18Al-KahfالكهفVerse 1 of 110

The Cave18. Al-Kahfالكهف

Al-Kahf

Al Kahf

The Cave

Meccan110 verses18 / 114

18

Page 293

al-ḥamdu li-llāhi lladhī ʾanzala ʿalā ʿabdihi l-kitāba wa-lam yajʿal lahū ʿiwajā

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

qayyiman li-yundhira baʾsan shadīdan min ladunhu wa-yubashshira l-muʾminīna lladhīna yaʿmalūna ṣ-ṣāliḥāti ʾanna lahum ʾajran ḥasanan

[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,

— Ali Quli Qarai

mākithīna fīhi ʾabadan

to abide in it forever,

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-yundhira lladhīna qālū ttakhadha llāhu waladan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 294

mā lahum bihī min ʿilmin wa-lā li-ʾābāʾihim kaburat kalimatan takhruju min ʾafwāhihim ʾin yaqūlūna ʾillā kadhiban

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-laʿallaka bākhiʿun nafsaka ʿalā ʾāthārihim ʾin lam yuʾminū bi-hādhā l-ḥadīthi ʾasafan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾinnā jaʿalnā mā ʿalā l-ʾarḍi zīnatan lahā li-nabluwahum ʾayyuhum ʾaḥsanu ʿamalan

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ʾinnā la-jāʿilūna mā ʿalayhā ṣaʿīdan juruzan

And indeed We will turn whatever is on it into a barren plain.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾam ḥasibta ʾanna ʾaṣḥāba l-kahfi wa-r-raqīmi kānū min ʾāyātinā ʿajaban

Do you suppose that the Companions of the Cave and the Inscription were among Our wonderful signs?

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾidh ʾawā l-fityatu ʾilā l-kahfi fa-qālū rabbanā ʾātinā min ladunka raḥmatan wa-hayyiʾ lanā min ʾamrinā rashadan

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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-ḍarabnā ʿalā ʾādhānihim fī l-kahfi sinīna ʿadadan

So We put them to sleep in the Cave for several years.

— Ali Quli Qarai

thumma baʿathnāhum li-naʿlama ʾayyu l-ḥizbayni ʾaḥṣā li-mā labithū ʾamadan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

naḥnu naquṣṣu ʿalayka nabaʾahum bi-l-ḥaqqi ʾinnahum fityatun ʾāmanū bi-rabbihim wa-zidnāhum hudan

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,

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-rabaṭnā ʿalā qulūbihim ʾidh qāmū fa-qālū rabbunā rabbu s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍi lan nadʿuwa min dūnihī ʾilāhan la-qad qulnā ʾidhan shaṭaṭan

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

hāʾulāʾi qawmunā ttakhadhū min dūnihī ʾālihatan law-lā yaʾtūna ʿalayhim bi-sulṭānin bayyinin fa-man ʾaẓlamu mimmani ftarā ʿalā llāhi kadhiban

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?

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 295

wa-ʾidhi ʿtazaltumūhum wa-mā yaʿbudūna ʾillā llāha fa-ʾwū ʾilā l-kahfi yanshur lakum rabbukum min raḥmatihī wa-yuhayyiʾ lakum min ʾamrikum mirfaqan

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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-tarā sh-shamsa ʾidhā ṭalaʿat tazāwaru ʿan kahfihim dhāta l-yamīni wa-ʾidhā gharabat taqriḍuhum dhāta sh-shimāli wa-hum fī fajwatin minhu dhālika min ʾāyāti llāhi man yahdi llāhu fa-huwa l-muhtadi wa-man yuḍlil fa-lan tajida lahū waliyyan murshidan

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, and 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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-taḥsabuhum ʾayqāẓan wa-hum ruqūdun wa-nuqallibuhum dhāta l-yamīni wa-dhāta sh-shimāli wa-kalbuhum bāsiṭun dhirāʿayhi bi-l-waṣīdi lawi ṭṭalaʿta ʿalayhim la-wallayta minhum firāran wa-la-muliʾta minhum ruʿban

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ka-dhālika baʿathnāhum li-yatasāʾalū baynahum qāla qāʾilun minhum kam labithtum qālū labithnā yawman ʾaw baʿḍa yawmin qālū rabbukum ʾaʿlamu bi-mā labithtum fa-bʿathū ʾaḥadakum bi-wariqikum hādhihī ʾilā l-madīnati fa-l-yanẓur ʾayyuhā ʾazkā ṭaʿāman fa-l-yaʾtikum bi-rizqin minhu wa-l-yatalaṭṭaf wa-lā yushʿiranna bikum ʾaḥadan

