garden and admired it did you not say, “It is as Allah wills; there is no strength but in Allah”? In a hadith we find: “If someone is given good in the form of family or wealth, he should say about that, ‘It is as Allah wills; there is no strength but in Allah,’ and then he will not find anything disliked in it.” Though you see me with less wealth and children than you possess,

40. …it may well be that my Lord will give me something better than your garden and send down on it a fireball from the sky so that morning finds it a shifting heap of dust – smooth earth on which no foot can remain firm –

41. …or morning finds its water drained into the earth – a separate calamity, since water draining away into the earth is not the result of a fireball – so that you cannot get at it.’ There is no way it can be drawn out.

42. The fruits of his labour were completely destroyed and he woke up wringing his hands in grief, rueing everything that he had spent on it. This is a comprehensive description of the destruction of his garden, which left him full of regret and grief over all the money and effort he had put into cultivating it. It was a ruin with all its trellises fallen in. He said, ‘Oh, if only I had not associated anyone with my Lord!’

43. There was (read as takun and yakun) no group to come to his aid, besides Allah – when the destruction took place – and he was not given any help.

44. In that situation (on the Day of Rising) the only protection (read as walya, as here, and also wilya, meaning “dominion”) is with Allah, the Real (read as al-Haqqi, making it an attribute of Allah, as here, and also in two instances as al-˛aqqu, in which case it is an adjective describing the nominative noun meaning, “the only true protection”). He gives the best reward – better than anyone else could possibly do even if they were to give the most magnificent reward – and the best outcome – meaning the outcome experienced by the believers.

45. Make a metaphor for them (mankind) of the life of this world. It is like water which We send down from the sky and the plants of the earth combine with it – and fill out because of the water being sent down; or the water mixes with the plants and so they are fresh and beautiful – but then they (the plants) become dry chaff scattered by the winds and so they disappear completely. Thus this world is like beautiful plants which then become dry and broken and are then dissipated by the wind. Allah has absolute power over everything.

46. Wealth and sons are the embellishment of the life of this world. But in your Lord’s sight, right actions which are lasting – said to be the statements: ‘Glory be to Allah’; ‘Praise be to Allah’; ‘There is no god but Allah,’ and ‘Allah is greater’; and some add: ‘There is no power nor strength except by Allah’ – bring a better reward and are a better basis for hope for what people desire from Allah Almighty.

47. On the Day We make the mountains move (read as nusayyiru’ljibala, as here, and also as tusayyiri’l-jibalu, when the meaning becomes “On the Day the mountains move”) – meaning that they are removed from the face of the earth and become dust – and you see the earth laid bare – with nothing on it: mountains or anything else – and We gather them together – believers and unbelievers – not leaving out a single one of them,

48. …they will be paraded before your Lord in ranks – each nation in a row, and this will be said to them – ‘You have come to Us just as We created you at first – naked, barefoot and uncircumcised. It will be said to those who denied the resurrection – Yes indeed! Even though you claimed that We would not fix a time with you for the Resurrection.’

49. The Book – a generic term referring to the books recording the actions of every human being, those of believers being placed in their right hands and those of unbelievers in their left hands – will be set in place and you will see the evildoers (unbelievers) fearful of what is in it. They will say – when they see the evil deeds which are in it – ‘Alas for us! We are destroyed! What is this Book which does not pass over any wrong action, small or great, without recording it?’ They will express amazement at that. They will find there everything they did recorded in detail, and your Lord will not wrong anyone at all. He does not punish anyone who has committed no crime, and does not diminish the reward of any believer.

