Sura 18, al-Kahf
The Quranic text and Ali’s version
The story of Moses and Dhu’l-Qarnayn
وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ
عَن ذِي الْقَرْنَيْنِ...
18:83. They ask thee concerning Dhul al Qarnayn.
C2428. Literally, "the Two-horned one", the King with the Two Horns, or the Lord of the Two Epochs.
Who was he?
In what age, and where did he live?
The Quran gives us no material on which we can base a positive answer. Nor is it necessary to find an answer, as the story is treated as a Parable.
Popular opinion identifies Dhul al Qarnayn with Alexander the Great.
An alternative suggestion is an ancient Persian king, or a pre-historic Himyarite King.
Dhul al Qarnayn was a most powerful king, but it was Allah, Who, in His universal Plan, gave him power and provided him with the ways and means for his great work.
His sway extended over East and West, and over people of diverse civilisations. He was just and righteous, not selfish or grasping. He protected the weak and punished the unlawful and the turbulent.
Three of his expeditions are described in the text, each embodying a great ethical idea involved in the possession of kingship or power.
... قُلْ سَأَتْلُو عَلَيْكُم مِّنْهُ ذِكْرًا ﴿٨٣﴾
Say, "I will rehearse to you something of his story."
إِنَّا
مَكَّنَّا لَهُ
فِي الْأَرْضِ
وَآتَيْنَاهُ
مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ
سَبَبًا ﴿٨٤﴾
18;84. Verily We established his power on earth, and We gave him the ways and the means to all ends.
C2429. Great was his power and great were his opportunities ("ways and means"), which he used for justice and righteousness.
But he recognised that his power and opportunities were given to him as a trust by Allah. He had faith, and did not forget Allah.
18:85. One (such) way he followed,
حَتَّى إِذَا
بَلَغَ مَغْرِبَ
الشَّمْسِ
وَجَدَهَا
تَغْرُبُ فِي
عَيْنٍ حَمِئَةٍ...
18: 86. Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, He found it set in a spring of murky water:
C2430. This is the first of the three episodes here mentioned, his expedition to the west. "Reaching the setting of the sun" does not mean the extreme west, for there is no such thing. West and East are relative terms.
It means a western expedition terminated by a "spring of murky water." This has puzzled Commentators, and they have understood this to mean the dark, tempestuous sea.
If Dhul al Qarnayn is Alexander the Great, the reference is easily understood to be to Lychnitis (now Ochrida), west of Macedonia. It is fed entirely by underground springs in a limestone region, where the water is never very clear.
See Appendix VI at the end of the Surah.
... وَوَجَدَ عِندَهَا قَوْمًا...
near it he found a People:
... قُلْنَا يَا ذَا الْقَرْنَيْنِ إِمَّا أَن تُعَذِّبَ وَإِمَّا أَن تَتَّخِذَ فِيهِمْ حُسْنًا ﴿٨٦﴾
We said: "O Dhul al Qarnayn! (thou hast authority), either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness."
C2431. He had great power and a great opportunity. He got authority over a turbulent and unruly people. Was he going to be severe with them and chastise them, or was he going to seek peace at any price, i.e., to wink at violence and injustice so long as it did not affect his power?
He chose the better course, as described in the next verse. To protect the weak and the innocent, he punished the guilty and the headstrong, but he remembered always that the true Punishment would come in the Hereafter-the true and final justice before the throne of Allah.
قَالَ
أَمَّا مَن ظَلَمَ
فَسَوْفَ
نُعَذِّبُهُ...
18: 87. He said:
"Whoever doth wrong, him shall we punish;
... ثُمَّ يُرَدُّ إِلَى رَبِّهِ فَيُعَذِّبُهُ عَذَابًا نُّكْرًا ﴿٨٧﴾
then shall he be sent back to his Lord; and He will punish him with a punishment unheard-of (before).
C2432. Though most powerful among kings, he remembered that his power was but human, and given by Allah. His punishments were but tentative, to preserve the balance of this life as he could appraise it.
Even if his punishment was capital ("wrong doer sent back to his Lord") it was nothing compared to the dire consequences of sin, in the final Justice of Allah.
وَأَمَّا مَنْ
آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ
صَالِحًا فَلَهُ
جَزَاء الْحُسْنَى...
18: 88. "But whoever believes, and works righteousness -- he shall have a goodly reward,
... وَسَنَقُولُ لَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِنَا يُسْرًا ﴿٨٨﴾
and easy will be his task as we order it by our command."