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾinnahum ʾin yaẓharū ʿalaykum yarjumūkum ʾaw yuʿīdūkum fī millatihim wa-lan tufliḥū ʾidhan ʾabadan

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. ’

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 296

wa-ka-dhālika ʾaʿtharnā ʿalayhim li-yaʿlamū ʾanna waʿda llāhi ḥaqqun wa-ʾanna s-sāʿata lā rayba fīhā ʾidh yatanāzaʿūna baynahum ʾamrahum fa-qālū bnū ʿalayhim bunyānan rabbuhum ʾaʿlamu bihim qāla lladhīna ghalabū ʿalā ʾamrihim la-nattakhidhanna ʿalayhim masjidan

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 disputed 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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

sa-yaqūlūna thalāthatun rābiʿuhum kalbuhum wa-yaqūlūna khamsatun sādisuhum kalbuhum rajman bi-l-ghaybi wa-yaqūlūna sabʿatun wa-thāminuhum kalbuhum qul rabbī ʾaʿlamu bi-ʿiddatihim mā yaʿlamuhum ʾillā qalīlun fa-lā tumāri fīhim ʾillā mirāʾan ẓāhiran wa-lā tastafti fīhim minhum ʾaḥadan

They will say, ‘[They are] three; their dog is the fourth of them,’ and 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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-lā taqūlanna li-shayʾin ʾinnī fāʿilun dhālika ghadan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾillā ʾan yashāʾa llāhu wa-dhkur rabbaka ʾidhā nasīta wa-qul ʿasā ʾan yahdiyani rabbī li-ʾaqraba min hādhā rashadan

without [adding], ‘God willing.’ And when you forget, remember your Lord, and say, ‘Maybe my Lord will guide me to [something] more akin to rectitude than this.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-labithū fī kahfihim thalātha miʾatin sinīna wa-zdādū tisʿan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

quli llāhu ʾaʿlamu bi-mā labithū lahū ghaybu s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍi ʾabṣir bihī wa-ʾasmiʿ mā lahum min dūnihī min waliyyin wa-lā yushriku fī ḥukmihī ʾaḥadan

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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-tlu mā ʾūḥiya ʾilayka min kitābi rabbika lā mubaddila li-kalimātihī wa-lan tajida min dūnihī multaḥadan

Recite what has been revealed to you from the Book of your Lord. Nothing can change His words, and you will never find any refuge besides Him.

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 297

wa-ṣbir nafsaka maʿa lladhīna yadʿūna rabbahum bi-l-ghadāti wa-l-ʿashiyyi yurīdūna wajhahū wa-lā taʿdu ʿaynāka ʿanhum turīdu zīnata l-ḥayāti d-dunyā wa-lā tuṭiʿ man ʾaghfalnā qalbahū ʿan dhikrinā wa-ttabaʿa hawāhu wa-kāna ʾamruhū furuṭan

Content yourself with the company of those who supplicate their Lord morning and evening, desiring His Face, and do not lose 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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-quli l-ḥaqqu min rabbikum fa-man shāʾa fa-l-yuʾmin wa-man shāʾa fa-l-yakfur ʾinnā ʾaʿtadnā li-ẓ-ẓālimīna nāran ʾaḥāṭa bihim surādiquhā wa-ʾin yastaghīthū yughāthū bi-māʾin ka-l-muhli yashwī l-wujūha biʾsa sh-sharābu wa-sāʾat murtafaqan

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 their faces. What an evil drink, and how ill a resting place!

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾinna lladhīna ʾāmanū wa-ʿamilū ṣ-ṣāliḥāti ʾinnā lā nuḍīʿu ʾajra man ʾaḥsana ʿamalan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾulāʾika lahum jannātu ʿadnin tajrī min taḥtihimu l-ʾanhāru yuḥallawna fīhā min ʾasāwira min dhahabin wa-yalbasūna thiyāban khuḍran min sundusin wa-ʾistabraqin muttakiʾīna fīhā ʿalā l-ʾarāʾiki niʿma th-thawābu wa-ḥasunat murtafaqan

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!

