Surat al-Kahf (Q 18: The Cave)

they found you out, they would stone you or force you to return to their religion,
where you would never come to any good.’
21In this way We brought them to people’s attention—so that they might know
that God’s promise [of resurrection] is true and that there is no doubt about the
Last Hour—while those people argued among themselves. [Some] said, ‘Construct
a building over them: their Lord knows best about them.’ Those who prevailed
said, ‘We shall build a place of worship over them.’ 22[Some] say, ‘The sleepers
were three, and their dog made four,’ others say, ‘They were five, and the dog
made six’—guessing in the dark—and some say, ‘They were seven, and their dog
made eight.’ Say [Prophet], ‘My Lord knows best how many they were.’ Only a few
have real knowledge about them, so do not argue, but stick to what is clear, and
do not ask any of these people about them.

23Nor say of anything, ‘I will do that
tomorrow,’ 24without adding, ‘God willing’—and whenever you forget, remember
your Lord and say, ‘May my Lord guide me closer to what is right.’ 25[The sleepers]
stayed in their cave for three hundred years, and nine on top.

A 26Say, ‘God knows
best how long they stayed.’ His is the knowledge of all that is hidden in the heavens
and earth—How well He sees! How well He hears!—and they have no one to
protect them other than Him; He does not allow anyone to share in His rule.