C2433. He never said like Pharaoh. "I am your Lord Most High!" (79:24).
On the contrary his punishments were humbly regulated as not being final, and he laid more stress on the good he could do to those who lived normal lives in faith and righteousness.
His rule was easy to them: he imposed no heavy tasks because of his power, but gave every opportunity to rich and poor for the exercise of virtue and goodness. Such is the spiritual lesson to be learned from the first episode.
18: 89. Then followed he (another) way.
حَتَّى إِذَا
بَلَغَ مَطْلِعَ
الشَّمْسِ...
18: 90. Until, when he came to the rising of the sun,
C2434. We now come to the second episode.
This is an expedition to the east. "Rising of the sun" has a meaning corresponding to "setting of the sun" in 18:86, as explained in n. 2430.
... وَجَدَهَا تَطْلُعُ عَلَى قَوْمٍ لَّمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُم مِّن دُونِهَا سِتْرًا ﴿٩٠﴾
he found it rising on a people for whom We had provided no covering protection against the sun.
C2435. The people here lived very simple lives. Perhaps the climate was hot, and they required neither roofs over their heads, nor much clothing to protect them from the sun.
What did he do with them?
See next note.
كَذَلِكَ
وَقَدْ أَحَطْنَا
بِمَا لَدَيْهِ
خُبْرًا ﴿٩١﴾
18: 91. (He left them) as they were:
We completely understood what was before him.
C2436. They were a primitive people. He did not fuss over their primitiveness, but left them in the enjoyment of peace and tranquility in their own way.
In this he was wise. Power is apt to be intolerant and arrogant, and to interfere in everything that does not accord with its own glorification. Not so Dhul al Qarnayn.
He recognised his own limitations in the sight of Allah: man never completely understands his own position, but if he devoutly looks to Allah, he will live and let live. This is the spiritual lesson from the second episode.
18: 92. Then followed he (another) way
حَتَّى
إِذَا بَلَغَ بَيْنَ السَّدَّيْنِ...
18: 93. Until, when he reached (a tract) between two mountains,
C2437. The geography of the place (if geography is relevant in a parable story) is discussed in Appendix VI at the end of the Surah.
... وَجَدَ مِن دُونِهِمَا قَوْمًا لَّا يَكَادُونَ يَفْقَهُونَ قَوْلًا ﴿٩٣﴾
he found, beneath, them a people who scarcely understood a word.
C2438. It does not mean that they had no speech. It means that they did not understand the speech of the Conqueror. But they had parleys with him (through interpreters), as is evident from the verses following (18:94-98).
قَالُوا
يَا ذَا الْقَرْنَيْنِ
إِنَّ يَأْجُوجَ
وَمَأْجُوجَ
مُفْسِدُونَ
فِي الْأَرْضِ...
18: 94. They said:
"O Dhu al Qarnayn! the Gog and Magog (people) do great mischief on earth:
C2439.
Who were the Gog and Magog people?
This question is connected with the question, who was Dhu al Qarnayn?
Some discussion on the question will be found in Appendix VI at the end of the Surah.
What we are mainly concerned with is its interpretation.
The Conqueror had now arrived among a people who were different in speech and race from him, but not quite primitive, for they were skilled in the working of metals, and could furnish blocks (or bricks) of iron, melt metals with bellows or blow-pipes, and prepare molten lead (18:96).
Apparently they were a peaceable and industrious race, much subject to incursions from wild tribes who are called Gog and Magog. Against these tribes they were willing to purchase immunity by paying the Conqueror tribute in return for protection. The permanent protection they wanted was the closing of a mountain gap through which the incursions were made.
... فَهَلْ نَجْعَلُ لَكَ خَرْجًا عَلَى أَن تَجْعَلَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُمْ سَدًّا ﴿٩٤﴾
shall we then render thee tribute in order that thou mightest erect a barrier between us and them?"
قَالَ
مَا مَكَّنِّي
فِيهِ رَبِّي
خَيْرٌ...
18: 95. He said:
"(The power) in which my Lord has established me is better (than tribute):
C2440. Dhul al Qarnayn was not greedy and did not want to impose a tribute to be carried away from an industrious population. He understood the power which Allah had given him, to involve duties and responsibilities on his part -the duty of protecting his subjects without imposing too heavy a taxation on them.