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ḍrib lahum mathalan rajulayni jaʿalnā li-ʾaḥadihimā jannatayni min ʾaʿnābin wa-ḥafafnāhumā bi-nakhlin wa-jaʿalnā baynahumā zarʿan

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

kiltā l-jannatayni ʾātat ʾukulahā wa-lam taẓlim minhu shayʾan wa-fajjarnā khilālahumā naharan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-kāna lahū thamarun fa-qāla li-ṣāḥibihī wa-huwa yuḥāwiruhū ʾana ʾaktharu minka mālan wa-ʾaʿazzu nafaran

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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 298

wa-dakhala jannatahū wa-huwa ẓālimun li-nafsihī qāla mā ʾaẓunnu ʾan tabīda hādhihī ʾabadan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-mā ʾaẓunnu s-sāʿata qāʾimatan wa-la-ʾin rudidtu ʾilā rabbī la-ʾajidanna khayran minhā munqalaban

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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla lahū ṣāḥibuhū wa-huwa yuḥāwiruhū ʾa-kafarta bi-lladhī khalaqaka min turābin thumma min nuṭfatin thumma sawwāka rajulan

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?

— Ali Quli Qarai

lākinna huwa llāhu rabbī wa-lā ʾushriku bi-rabbī ʾaḥadan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-law-lā ʾidh dakhalta jannataka qulta mā shāʾa llāhu lā quwwata ʾillā bi-llāhi ʾin tarani ʾana ʾaqalla minka mālan wa-waladan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-ʿasā rabbī ʾan yuʾtiyani khayran min jannatika wa-yursila ʿalayhā ḥusbānan mina s-samāʾi fa-tuṣbiḥa ṣaʿīdan zalaqan

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾaw yuṣbiḥa māʾuhā ghawran fa-lan tastaṭīʿa lahū ṭalaban

Or its water will sink down, so that you will never be able to obtain it.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ʾuḥīṭa bi-thamarihī fa-ʾaṣbaḥa yuqallibu kaffayhi ʿalā mā ʾanfaqa fīhā wa-hiya khāwiyatun ʿalā ʿurūshihā wa-yaqūlu yā-laytanī lam ʾushrik bi-rabbī ʾaḥadan

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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-lam takun lahū fiʾatun yanṣurūnahū min dūni llāhi wa-mā kāna muntaṣiran

He had no party to help him, besides Allah, nor could he help himself.

— Ali Quli Qarai

hunālika l-walāyatu li-llāhi l-ḥaqqi huwa khayrun thawāban wa-khayrun ʿuqban

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ḍrib lahum mathala l-ḥayāti d-dunyā ka-māʾin ʾanzalnāhu mina s-samāʾi fa-khtalaṭa bihī nabātu l-ʾarḍi fa-ʾaṣbaḥa hashīman tadhrūhu r-riyāḥu wa-kāna llāhu ʿalā kulli shayʾin muqtadiran-i

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 has power over all things.

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 299

al-mālu wa-l-banūna zīnatu l-ḥayāti d-dunyā wa-l-bāqiyātu ṣ-ṣāliḥātu khayrun ʿinda rabbika thawāban wa-khayrun ʾamalan

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-yawma nusayyiru l-jibāla wa-tarā l-ʾarḍa bārizatan wa-ḥasharnāhum fa-lam nughādir minhum ʾaḥadan

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ʿuriḍū ʿalā rabbika ṣaffan la-qad jiʾtumūnā ka-mā khalaqnākum ʾawwala marratin bal zaʿamtum ʾal-lan najʿala lakum mawʿidan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-wuḍiʿa l-kitābu fa-tarā l-mujrimīna mushfiqīna mimmā fīhi wa-yaqūlūna yā-waylatanā mā-li hādhā l-kitābi lā yughādiru ṣaghīratan wa-lā kabīratan ʾillā ʾaḥṣāhā wa-wajadū mā ʿamilū ḥāḍiran wa-lā yaẓlimu rabbuka ʾaḥadan

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ʾidh qulnā li-l-malāʾikati sjudū li-ʾādama fa-sajadū ʾillā ʾiblīsa kāna mina l-jinni fa-fasaqa ʿan ʾamri rabbihī ʾa-fa-tattakhidhūnahū wa-dhurriyyatahū ʾawliyāʾa min dūnī wa-hum lakum ʿaduwwun biʾsa li-ẓ-ẓālimīna badalan

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!