50. When We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves to Adam,’ and they were told to bow, not to prostrate on the ground, as a greeting to him, they prostrated with the exception of Iblıs. He was one of the jinn – it said that the jinn were a type of angel and so the exception is one of connection. It is also said that the exception marks a distinction of species between the angels and jinn, particularly since Iblıs is known to be the father of the jinn and has descendants who are mentioned with him afterwards, whereas the angels have no descendants – and wantonly deviated from his Lord’s command by not bowing. Do you take him and his offspring as protectors – in other words, obey them – apart from Me when they are your enemy? This is addressed to Adam and his offspring. How evil is the exchange the wrongdoers make! They are your enemies and it is very evil to obey Iblıs and his offspring instead of obeying Allah.

51. I did not make them (Iblis and his offspring) witnesses of the creation of the heavens and the earth or of their own creation. I would not take as assistants those (the shaytin) who lead astray! So how can you obey them?

52. On the Day He says (read as yaqulu and naqulu, meaning “We say”), ‘Call My partner-gods (idols), those for whom you made such claims’ – that they would intercede for you – they will call on them but they will not respond to them. We will place between them – between the idols and those who worshipped them – an unbridgeable gulf. This refers to a particular chasm, one of the valleys of Jahannam, in which they will all be destroyed.

53. The evildoers will see the Fire and realise with certainty they are going to fall into it and find no way of escaping from it.

54. We have variegated and made clear throughout this Qur’an all kinds of examples for people – so that they may be admonished – but, more than anything else – unbelieving – man is argumentative inwardly! The argument ativeness of man is the thing which is the most dominant in him.

55. When guidance (the Qur’an) came to the people (the unbelievers of Makka), nothing prevented them from believing and asking for forgiveness from their Lord but the fact that the pattern of previous peoples did not happen to them – a reference to Allah’s custom with unbelieving nations, which was the destruction decreed for them – or that the punishment did not appear p hysically before their eyes. That changed at the Battle of Badr when punishment took the form of killing and they saw it directly.

56. We only send the Messengers to bring good news to the believers and to give warning to the unbelievers. Those who disbelieve use fallacious arguments to deny the truth (the Qur’an) – by saying, “Would Allah send a mortal as a messenger?” and other such things. They make a mockery of My Signs (the Qur’an) and also of the warning of the Fire they were given.

57. Who could do greater wrong than someone who is reminded of the Signs of his Lord and then turns away from them, forgetting all the acts of unbelief and disobedience that he has done before? We have placed covers on their hearts, preventing them from understanding it (the Qur’an) and heaviness in their ears – so that they cannot hear it. Though you call them to guidance, they will still never be guided.

58. Your Lord is the Ever-Forgiving, the Possessor of Mercy. If He had taken them to task in this world for what they have earned, He would have hastened their punishment in it. Instead, they have a promised appointment – on the Day of Rising – and they will not find any refuge from it.

59. Those cities – referring to their inhabitants, such as ‘Ad, Thamud and others – We destroyed when they did wrong and disbelieved – and fixed a promised time for their destruction (read as mahlakihim and muhlakihim).

60. Remember when Musa ibn ‘Imran said to his servant – Yusha‘ ibn Nun, who followed him and served him and learned from him – ‘I will not give up – but will continue to travel – until I reach the meeting-place of the two seas – this is said by some to be where the Adriatic meets the Black Sea, which is towards the east, and by others where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic in the West – even if I must press on for many years – if it takes a very long time to reach it.’

61. But when they reached their meeting-place – the place where the two seas come together – they forgot their fish – Yusha‘ left behind his bundle during the journey and Musa forgot to remind him about it – which quickly burrowed its way into the sea. Allah made the fish travel back to the sea along something like a chute, which was a kind of long trench with only one entrance.

62. When they had gone a distance further on beyond that place and travelled until the time of the main meal on the second day he (Musa) said to his servant, ‘Bring us our morning meal. Truly this journey of ours has made us tired.’ He became tired after passing the place.

63. He said, ‘Do you see what has happened? When we went to find shelter at the rock, I forgot the fish. No one made me forget to remember it except Shaytan. It (the fish) found its way into the sea in an amazing way.’ Musa and his servant were astonished by what happened.

