14 Preface وَرَبَطنا عَلىٰ قُلوبِهِم إِذ قاموا فَقالوا رَبُّنا رَبُّ السَّماواتِ وَالأَرضِ لَن نَدعُوَ مِن دونِهِ إِلٰهًا ۖ لَقَد قُلنا إِذًا شَطَطًاYusuf AliWe gave strength to their hearts:1 Behold, they stood up2 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!So that they were not afraid to speak out openly, and protest the truth of the Unity which they clearly saw in their own minds and hearts.We may suppose them to have taken their stand and made a public protest before they betook themselves to the Cave (18:16). The story really begins at 18:13, and the verses 18:9-12 may be considered as introductory. As the emphasis is on spiritual lessons, the facts stated in the introductory part are passed over lightly in the story.