— Ali Quli Qarai

mā ʾashhadtuhum khalqa s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍi wa-lā khalqa ʾanfusihim wa-mā kuntu muttakhidha l-muḍillīna ʿaḍudan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-yawma yaqūlu nādū shurakāʾiya lladhīna zaʿamtum fa-daʿawhum fa-lam yastajībū lahum wa-jaʿalnā baynahum mawbiqan

The day He will say [to the polytheists], ‘Call those whom you maintained to be My partners,’ they will call them, but they will not respond to them, for We shall set an abyss between them.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-raʾā l-mujrimūna n-nāra fa-ẓannū ʾannahum muwāqiʿūhā wa-lam yajidū ʿanhā maṣrifan

The guilty will sight the Fire and know that they are about to fall in it, for they will find no way to escape it.

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 300

wa-la-qad ṣarrafnā fī hādhā l-qurʾāni li-n-nāsi min kulli mathalin wa-kāna l-ʾinsānu ʾakthara shayʾin jadalan

We have certainly interspersed this Quran with every kind of parable for the people. But man is the most disputatious of creatures.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-mā manaʿa n-nāsa ʾan yuʾminū ʾidh jāʾahumu l-hudā wa-yastaghfirū rabbahum ʾillā ʾan taʾtiyahum sunnatu l-ʾawwalīna ʾaw yaʾtiyahumu l-ʿadhābu qubulan

Nothing has kept these people from believing and pleading to their Lord for forgiveness when guidance came to them, except [their demand] that the precedent of the ancients come to pass for them, or that the punishment come to them, face to face.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-mā nursilu l-mursalīna ʾillā mubashshirīna wa-mundhirīna wa-yujādilu lladhīna kafarū bi-l-bāṭili li-yudḥiḍū bihi l-ḥaqqa wa-ttakhadhū ʾāyātī wa-mā ʾundhirū huzuwan

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-man ʾaẓlamu mimman dhukkira bi-ʾāyāti rabbihī fa-ʾaʿraḍa ʿanhā wa-nasiya mā qaddamat yadāhu ʾinnā jaʿalnā ʿalā qulūbihim ʾakinnatan ʾan yafqahūhu wa-fī ʾādhānihim waqran wa-ʾin tadʿuhum ʾilā l-hudā fa-lan yahtadū ʾidhan ʾabadan

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-rabbuka l-ghafūru dhū r-raḥmati law yuʾākhidhuhum bi-mā kasabū la-ʿajjala lahumu l-ʿadhāba bal lahum mawʿidun lan yajidū min dūnihī mawʾilan

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-tilka l-qurā ʾahlaknāhum lammā ẓalamū wa-jaʿalnā li-mahlikihim mawʿidan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ʾidh qāla mūsā li-fatāhu lā ʾabraḥu ḥattā ʾablugha majmaʿa l-baḥrayni ʾaw ʾamḍiya ḥuquban

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].’

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-lammā balaghā majmaʿa baynihimā nasiyā ḥūtahumā fa-ttakhadha sabīlahū fī l-baḥri saraban

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 301

fa-lammā jāwazā qāla li-fatāhu ʾātinā ghadāʾanā la-qad laqīnā min safarinā hādhā naṣaban

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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla ʾa-raʾayta ʾidh ʾawaynā ʾilā ṣ-ṣakhrati fa-ʾinnī nasītu l-ḥūta wa-mā ʾansānīhu ʾillā sh-shayṭānu ʾan ʾadhkurahū wa-ttakhadha sabīlahū fī l-baḥri ʿajaban

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!’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla dhālika mā kunnā nabghi fa-rtaddā ʿalā ʾāthārihimā qaṣaṣan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-wajadā ʿabdan min ʿibādinā ʾātaynāhu raḥmatan min ʿindinā wa-ʿallamnāhu min ladunnā ʿilman

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla lahū mūsā hal ʾattabiʿuka ʿalā ʾan tuʿallimani mimmā ʿullimta rushdan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla ʾinnaka lan tastaṭīʿa maʿiya ṣabran

He said, ‘Indeed you cannot have patience with me!

