P:  (A thing) whereof they have no knowledge, nor (had) their fathers, Dreadful is the word that cometh out of their mouths.  They speak naught but a lie.

S:  They have no knowledge of it, nor had their fathers; a grievous word it is that comes out of their mouths; they speak nothing but a lie.

018.006 Y:  Thou wouldst only, perchance, fret thyself to death, following after them, in grief, if they believe not in this Message.

P:  Yet it may be, if they believe not in this statement, that thou (Muhammad) wilt torment thy soul with grief over their footsteps.

S:  Then maybe you will kill yourself with grief, sorrowing after them, if they do not believe in this announcement.

018.007 Y:  That which is on earth we have made but as a glittering show for the earth, in order that We may test them — as to which of them are best in conduct.

P:  Lo!  We have placed all that is on the earth as an ornament thereof that We may try them:  which of them is best in conduct.

S:  Surely We have made whatever is on the earth an embellishment for it, so that We may try them (as to) which of them is best in works.

018.008 Y:  Verily what is on earth we shall make but as dust and dry soil (without growth or herbage).

P:  And lo!  We shall make all that is thereon a barren mound.

S:  And most surely We will make what is on it bare ground without herbage.

018.009 Y:  Or dost thou reflect that the Companions of the Cave and of the Inscription were wonders among Our Sign?

P:  Or deemest thou that the People of the Cave and the Inscription are a wonder among Our portents?

S:  Or, do you think that the Fellows of the Cave and the Inscription were of Our wonderful signs?

018.010 Y:  Behold, the youths betook themselves to the Cave:  they said, “Our Lord! bestow on us Mercy from Thyself, and dispose of our affair for us in the right way!”

P:  When the young men fled for refuge to the Cave and said:  Our Lord!  Give us mercy from Thy presence, and shape for us right conduct in our plight.

S:  When the youths sought refuge in the cave, they said:  Our Lord! grant us mercy from Thee, and provide for us a right course in our affair.

018.011 Y:  Then We draw (a veil) over their ears, for a number of years, in the Cave, (so that they heard not): 

P:  Then We sealed up their hearing in the Cave for a number of years.

S:  So We prevented them from hearing in the cave for a number of years.

018.012 Y:  Then We roused them, in order to test which of the two parties was best at calculating the term of years they had tarried!

P:  And afterward We raised them up that We might know which of the two parties would best calculate the time that they had tarried.

S:  Then We raised them up that We might know which of the two parties was best able to compute the time for which they remained.