On the Day when every human being will find himself faced with all the good that he has done, and with all the evil that he has done, [many a one] will wish that there were a long span of time between himself and that [Day]. Hence, God warns you to beware of Him; but God is most compassionate towards His creatures.

and then We awakened Christianity was no longer persecuted and had even become the official religion of the Roman Empire. The ancient coin (dating from the reign of Decius) with which the young man wanted to pay for his purchases immediately aroused curiosity; people began to question the stranger, and the story of the Men of the Cave and their miraculous sleep came to light. them:* [and We did all this] so that We might mark out [to the world]* which of the two points of view showed a better comprehension of the time-span during which they had remained in this state.*

IS IT NOT time that the hearts of all who have attained to faith should feel humble at the remem­brance of God and of all the truth that has been bestowed [on them] from on high,* lest they become like those who were granted revelation aforetime,* and whose hearts have hardened with the passing of time so that many of them are [now] depraved?*

Say: "I do not know whether that [doom] of which you were forewarned is near, or whether my Sustainer has set for it a distant term."