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-kayfa taṣbiru ʿalā mā lam tuḥiṭ bihī khubran

And how can you have patience about something you do not comprehend?’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla sa-tajidunī ʾin shāʾa llāhu ṣābiran wa-lā ʾaʿṣī laka ʾamran

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla fa-ʾini ttabaʿtanī fa-lā tasʾalnī ʿan shayʾin ḥattā ʾuḥditha laka minhu dhikran

He said, ‘If you follow me, do not question me concerning anything until I myself first mention it for you.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-nṭalaqā ḥattā ʾidhā rakibā fī s-safīnati kharaqahā qāla ʾa-kharaqtahā li-tughriqa ʾahlahā la-qad jiʾta shayʾan ʾimran

So they went on and 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!’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla ʾa-lam ʾaqul ʾinnaka lan tastaṭīʿa maʿiya ṣabran

He said, ‘Did I not say that you cannot have patience with me?’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla lā tuʾākhidhnī bi-mā nasītu wa-lā turhiqnī min ʾamrī ʿusran

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-nṭalaqā ḥattā ʾidhā laqiyā ghulāman fa-qatalahū qāla ʾa-qatalta nafsan zakiyyatan bi-ghayri nafsin la-qad jiʾta shayʾan nukran

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 302

qāla ʾa-lam ʾaqul laka ʾinnaka lan tastaṭīʿa maʿiya ṣabran

He said, ‘Did I not tell you that you cannot have patience with me?’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla ʾin saʾaltuka ʿan shayʾin baʿdahā fa-lā tuṣāḥibnī qad balaghta min ladunnī ʿudhran

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-nṭalaqā ḥattā ʾidhā ʾatayā ʾahla qaryatin-i staṭʿamā ʾahlahā fa-ʾabaw ʾan yuḍayyifūhumā fa-wajadā fīhā jidāran yurīdu ʾan yanqaḍḍa fa-ʾaqāmahū qāla law shiʾta la-ttakhadhta ʿalayhi ʾajran

So they went on until 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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla hādhā firāqu baynī wa-baynika sa-ʾunabbiʾuka bi-taʾwīli mā lam tastaṭiʿ ʿalayhi ṣabran

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾammā s-safīnatu fa-kānat li-masākīna yaʿmalūna fī l-baḥri fa-ʾaradtu ʾan ʾaʿībahā wa-kāna warāʾahum malikun yaʾkhudhu kulla safīnatin ghaṣban

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ʾammā l-ghulāmu fa-kānā ʾabawāhu muʾminayni fa-khashīnā ʾan yurhiqahumā ṭughyānan wa-kufran

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-ʾaradnā ʾan yubdilahumā rabbuhumā khayran minhu zakātan wa-ʾaqraba ruḥman

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ʾammā l-jidāru fa-kāna li-ghulāmayni yatīmayni fī l-madīnati wa-kāna taḥtahū kanzun lahumā wa-kāna ʾabūhumā ṣāliḥan fa-ʾarāda rabbuka ʾan yablughā ʾashuddahumā wa-yastakhrijā kanzahumā raḥmatan min rabbika wa-mā faʿaltuhū ʿan ʾamrī dhālika taʾwīlu mā lam tasṭiʿ ʿalayhi ṣabran

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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-yasʾalūnaka ʿan dhī l-qarnayni qul sa-ʾatlū ʿalaykum minhu dhikran

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 303

ʾinnā makkannā lahū fī l-ʾarḍi wa-ʾātaynāhu min kulli shayʾin sababan

Indeed We had granted him power in the land and given him the means to all things.

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-ʾatbaʿa sababan

So he directed a means.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ḥattā ʾidhā balagha maghriba sh-shamsi wajadahā taghrubu fī ʿaynin ḥamiʾatin wa-wajada ʿindahā qawman qulnā yā-dhā l-qarnayni ʾimmā ʾan tuʿadhdhiba wa-ʾimmā ʾan tattakhidha fīhim ḥusnan

When he reached the place where the sun sets, he found it setting over a warm sea, and by it he found a people. We said, ‘O Dhul Qarnayn! You will either punish them, or treat them with kindness.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla ʾammā man ẓalama fa-sawfa nuʿadhdhibuhū thumma yuraddu ʾilā rabbihī fa-yuʿadhdhibuhū ʿadhāban nukran

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ʾammā man ʾāmana wa-ʿamila ṣāliḥan fa-lahū jazāʾan-i l-ḥusnā wa-sa-naqūlu lahū min ʾamrinā yusran

But as for him who has faith and acts righteously, he shall have the best reward, and we will assign him easy tasks under our command.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

thumma ʾatbaʿa sababan

Thereafter he directed another means.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ḥattā ʾidhā balagha maṭliʿa sh-shamsi wajadahā taṭluʿu ʿalā qawmin lam najʿal lahum min dūnihā sitran

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ka-dhālika wa-qad ʾaḥaṭnā bi-mā ladayhi khubran

So it was, and We were fully aware of whatever [means] he possessed.

