Surah Al-Kahf (18): Read Online and Download - English Translation

This page contains all verses of surah Al-Kahf in addition to Interpretation of all verses by Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Hafiz Ibn Kathir). In the first part you can read surah الكهف ordered in pages exactly as it is present in the Quran. To read an interpretation of a verse click on its number.

Information About Surah Al-Kahf

Surah Al-Kahf
سُورَةُ الكَهۡفِ
Page 297 (Verses from 28 to 34)

وَٱصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ ٱلَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُم بِٱلْغَدَوٰةِ وَٱلْعَشِىِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُۥ ۖ وَلَا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُۥ عَن ذِكْرِنَا وَٱتَّبَعَ هَوَىٰهُ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُۥ فُرُطًا وَقُلِ ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ ۖ فَمَن شَآءَ فَلْيُؤْمِن وَمَن شَآءَ فَلْيَكْفُرْ ۚ إِنَّآ أَعْتَدْنَا لِلظَّٰلِمِينَ نَارًا أَحَاطَ بِهِمْ سُرَادِقُهَا ۚ وَإِن يَسْتَغِيثُوا۟ يُغَاثُوا۟ بِمَآءٍ كَٱلْمُهْلِ يَشْوِى ٱلْوُجُوهَ ۚ بِئْسَ ٱلشَّرَابُ وَسَآءَتْ مُرْتَفَقًا إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ إِنَّا لَا نُضِيعُ أَجْرَ مَنْ أَحْسَنَ عَمَلًا أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ لَهُمْ جَنَّٰتُ عَدْنٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهِمُ ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ يُحَلَّوْنَ فِيهَا مِنْ أَسَاوِرَ مِن ذَهَبٍ وَيَلْبَسُونَ ثِيَابًا خُضْرًا مِّن سُندُسٍ وَإِسْتَبْرَقٍ مُّتَّكِـِٔينَ فِيهَا عَلَى ٱلْأَرَآئِكِ ۚ نِعْمَ ٱلثَّوَابُ وَحَسُنَتْ مُرْتَفَقًا ۞ وَٱضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلًا رَّجُلَيْنِ جَعَلْنَا لِأَحَدِهِمَا جَنَّتَيْنِ مِنْ أَعْنَٰبٍ وَحَفَفْنَٰهُمَا بِنَخْلٍ وَجَعَلْنَا بَيْنَهُمَا زَرْعًا كِلْتَا ٱلْجَنَّتَيْنِ ءَاتَتْ أُكُلَهَا وَلَمْ تَظْلِم مِّنْهُ شَيْـًٔا ۚ وَفَجَّرْنَا خِلَٰلَهُمَا نَهَرًا وَكَانَ لَهُۥ ثَمَرٌ فَقَالَ لِصَٰحِبِهِۦ وَهُوَ يُحَاوِرُهُۥٓ أَنَا۠ أَكْثَرُ مِنكَ مَالًا وَأَعَزُّ نَفَرًا
297

Listen to Surah Al-Kahf (Arabic and English translation)

Tafsir of Surah Al-Kahf (Tafsir Ibn Kathir: Hafiz Ibn Kathir)

English Translation

And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect.

English Transliteration

Waisbir nafsaka maAAa allatheena yadAAoona rabbahum bialghadati waalAAashiyyi yureedoona wajhahu wala taAAdu AAaynaka AAanhum tureedu zeenata alhayati alddunya wala tutiAA man aghfalna qalbahu AAan thikrina waittabaAAa hawahu wakana amruhu furutan

English Translation

And say, "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills - let him believe; and whoever wills - let him disbelieve." Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like murky oil, which scalds [their] faces. Wretched is the drink, and evil is the resting place.

English Transliteration

Waquli alhaqqu min rabbikum faman shaa falyumin waman shaa falyakfur inna aAAtadna lilththalimeena naran ahata bihim suradiquha wain yastagheethoo yughathoo bimain kaalmuhli yashwee alwujooha bisa alshsharabu wasaat murtafaqan

The Truth is from Allah, and the Punishment of Those Who do not believe in it

Allah says to His Messenger Muhammad : "Say to the people, `What I have brought to you from your Lord is the truth, in which there is no confusion or doubt."'