64. He (Musa) said, ‘That is the very thing that we were looking for!’ Losing the fish was a sign of the existence of what they had been seeking. So, fo l l owing their footsteps, they retraced their route to the rock.

65. They found a slave of Ours (al-Khidr) whom We had granted mercy from Us – said to be Prophethood in one view, and sainthood (wilaya) in another view, which is that of the majority of scholars – and whom We had also given knowledge of unseen matters direct from Us. Al-Bukhrı related the hadith: “Musa was speaking among the tribe of Israel when he was asked, ‘Who is the person who has the most knowledge?’ He answered, ‘I am.’ Allah rebuked him because he did not ascribe knowledge to Him. He revealed to him, ‘There is a slave of Mine at the meeting of the two seas who knows more than you.’ Musa said, ‘O Lord, how can I meet him?’ He said, ‘Take a fish and put it in a basket. When you lose the fish, he will be there. So he took a fish and put it in a basket and then went with his servant, Yusha‘ ibn Nun, until they came to a rock and laid down their heads and went to sleep. The fish moved in the basket and jumped out and dived into the sea, ‘and found its way into the sea in an amazing way.’ Allah kept the water from flowing over the fish and it became like an arch. When they woke up, his companion forgot to inform him about the fish. They continued to walk for the rest of the day and night until in the morning Musa said to his boy, ‘Bring us our morning meal…’ to His words ‘and found its way into the sea in an amazing way.’” Its making its way into the sea was the miraculous event. Allah means, “The fish making a tunnel astonished Musa and his servant…”

66. Musa said to him, ‘May I follow you on condition that you teach me some of the right guidance (read as rashad and rushd) you have been taught?’ That is because it is desirable to seek more knowledge.

67. He said, ‘You will not be able to bear with me.

68. How indeed could you bear with patience something you have not encompassed in your knowledge?’ The hadith says about this ayat, quoting al-Khidr: “O Musa, I have knowledge from Allah which He has taught me and you do not know, and you have knowledge from Allah which He has taught you and I do not know.”

69. Musa said, ‘You will find me patient, if Allah wills, and I will not disobey you in any matter you command me to do.’ He limited his statement by the expression “if Allah wills” because he did not rely on his own resolve. This is the custom of the Prophets and awliya ’. They do not put any reliance on themselves even for the blink of an eye.

70. He said, ‘Then if you follow me, do not question me (read as tas’alni and tas’alanni) about anything which you do not know by your knowledge. Be patient until I myself make mention of the reason for it to you.’ Musa accepted the condition to observe the proper behaviour of a student towards his teacher.

71. They continued walking along the shore until they boarded a boat which passed by them and he (al-Khidr) scuppered it – by ripping up a plank or two from the hull with an axe when they reached open water. Then Musa said to him: ‘Did you scupper it so that you might drown its people (read as li-tughriqa ahlaha and also lit agaharaqa ahluha, in which case the meaning becomes “so that its people would be drowned”)? This is truly a dreadful thing that you have done!’ It is related that the water did not enter it.

72. He said, ‘Did I not say that you would not be able to bear with me?’

73. Musa said, ‘Do not take me to task because I forgot to submit to you and not to object to what you do. Do not demand of me something (a task) which is too difficult.’ In other words: Act towards me with pardon and leniency.

74. So they went on on foot after leaving the ship until they met a youngster who had not yet reached puberty, playing with some other children – and he was the most beautiful of them – whom he killed. Al-Khidr killed him with a knife while he was prone, or strangled him with his hands, or hit his head against a wall. Musa said, ‘Have you killed a boy who has done no wrong (read as zakiyya and zakiyya) – who has not yet reached the age of responsibility and who has not killed anyone – without it being in retaliation for someone else? This is truly an appalling thing (read as nukran and nukuran) that you have done!’

75. He said, ‘Did I not tell you that you would not be able to bear with me?’

76. Musa said, ‘If I ask you about anything after this time then you should no longer keep me company – allow me to follow you no further. I will have given (read as laduni and ladni) you excuse enough.’