— Ali Quli Qarai

thumma ʾatbaʿa sababan

Thereafter he directed another means.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ḥattā ʾidhā balagha bayna s-saddayni wajada min dūnihimā qawman lā yakādūna yafqahūna qawlan

When he reached [the place] between the two barriers, he found between them a people who could hardly understand a word [of his language].

— Ali Quli Qarai

qālū yā-dhā l-qarnayni ʾinna yaʾjūja wa-maʾjūja mufsidūna fī l-ʾarḍi fa-hal najʿalu laka kharjan ʿalā ʾan tajʿala baynanā wa-baynahum saddan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

qāla mā makkannī fīhi rabbī khayrun fa-ʾaʿīnūnī bi-quwwatin ʾajʿal baynakum wa-baynahum radman

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾātūnī zubara l-ḥadīdi ḥattā ʾidhā sāwā bayna ṣ-ṣadafayni qāla nfukhū ḥattā ʾidhā jaʿalahū nāran qāla ʾātūnī ʾufrigh ʿalayhi qiṭran

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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

fa-mā sṭāʿū ʾan yaẓharūhu wa-mā staṭāʿū lahū naqban

So they could neither scale it, nor could they make a hole in it.

— Ali Quli Qarai

Page 304

qāla hādhā raḥmatun min rabbī fa-ʾidhā jāʾa waʿdu rabbī jaʿalahū dakkāʾa wa-kāna waʿdu rabbī ḥaqqan

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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-taraknā baʿḍahum yawmaʾidhin yamūju fī baʿḍin wa-nufikha fī ṣ-ṣūri fa-jamaʿnāhum jamʿan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

wa-ʿaraḍnā jahannama yawmaʾidhin li-l-kāfirīna ʿarḍan-i

and on that day We shall bring hell into view visibly for the faithless.

— Ali Quli Qarai

alladhīna kānat ʾaʿyunuhum fī ghiṭāʾin ʿan dhikrī wa-kānū lā yastaṭīʿūna samʿan

—Those whose eyes were blind to My remembrance and who could not hear.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾa-fa-ḥasiba lladhīna kafarū ʾan yattakhidhū ʿibādī min dūnī ʾawliyāʾa ʾinnā ʾaʿtadnā jahannama li-l-kāfirīna nuzulan

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.

— Ali Quli Qarai

qul hal nunabbiʾukum bi-l-ʾakhsarīna ʾaʿmālan-i

Say, ‘Shall we inform you who are the biggest losers in their works?

— Ali Quli Qarai

alladhīna ḍalla saʿyuhum fī l-ḥayāti d-dunyā wa-hum yaḥsabūna ʾannahum yuḥsinūna ṣunʿan

Those whose efforts are misguided in the life of the world, while they suppose they are doing good.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾulāʾika lladhīna kafarū bi-ʾāyāti rabbihim wa-liqāʾihī fa-ḥabiṭat ʾaʿmāluhum fa-lā nuqīmu lahum yawma l-qiyāmati waznan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

dhālika jazāʾuhum jahannamu bi-mā kafarū wa-ttakhadhū ʾāyātī wa-rusulī huzuwan

That is their requital—hell—because of their unfaith and for deriding My signs and apostles.

— Ali Quli Qarai

ʾinna lladhīna ʾāmanū wa-ʿamilū ṣ-ṣāliḥāti kānat lahum jannātu l-firdawsi nuzulan

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

— Ali Quli Qarai

khālidīna fīhā lā yabghūna ʿanhā ḥiwalan

to remain in them [forever]; they will not seek to leave it for another place.

— Ali Quli Qarai

qul law kāna l-baḥru midādan li-kalimāti rabbī la-nafida l-baḥru qabla ʾan tanfada kalimātu rabbī wa-law jiʾnā bi-mithlihī madadan

Say, ‘If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would be spent before the words of my Lord are finished, though We replenish it with another like it.’

— Ali Quli Qarai

qul ʾinnamā ʾana basharun mithlukum yūḥā ʾilayya ʾannamā ʾilāhukum ʾilāhun wāḥidun fa-man kāna yarjū liqāʾa rabbihī fa-l-yaʿmal ʿamalan ṣāliḥan wa-lā yushrik bi-ʿibādati rabbihī ʾaḥadan

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.’

— Ali Quli Qarai