... فَأَعِينُونِي بِقُوَّةٍ ...
help me therefore with strength (and labor):
He would provide the motive force and organizing skill. Would they obey him and provide the material and labour, so that they could close the gap with a strong barrier, probably with well-secured gates?
... أَجْعَلْ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُمْ رَدْمًا ﴿٩٥﴾
I will erect a strong barrier between you and them:
The word radm, translated "Barrier," does not necessarily mean a wall, but rather suggests a blocked door or entrance.
18: 96. "Bring me blocks of iron."
C2441. I understand the defences erected to have been a strong barrier of iron, with iron Gates. The jambs of the Gates were constituted with blocks or bricks of iron, and the interstices filled up with molten lead, so as to form an impregnable mass of metal.
It may be that there was a stone wall also, but that is not mentioned. There was none in the Iron Gate near Bukhara.
See Appendix VI at the end of the Surah.
... حَتَّى إِذَا سَاوَى بَيْنَ الصَّدَفَيْنِ قَالَ انفُخُوا...
At length, when he had filled up the space between the two steep mountain sides, he said,
"Blow (with your bellows)."
... حَتَّى إِذَا جَعَلَهُ نَارًا قَالَ ...
Then, when he had made it (red) as fire, he said:
C2442. Made it (red) as fire. what does "it" refer to?
Probably to the iron, either in sheets or blocks, to be welded with the molten lead.
... آتُونِي أُفْرِغْ عَلَيْهِ قِطْرًا ﴿٩٦﴾
"Bring me, that I may pour over it, molten lead."
فَمَا
اسْطَاعُوا
أَن يَظْهَرُوهُ
وَمَا اسْتَطَاعُوا
لَهُ نَقْبًا ﴿٩٧﴾
18: 97. Thus were they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it.
C2443. The iron wall and gates and towers were sufficiently high to prevent their being scaled and sufficiently strong with welded metal to resist any attempt to dig through them.
قَالَ
هَذَا رَحْمَةٌ
مِّن رَّبِّي...
18: 98. He said:
"This is a mercy from my Lord:
C2444. After all the effort which Dhul al Qarnayn has made for their protection, he claims no credit for himself beyond that of discharging his duty as a ruler. He turns their attention to Allah, Who has provided the ways and means by which they can be helped and protected.
But all such human precautions are apt to become futile. The time must come when they will crumble into dust. Allah has said so in His Revelation; and His word is true.
And so the lesson from the third episode is:
Take human precautions and do all in your power to protect yourselves from evil. But no protection is complete unless you seek the help and grace of Allah. The best of our precautions must crumble to dust when the appointed Day arrives.
... فَإِذَا جَاء وَعْدُ رَبِّي جَعَلَهُ دَكَّاء...
but when the promise of my comes to pass, He will make it into dust;
... وَكَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي حَقًّا ﴿٩٨﴾
and the promise of my Lord is true."
Asad’s version
18:83 AND THEY will ask thee about the Two-Horned One. Say: "I will convey unto you something by which he ought to be remembered." 81
[[Asad’s note -
81 Lit., "I will convey unto you a remembrance [or "mention"] of him" - i.e., something that is worthy of remembrance and mention: which, I believe, is an allusion to the parabolic character of the subsequent story and the fact that is is confined, like the preceding parable of Moses and the unknown sage, to a few fundamental, spiritual truths. - The epithet Dhu'l-Qarnayn signifies "the Two-Horned One" or "He of the Two Epochs", since the noun qarn has the meaning of "horn" as well as of "generation"
or "epoch" or "age" or "century". The classical commentators incline to the first of these meanings ("the Two-Horned"); and in this they appear to have been influenced by the ancient Middle- Eastern imagery of "horns" as symbols of power and greatness, although the Qur'an itself does not offer any warrant for this interpretation. In fact, the term qarn (and its plural qurun) occurs in the Qur'an -apart from the combination Dhu'l-Qarnayn appearing inverses 83, 86 and 94 of this surah - twenty times: and each time it has the meaning of "generation" in the sense of people belonging to one
particular epoch or civilization. However, since the allegory of Dhu'l-Qarnayn is meant to illustrate the qualities of a powerful and just ruler, it is possible to assume that this designation is an echo of the above-mentioned ancient symbolism, which - being familiar to the Arabs from very early times - had acquired idiomatic currency in their language long before the advent of Islam. Within the context of our Qur'anic allegory, the "two horns" may be taken to denote the two sources of power with which Dhu'l-Qarnayn is said to have been endowed: namely, the worldly might and prestige of kingship as well as the spiritual strength resulting from his faith in God. This last point is extremely important - for it is precisely the Qur'anic stress on his faith in God that makes it impossible to identify Dhu '1-Qarnayn, as most of the commentators do, with Alexander the Great (who is represented on some of his coins with two horns on his head) or with one or another of the pre-Islamic, Himyaritic kings of Yemen. All those historic personages were pagans and worshipped a plurality of deities as a matter of course, whereas our Dhu '1-Qarnayn is depicted as a firm believer in the One God: indeed, it is this aspect of his personality that provides the innermost reason
of the Qur'anic allegory. We must, therefore, conclude that the latter has nothing to do with history or even legend, and that its sole purport is a parabolic discourse on faith and ethics, with specific reference to the problem of worldly power (see the concluding passage in the introductory note to this surah). ]]
18:84 Behold, We established him securely on earth, and endowed him with [the knowledge of] the right means to achieve anything [that he might set out to achieve];
(18:85) and so he chose the right means [in whatever he did]."