فَمَن شَآءَ فَلْيُؤْمِن وَمَن شَآءَ فَلْيَكْفُرْ

(Then whosoever wills, let him believe; and whosoever wills, let him disbelieve.) This is a type of threat and stern warning, after which Allah says,

إِنَّآ أَعْتَدْنَا

(Verily, We have prepared), meaning made ready,

لِّلظَّـلِمِينَ

(for the wrongdoers,) meaning those who disbelieve in Allah, His Messenger and His Book,

نَارًا أَحَاطَ بِهِمْ سُرَادِقُهَا

(a Fire whose walls will be surrounding them.) Ibn Jurayj said that Ibn `Abbas said,

أَحَاطَ بِهِمْ سُرَادِقُهَا

(a Fire whose walls will be surrounding them.) "A wall of fire."

وَإِن يَسْتَغِيثُواْ يُغَاثُواْ بِمَآءٍ كَالْمُهْلِ يَشْوِى الْوجُوهَ

(And if they ask for drink, they will be granted water like Al-Muhl, that will scald their faces.) Ibn `Abbas said; "Al-Muhl is thick water which is similar to the sediment in oil." Mujahid said, "It is like blood and pus." `Ikrimah said, "It is the thing that is heated to the ultimate temperature." Others said: "It is everything that is melted." Qatadah said, "Ibn Mas`ud melted some gold in a grove, and when it became liquid and foam rose to the top, he said, this is the thing that is most like Al-Muhl." Ad-Dahhak said: "The water of Hell is black, and it itself is black and its people are black." There is nothing contradictory in these comments, for Al-Muhl includes all of these unpleasant characteristics, it is black, evil-smelling, thick and hot, as Allah said,

يَشْوِى الْوجُوهَ

(it will scald their faces.) meaning because of its heat. When the disbeliever wants to drink it and brings it close to his face, it will scald it so that the skin of his face falls off into it. Sa`id bin Jubayr said, "When the people of Hell get hungry, they will ask for relief from it, and they will be given the tree of Zaqqum from which they will eat. The tree will tear off the skin of their faces, and if anyone who knew them were to pass by, he would recognize the skin of their faces in the tree. Then they will feel thirsty, so they will ask for drink, and they will be granted water like Al-Muhl, that is what has been heated to the ultimate temperature. When it is brought near their mouths, the flesh of their faces from which the skin has been torn off will be baked." After describing this drink in these horrifying qualities, Allah says:

بِئْسَ الشَّرَابُ

(Terrible is the drink,) meaning, how awful this drink is. Similarly, He says in another Ayah:

وَسُقُواْ مَآءً حَمِيماً فَقَطَّعَ أَمْعَآءَهُمْ

(and be given to drink boiling water so that it cuts up their bowels.) 47:15

تُسْقَى مِنْ عَيْنٍ ءَانِيَةٍ

(They will be given to drink from a boiling spring.) 88:5

وَبَيْنَ حَمِيمٍ ءَانٍ

(They will go between it (Hell) and the fierce boiling water.) 55:44

وَسَآءَتْ مُرْتَفَقًا

(and an evil Murtafaq!) means, how evil a place is the Fire to dwell and rest and gather. As Allah says elsewhere:

إِنَّهَا سَآءَتْ مُسْتَقَرّاً وَمُقَاماً

(Evil indeed it (Hell) is as an abode and as a place to rest in.) 25:66

English Translation

Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds - indeed, We will not allow to be lost the reward of any who did well in deeds.

English Transliteration

Inna allatheena amanoo waAAamiloo alssalihati inna la nudeeAAu ajra man ahsana AAamalan

The Reward of those Who believe and do Righteous Deeds

When Allah mentions the state of those who are doomed, He follows that by mentioning the blessed who believed in Allah and believed what His Messengers brought, those who did the righteous deeds that they commanded them to do. They will have Jannatu `Adn. `Adn means lasting.

تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهِمُ الاٌّنْهَـرُ

(wherein rivers flow beneath them,) means, from beneath its rooms and dwellings. Fir`awn said:

وَهَـذِهِ الاٌّنْهَـرُ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِى

(and these rivers flowing beneath me...) 43:51

يُحَلَّوْنَ

(they will be adorned) means, with jewelry.

فِيهَا مِنْ أَسَاوِرَ مِن ذَهَبٍ

(with bracelets of gold,) Allah says elsewhere:

وَلُؤْلُؤاً وَلِبَاسُهُمْ فِيهَا حَرِيرٌ

(and pearls and their garments therein will be of silk) 22:23. This is explained in more detail here, where Allah says:

وَيَلْبَسُونَ ثِيَابًا خُضْرًا مِّن سُنْدُسٍ وَإِسْتَبْرَقٍ

(and they will wear green garments of Sundus and Istabraq.) Sundus refers to a fine garment, like a shirt and the like, and Istabraq is thick and shiny velvet.

مُّتَّكِئِينَ فِيهَا عَلَى الاٌّرَائِكِ

(They will be Muttaki'in therein on Ara'ik.) The word Muttaki'in implies lying down, or it was said that it means sitting with one's legs crossed, which is closer to the meaning here. In a Sahih Hadith, the Prophet said:

«أَمَّا أَنَا فَلَا آكُلُ مُتَّكِئًا»

(As for me, I do not eat sitting with legs crossed (Muttaki'an)). Ara'ik is the plural of Arikah, which is a bed under a canopy. And Allah knows best.

نِعْمَ الثَّوَابُ وَحَسُنَتْ مُرْتَفَقاً

(How good is the reward, and what an excellent place of rest (Murtafaq)!) means, how blessed is Paradise as a reward for their good deeds. And what an excellent Murtafaq means, and how good a place to dwell and rest and stay. Previously, Allah had said of Hell,

بِئْسَ الشَّرَابُ وَسَآءَتْ مُرْتَفَقًا

(Terrible is the drink, and an evil place of rest (Murtafaq)!) 18:29. In a similar way, He contrasts the two (Paradise and Hell) in Surat Al-Furqan, where He says:

إِنَّهَا سَآءَتْ مُسْتَقَرّاً وَمُقَاماً

(Evil indeed it (Hell) is as an abode, and as a place to rest in.) 25:66. Then He mentions the qualities of the believers, then says:

أُوْلَـئِكَ يُجْزَوْنَ الْغُرْفَةَ بِمَا صَبَرُواْ وَيُلَقَّوْنَ فِيهَا تَحِيَّةً وَسَلَـماً - خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَا حَسُنَتْ مُسْتَقَرّاً وَمُقَاماً

(Those will be rewarded with the highest place because of their patience. Therein they shall be met with greetings and the word of peace and respect. Abiding therein excellent it is as an abode, and as a place to rest in.) 25:75-76

English Translation

Those will have gardens of perpetual residence; beneath them rivers will flow. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and will wear green garments of fine silk and brocade, reclining therein on adorned couches. Excellent is the reward, and good is the resting place.

English Transliteration

Olaika lahum jannatu AAadnin tajree min tahtihimu alanharu yuhallawna feeha min asawira min thahabin wayalbasoona thiyaban khudran min sundusin waistabraqin muttakieena feeha AAala alaraiki niAAma alththawabu wahasunat murtafaqan

English Translation

And present to them an example of two men: We granted to one of them two gardens of grapevines, and We bordered them with palm trees and placed between them [fields of] crops.

English Transliteration

Waidrib lahum mathalan rajulayni jaAAalna liahadihima jannatayni min aAAnabin wahafafnahuma binakhlin wajaAAalna baynahuma zarAAan

The Example of the Rich Idolators and the Poor Muslims

After mentioning the idolators who were too arrogant to sit with the poor and weak among Muslims, showing off before them with their wealth and noble lineage, Allah then gives a parable for them of two men, one of whom Allah gave two gardens of grapes, surrounded with palm trees and cultivated with crops throughout. All of the trees and plants were abundantly fruitful, providing readily accessible, good quality produce. Allah says:

كِلْتَا الْجَنَّتَيْنِ آتَتْ أُكُلَهَا

(Each of those two gardens brought forth its produce,) meaning, produced its fruits,

وَلَمْ تَظْلِمِ مِّنْهُ شَيْئًا

(and failed not in the least therein,) meaning, nothing at all was diminishing.