77. So they went on until they reached the inhabitants of a town (Antioch). They asked them for food but they refused them hospitality. They found there a wall a hundred cubits high about to fall down – its closeness to collapse could be seen by the fact that it was leaning – and he built it up. Al Khidr repaired it with his own hand. Musa said to him: ‘If you had wanted, you could have taken (read as lattakhidhta and la-takhidhta) a wage for doing that’ – since they did not give them hospitality and they were in need of food.

78. He (al-Khidr) said to Musa: ‘This is the moment where you and I part company. But before we part I will let you know the explanation of those things about which you were not able to restrain yourself.

79. As for the boat, it belonged to some poor people – there were ten of them – who worked on the sea – chartering it out for a living. I wanted to damage it because an unbelieving king was coming behind them, commandeering every sound boat.

80. As for the boy, his parents were believers and we feared that he would darken their days with excessive insolence and unbelief. As we know from the hadith related by Muslim, his nature was that of an unbeliever and if he had lived he might have imposed that on his parents who, because of their love for him, might have followed him in unbelief.

81. We wanted their Lord to give them in exchange (read as yubdila and yubaddila) a purer – more righteous and godfearing – child than him, one more compassionate (read as ruhman and ruhuman) – meaning one more dutiful towards its parents. In exchange, Allah gave them a daughter who married a Prophet and bore him a Prophet by whom Allah guided a nation.

82. As for the wall, it belonged to two young orphans in the town and there was a buried treasure of gold or silver underneath it, belonging to them. Their father was one of the righteous – and they were protected in their persons and property by the righteousness of their father – and your Lord wanted them to come of age and then to unearth their treasure as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do it – scuppering the boat, killing the child and repairing the wall – of my own volition and choice. It was by command and divine inspiration from Allah. That is the explanation of the things about which you were not able to restrain yourself.’

83. They (the Jews) will ask you about Dhu’l-Qarnayn (Iskandar/ Alexander). He was not a Prophet. Say: ‘I will tell you something about him.’

84. We gave him power and authority on the earth – making it easy for him to travel about the world – and granted him a way to everything – to obtain whatever he wanted.

85. So he followed a way towards the west

86. …until he reached the setting of the sun – the place where it set – and found it setting in a muddy spring – a spring with hama’ in it, which is a kind of black mud – and found a people by it. It appeared to the eye that the sun set in the spring. He found some unbelievers there. We said – through inspiration to him – ‘Dhu’l-Qarnayn, you can either punish them by killing them or else you can treat them with gentleness by taking them captive.’

87. He said, ‘As for those who do wrong – by committing shirk – we will punish them by killing them and then they will be returned to their Lord; and He will punish them with a dreadful punishment (read as nukran or nukuran) – which will be in the Fire.

88. But as for him who believes and acts rightly, he will receive the best of rewards (the Garden) (read as jaza’u’l-husna and as jaza’an al-husna, which makes it descriptive) and we will issue a command, making things easy for him.’

89. Then he followed a way towards the east –

90. …until he reached the rising of the sun the place where it rises – and found it rising on a people – the Zanj, who are a black race – to whom We had not given any shelter from it. They had no shelter from the sun in the form of either clothing or a roof because their land would not support structures. They had tunnels into which they disappeared when the sun rose and would reappear when the sun was high.

91. Our knowledge encompasses all that happened to him (Dhu’l- Qarnayn) – in terms of signs, his army and other matters.

92. Then he followed a path…

93. …until he arrived between the two mountains (read as saddayn and suddayn) – a remote place in the land of the Turks; Iskandar blocked up the valley between them, as will be mentioned – where he found a people scarcely able to understand speech (read as yafqahuna and yufqihuna): they could only understand what was said with difficulty.