18:86 [And he marched westwards] till, when he came to the setting of the sun, 84 it appeared to him that it was setting in a dark, turbid sea; 85 and nearby he found a people [given to every kind of wrongdoing]. We said: "O thou Two-Horned One! Thou mayest either cause [them] to suffer or treat them with kindness!" 86
[[ Asad’s notes:-
82 According to Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Sa'id ibn Jubayr, 'Ikrimah, Qatadah and Ad-Dahhak (all of them quoted by Ibn Kathir), the term sabab - lit., "a means to achieve [anything]" - denotes, in this context, the knowledge of the right means for the achievement of a particular end.
83 Lit., "he followed [the right] means": i.e., he never employed wrong means to achieve even a righteous goal.
84 I.e., the westernmost point of his expedition (Razi).
85 Or: "abundance of water" - which, according to many philologists (cf. Taj al-'Arus), is one of the meanings of 'ayn (primarily denoting a "spring"). As for my rendering of the phrase "he found it (wajadaha) setting...", etc., as "it appeared to him that it was setting", see Razi and Ibn Kathir, both of whom point out that we have here a metaphor based on the common optical illusion of the sun's "disappearing into the sea"; and Razi explains this, correctly, by the fact that the earth is spherical. (It is interesting to note that, according to him, this explanation was already advanced in the - now lost - Qur'an-commentary of Abu 'Ali al-Jubba'i, the famous Mu'tazili scholar who died in 303 H., which corresponds to 915 or 916 of the Christian era.)
86 This divine permission to choose between two possible courses of action is not only a metonymic statement of the freedom of will accorded by God to man, but establishes also the important legal principle of istihsan (social or moral preference) open to a ruler or government in deciding as to what might be conducive to the greatest good (maslahah) of the community as a whole: and this is the first "lesson" of the parable of Dhu'l-Qarnayn.]]
18:87 He answered: "As for him who does wrong [unto others 87 ] - him shall we, in time, cause to suffer; and thereupon he shall be referred to his Sustainer, and He will cause him to suffer with unnameable suffering. 88 (18:88) But as for him who believes and does righteous deeds - he will have the ultimate good [of the life to come] as his reward; and [as for us,] we shall make binding on him [only] that which is easy to fulfill." 8 '
18:89 And once again' he chose the right means [to achieve a right end]. (18:90) [And then he marched eastwards] till, when he came to the rising of the sun" he found that it was rising on a people for whom We had provided no coverings against it: (18:91) thus [We had made them, and thus he left them' 3 ]; and We did encompass with Our knowledge all that he had in mind.' 3
18:92 And once again he chose the right means (to achieve a right end]. (18:93) [And he marched on] till, when he reached [a place] between the two mountain-barriers,' 4 he found beneath them a people who could scarcely understand a word [of his language].
18:94 They said: "O thou Two-Horned One! Behold, Gog and Magog' 5 are spoiling this land. May we, then, pay unto thee a tribute on the understanding that thou wilt erect a barrier between us and them?"
[[ Asad’s notes:-
87 Cf. 11:117 and the corresponding note 149.
88 I.e., in the hereafter - implying that nothing that pertains to the life to come could ever be
imagined or defined in terms of human experience.
89 Since righteous behaviour is the norm expected of man, the laws relating thereto must not be too demanding - which is another lesson to be drawn from this parable.