وَفَجَّرْنَا خِلَـلَهُمَا نَهَراً

(and We caused a river to gush forth in the midst of both.) means, rivers were flowing through them here and there.

وَكَانَ لَهُ ثَمَرٌ

(And he had Thamar,) It was said that what was meant here was wealth, and it was said that what was meant were fruits, which is the more apparent meaning here. This is also supported by the alternative recitation, Thumr, which is the plural of Thamrah (fruit) just as Khushb is the plural of Khashab (wood). Others recite it as Thamar.

فَقَالَ

(and he said) the owner of the two gardens

لَصَـحِبِهِ وَهُوَ يُحَاوِرُهُ

(to his companion in the course of discussion) means, while he was disputing with him and boasting to him and showing off,

أَنَاْ أَكْثَرُ مِنكَ مَالاً وَأَعَزُّ نَفَراً

(I am greater than you in wealth and have a mightier entourage.) meaning, `I have more servants, attendants and children.' Qatadah said, "This, by Allah, is the wish of the immoral to have a lot of wealth and a large entourage. R

وَدَخَلَ جَنَّتَهُ وَهُوَ ظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ

(And he went into his garden having been unjust to himself.) meaning, in his disbelief, rebellion, arrogance and denial of the Hereafter.

قَالَ مَآ أَظُنُّ أَن تَبِيدَ هَـذِهِ أَبَداً

(He said: "I do not think this will ever perish.") Thus he was allowing himself to be deceived because of the plants, fruits and trees that he saw, and the rivers flowing through the different parts of his gardens. He thought that it could never come to an end or cease or be destroyed. This was because of his lack of understanding and the weakness of his faith in Allah, and because he was enamored with this world and its adornments, and because he disbelieved in the Hereafter. So he said:

وَمَآ أَظُنُّ السَّاعَةَ قَائِمَةً

("And I do not think the Hour will ever come...") meaning, will ever happen

وَلَئِن رُّدِدتُّ إِلَى رَبِّى لأَجِدَنَّ خَيْراً مِّنْهَا مُنْقَلَباً

(and if indeed I am brought back to my Lord, I surely shall find better than this when I return to Him.) meaning, `if there is a Hereafter and a return to Allah, then I will have a better share than this with my Lord, for if it were not that I am dear to Him, He would not have given me all this.' As Allah says elsewhere:

وَلَئِن رُّجِّعْتُ إِلَى رَبِّى إِنَّ لِى عِندَهُ لَلْحُسْنَى

(But if I am brought back to my Lord, surely there will be for me the best with Him.) 41:50

أَفَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِى كَفَرَ بِـَايَـتِنَا وَقَالَ لأوتَيَنَّ مَالاً وَوَلَداً

(Have you seen him who disbelieved in Our Ayat and said: "I shall certainly be given wealth and children if I will be alive again).")19:77 He took it for granted that Allah would give him this, without any sound evidence for that. The reason why this Ayah was revea- led was because of Al-`As bin Wa'il, as we will explain in the appropriate place, if Allah wills. In Allah we put our trust.

English Translation

Each of the two gardens produced its fruit and did not fall short thereof in anything. And We caused to gush forth within them a river.

English Transliteration

Kilta aljannatayni atat okulaha walam tathlim minhu shayan wafajjarna khilalahuma naharan

English Translation

And he had fruit, so he said to his companion while he was conversing with him, "I am greater than you in wealth and mightier in [numbers of] men."

English Transliteration

Wakana lahu thamarun faqala lisahibihi wahuwa yuhawiruhu ana aktharu minka malan waaAAazzu nafaran
297