94. They said, ‘Dhu’l-Qarnayn, Yajuj and Majuj (read as Yajuj and Majuj and as Ya’jüj and Ma’jüj) – names for two tribes which are not Arabic words and so are not declined – are causing corruption in the land by looting and attacking us whenever they appear. Can we, therefore, pay tribute (read as kharaj and kharaj) to you in return for your constructing a barrier between us and them so that they cannot reach us?’

95. He said, ‘The power my Lord has granted me (read as makkanni and makkanani) – in the form of wealth and in other ways – is better than that – tribute which you offer me. I have no need of it and I will build the barrier wall for you without payment. Just give me a strong helping hand – by doing what I ask you to do – and I will build a fortified solid barrier between you and them.

96. Bring me ingots of iron.’ These are pieces of iron the size of stones with which to build. So he built it and put wood and charcoal between them. Then, when he had made it level between the two high mountain-sides (read as sadafayn, sudufayn, and sudfayn) – bellows and fire were placed around it and – he said, ‘Blow!’ They blew – and when he had made it (the iron) a red hot fire, he said, ‘Bring me molten brass to pour over it.’ Then molten brass was brought and poured over the hot iron and it poured into the gaps between the ingots and became one solid structure.

97. They (Yajuj and Majuj) were therefore unable to climb over it – because of its height and smoothness – nor were they able to make a breach in it – because it was hard and thick.

98. He (Dhu’l-Qarnayn ) said, ‘This – ability to build the wall – is a mercy ( blessing) from my Lord – because it was a barrier against them coming out. But when my Lord’s promise comes about – to bring them out close to the Resurrection – He will crush it flat. The promise of my Lord about their emergence and other things is surely true.’

99. We will abandon them, that Day when they emerge to pound against each other in surging waves – mixing together because of their great . And the Trumpet will be blown for the Resurrection and We will gather them all together – all creatures together in the same place on the Day of Rising.

100. That Day We will display Hell in its totality to the unbelievers – bringing it near to them:

101. …those unbelievers whose eyes were blind to My remembrance (the Qur’an), – meaning not guided by it – and whose ears were unable to hear what the Prophet recited to them, because of their hatred for him which prevented them from believing.

102. Do those who disbelieve imagine that they can take My slaves – such as the angels and the Prophets Isa and ‘Uzayr – as protectors (Lords) instead of Me? Do they suppose that taking them as lords will not anger Me and I that will not punish them for it? No! We have prepared Hell as hospitality – as one prepares a place for a guest – for the unbelievers – meaning those people and others.

103. Say: ‘Shall I inform you of the greatest losers in their actions?

104. People whose efforts in the life of this world are misguided – their actions are worthless – while they suppose that they are doing good – for which they will be rewarded.’

105. Those are the people who reject their Lord’s Signs – the evidence of His oneness in the Qur’an and elsewhere – and the meeting with Him at the Resurrection, Reckoning and reward and penalty. Their actions will come to nothing – they are null and void – and on the Day of Rising We will not assign them any weight or importance.

106. That which We have mentioned about their actions being worthless and other things is their repayment – Hell – because they disbelieved and made a mockery of My Signs and of My Messengers.

107. Allah knows what they have done. Those who believe and do right actions will have the Gardens of Paradise as hospitality – a place located right at the centre of the Gardens which is also the highest of them –

108. …remaining in them timelessly, forever, with no desire to move away from them – from the Gardens to any other place.

109. Say: ‘If all the water of the sea were ink used to write down the Words of my Lord – describing His wisdoms and wonders – it would run out long before the Words of my Lord ran out (read as tanfada and yanfada),’ – there would not be enough water in the sea to write it down – even if We were to bring the same amount of ink again. This would be true even if another sea of the same size were to be added: it would still run out and would not be enough.

110. Say: ‘I am only a human being like yourselves – a descendant of Adam like you. It is revealed to me that your god is One God. So let him who hopes to meet his Lord – at the Resurrection and Repayment – act rightly and not associate anyone in the worship of his Lord.’