90 For this rendering of the particle thumma, see surah 6, note 3 1 .
91 I.e., the easternmost point of his expedition (similar to the expression "the setting of the sun" in verse 86).
92 This is Razi's interpretation of the isolated expression kadhalika ("thus" or "thus it was") occurring here. It obviously relates to the primitive, natural state of those people who needed no clothes to protect them from the sun, and to the (implied) fact that Dhu'l-Qarnayn left them as he had found them, being mindful not to upset their mode of life and thus to cause them misery.
93 Lit., "all that was with him" - i.e., his resolve not to "corrupt [or "change"] God's creation" (cf. the second half of my note 141 on 4:119)- which, I believe, is a further ethical lesson to be derived from this parable.
94 This is generally assumed to be the Caucasus. However, since neither the Qur'an nor any authentic Tradition says anything about the location of these "two mountain-barriers" or the people who lived there, we can safely dismiss all the speculations advanced by the commentators on this score as irrelevant, the more so as the story of Dhu 1-Qarnayn aims at no more than the illustration of certain ethical principles in a parabolic manner.
95 This is the form in which these names (in Arabic, Yajuj and Majuj) have achieved currency in all European languages on the basis of certain vague references to them in the Bible (Genesis x, 2, I Chronicles i, 5, Ezekiel xxxviii, 2 and xxxix, 6, Revelation of St. John xx, 8). Most of the post-classical commentators identify these tribes with the Mongols and Tatars (see note 100 below). ]]
18:95
He answered: "That wherein my Sustainer has so securely established me is better [than anything that you could give me];" hence, do but help me with [your labour's] strength, [and] I shall erect a rampart between you and them!
(18:96) Bring me ingots of iron!"
Then, after he had [piled up the iron and] filled the gap between the two mountain-sides, he said: "[Light a fire and] ply your bellows! ""
At length, when he had made it [glow like] fire, he commanded: "Bring me molten copper which I may pour upon it."
18:97 And thus [the rampart was built, and] their enemies'98 were unable to scale it, and neither were they able to pierce it.
(18:98) Said [the King]: "This is a mercy from my Sustainer! Yet when
the time appointed by my Sustainer" shall come, He will make this [rampart] level with the ground: and my Sustainer's promise always comes true!" 100 ™
*******************************
[[ Asad’s notes:-
96 It is generally assumed that the phrase "that wherein my Sustainer has so securely established me (makkanni)" refers to the power and wealth bestowed on him; but it is much more probable - and certainly more consistent with the ethical tenor of the whole parable of Dhu'l-Qarnayn - that it refers to God's guidance rather than to worldly possessions.
97 Lit, "Blow!"
98 Lit, "they".
99 Lit., "my Sustainer's promise".
100 Some of the classical commentators (e.g., Tabari) regard this as a prediction of a definite, historic event: namely, the future break-through of the savage tribes of "Gog and Magog", who are conceived of as identical with the Mongols and Tatars (see note 95 above). This "identification" is mainly based on a well-authenticated Tradition - recorded by Ibn Hanbal, Bukhari and Muslim - which tells us that the Apostle of God had a prophetic dream to which he referred, on awakening, with an exclamation of distress: "There is no deity save God! Woe unto the Arabs from a misfortune that is approaching: a little gap has been opened today in the rampart of Gog and Magog! " Ever since the late Middle Ages, Muslims have been inclined to discern in this dream a prediction of the great Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century, which destroyed the Abbasid Empire and, thus, the political power of the Arabs. However, the mention, in verses 99-101 of this surah, of "the Day" - i.e., the Day of Judgment - in connection with "Gog and Magog" shows that "the time appointed by my Sustainer" relates to the coming of the Last Hour, when all works of man will be destroyed. But since none of the Qur'anic references to the "approach" or the "nearness" of the Last Hour has anything to do with the human concept of time, it is possible to accept both of the above interpretations as equally valid in the sense that the "coming of the Last Hour" comprises an indefinite - and, in human terms, perhaps even immensely long span of time, and that the break-through of the godless forces of "Gog and Magog" was to be one of the signs of its approach. And, finally, it is most logical to assume (especially on the basis of 21 : 96-97) that the terms Yajuj and Majuj are purely allegorical, applying not to any specific tribes or beings but to a series of social catastrophes which would cause a complete destruction of man's civilization before the coming of the Last Hour. ]]