Say not thou of a thing, " I will surely do it to-morrow;" without , "If God will."6 And when thou hast forgotten, call thy Lord to mind; and say, "Haply my Lord will guide me, that I may come near to the truth of this story with correctness." And they tarried in their cave 300 years, and 9 years over.7 SAY: God best knoweth how long they tarried: With Him are the secrets of the Heavens and of the Earth: Look thou and hearken unto Him alone.8 Man hath no guardian but Him, and none may bear part in his judgments:– And publish what hath been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord–none may change his words,–and thou shalt find no refuge beside Him. Be patient with those who call upon their Lord at morn and even, seeking his face: and let not thine eyes be turned away from them in quest of the pomp of this life;9 neither obey him10 whose heart we have made careless of the remembrance of Us, and who followeth his own lusts, and whose ways are unbridled. And SAY: the truth is from your Lord: let him then who will, believe; and let him who will, be an infidel. But for the offenders we have got ready the fire whose smoke shall enwrap them: and if they implore help, helped shall they be with water like molten brass which shall scald their Wretched the drink! and an unhappy couch! But as to those who have believed and done the things that are right,–Verily we will not suffer the reward of him whose works were good, to perish! For them, the gardens of Eden, under whose shades shall rivers flow: decked shall they be therein with bracelets of gold, and green robes of silk and rich brocade shall they wear, reclining them therein on thrones. Blissful the reward! and a pleasant couch!11 And set forth to them as a parable two men; on one of whom we bestowed two gardens of grape vines, and surrounded both with palm trees, and placed corn fields between them: Each of the gardens did yield its fruit, and failed not thereof at all: And we caused a river to flow in their midst: And this man received his fruit, and said, disputing with him, to his companion, "More have I than thou of wealth, and my family is mightier." And he went into his garden–to his own soul unjust. He said, "I do not think that this will ever perish: And I do not think that 'the Hour' will come: and even if I be taken back to my Lord, I shall surely find a better than it in exchange." His fellow said to him, disputing with him, "What ! hast thou no belief in him who created thee of the dust, then of the germs of life,12 then fashioned thee a perfect man? But God is my Lord; and no other being will I associate with my Lord. And why didst thou not say when thou enteredst thy garden, 'What God willeth! There is no power but in God.' Though thou seest that I have less than thou of wealth and children, Yet haply my Lord may bestow on me better than thy garden, and may send his bolts upon it out of Heaven, so that the next dawn shall find it barren dust;