Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Kahf Verse 14

Mufti Taqi Usmani

We made their hearts firm when they stood up and said, “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We shall never invoke any god other than Him, otherwise we would be saying something far from the truth.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And We strengthened their hearts when they stood up and declared, “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We will never call upon any god besides Him, or we would truly be uttering an outrageous lie.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

We strengthened their hearts when they stood up and proclaimed, “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and earth. We will never call upon any god other than Him, or we would be uttering an outrageous lie.”

A. J. Arberry

And We strengthened their hearts, when they stood up and said, 'Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and earth; we will not call upon any god, apart from Him, or then we had spoken outrage.

Abdul Haleem

We gave strength to their hearts when they stood up and said, ‘Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and earth. We shall never call upon any god other than Him, for that would be an outrageous thing to do.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And We braced their hearts when they stood forth and said: our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth; never we shall call upon a god beside him; for then we shall be saying an abomination.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

We gave strength to their hearts; Behold, they stood up and said; "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and of the earth; never shall we call upon any god other than Him; if we did, we should indeed have uttered an enormity!

Abul Ala Maududi

and strengthened their hearts when they stood up and proclaimed: "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We shall call upon no other god beside Him; (for if we did so), we shall be uttering a blasphemy."

Ahmed Ali

And strengthened their hearts when they stood up and said: "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We shall invoke no god beside Him, for we shall have uttered a blasphemy then.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And We made their hearts steadfast when they stood up and said, “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth – we shall not worship any other deity except Him – if it were, we have then said something excessive.”

Ali Quli Qarai

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 Ünal

And We strengthened their hearts, (and a time came) when they rose up (against association of partners with God and other injustices in the society), and they proclaimed: "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and we never invoke any deity apart from Him; if we did so, we would certainly have uttered an enormity (a monstrous unbelief).

Amatul Rahman Omar

And We strengthened their hearts when they stood up (in the cause of God) and (said), `Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. Never shall we call upon any god apart from Him (for in that case) we would certainly be uttering a preposterous thing far from the truth.

English Literal

And We strengthened/braced , on their hearts/minds , when they stood/kept up , so they said: "Our Lord, Lord (of) the skies/space and the earth/Planet Earth, we will never/not call from other than Him, a god, (what) we had then said (is) being unjust/excess of the limit ."

Faridul Haque

And We made their hearts steadfast when they stood up and said, "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth - we shall not worship any other deity except Him - if it were, we have then said something excessive."

Hamid S. Aziz

And We strengthened their heart, when they stood up and said, "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, never will we call upon any god beside Him, for then we should have said an extravagant thing.

Hilali & Khan

And We made their hearts firm and strong (with the light of Faith in Allah and bestowed upon them patience to bear the separation of their kith and kin and dwellings, etc.) when they stood up and said: "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, never shall we call upon any ilah (god) other than Him; if we did, we should indeed have uttered an enormity in disbelief.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

We relate to thee their story with truth. Surely they were youths who believed in their Lord and We increased them in guidance.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And We strengthened their hearts with patience, when they stood up and said: Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth; we will by no means call upon any god besides Him, for then indeed we should have said an extravagant thing.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And We made firm their hearts when they stood forth and said: Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We cry unto no Allah beside Him, for then should we utter an enormity.

Muhammad Sarwar

We strengthened their hearts when they stood up against the idols and said, "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We shall never worship anyone other than Him lest we commit blasphemy.

Qaribullah & Darwish

We strengthened their hearts when they stood up and said: 'Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We will call on no other god except Him; (for if we did), we would have spoken outrageously (in disbelief),

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And We made their hearts firm and strong when they stood up and said: "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, never shall we call upon any god other than Him; if we did, we should indeed have uttered an enormity in disbelief.

Wahiduddin Khan

We strengthened their hearts, when they rose up and declared, "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. Never shall we call upon any deity other than Him: for that would be an outrageous thing to do.

Talal Itani

And We strengthened their hearts, when they stood up and said, “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth; we will not call on any god besides Him, for then we would have spoken an outrage.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And We strengthened their hearts, to [enable them to] speak the truth, when they stood up, before their king, who had commanded them to prostrate to idols, and said, `Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We will not call on any god besides Him, that is, other than Him, for then we shall certainly have uttered an outrage, in other words, [we shall have spoken] a statement that contains shatat, meaning one of extreme disbelief, were we, hypothetically, to call on any god other than God.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَرَبَطْنَا عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ إِذْ قَامُوا فَقَالُوا رَبُّنَا رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالاَْرْضِ

And We made their hearts firm and strong when they stood up and said;"Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth,

Here Allah is saying;`We gave them the patience to go against their people and their city, and to leave behind the life of luxury and ease that they had been living.'

Several of the earlier and later Tafsir scholars have mentioned that;

they were sons of the kings and leaders of Byzantium, and that they went out one day to one of the festivals of their people. They used to gather once a year outside the city, and they would worship idols and offer sacrifices to them. They had an arrogant, tyrannical king who was called Decianus, who commanded and encouraged the people to do that. When the people went out to attend this gathering, these young men went out with their fathers and their people, and when they saw their people's actions with clear insight, they realized that the prostrations and sacrifices the people were offering to their idols should only be dedicated to Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth.

Each of them started to withdraw from his people and keep aloof from them. The first one of them to move away on his own went and sat in the shade of a tree, then another came and sat with him, then another came and sat with them, then four more followed suit one by one. None of them knew the others, but they were brought together by the One Who instilled faith in their hearts.

As it says in the Hadith recorded by Al-Bukhari with an incomplete chain of narrators from A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), the Messenger of Allah said;

الاَْرْوَاحُ جُنُودٌ مُجَنَّدَةٌ فَمَا تَعَارَفَ مِنْهَا ايْتَلَفَ وَمَا تَنَاكَرَ مِنْهَا اخْتَلَف

Souls are like recruited soldiers. Those that recognize one another will come together, and those that do not recognize one another will turn away from each another.

Muslim also recorded this in his Sahih from the Hadith of Suhayl from his father from Abu Hurayrah from the Messenger of Allah.

People say that similar qualities or characteristics are what bring people together. So each of the young men was trying to conceal what he really believed from the others, out of fear of them, not knowing that they were like him.

Then one of them said, "O people, you know by Allah that only one thing is making you leave your people and isolate yourselves from them, so let each one of you say what it is in his case."

Another said, "As for me, by Allah I saw what my people are doing and I realized that it was false, and that the only One Who deserves to be worshipped Alone with out partner or associate is Allah Who created everything, the heavens, the earth and everything in between."

Another said, "By Allah, the same thing happened to me."

The others said the same, and they all agreed and became brothers in faith. They adopted a particular location as a place of worship and began worshipping Allah there, but their people found out about them and told their king about them. The king ordered them to appear before him, and asked them about their beliefs. They told him the truth and called him to Allah, as Allah says about them;

وَرَبَطْنَا عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ إِذْ قَامُوا فَقَالُوا رَبُّنَا رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالاَْرْضِ لَن نَّدْعُوَ مِن دُونِهِ إِلَهًا

And We made their hearts firm and strong when they stood up and said;"Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, never shall we call upon any god other than Him..."

"Never" (Lan) implies an absolute and eternal negation, meaning, `this will never happen, and if we were to do that it would be false.'

So Allah says about them;

لَقَدْ قُلْنَا إِذًا شَطَطًا


if we did, we should indeed have uttered an enormity in disbelief.

meaning, untruth and utter falsehood