[or Dhul-qarnain]. Say, ‘I will rehearse to you something of his story.’
84. Verily We established his power on earth, and We gave him the ways and the means to all ends.
85. One (such) way he followed,
86. Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: Near it he found a People: We said: ‘O Zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority,) either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness.’
87. He said: ‘Whoever doth wrong, him shall we punish; then shall he be sent back to his Lord; and He will punish him with a punishment unheard-of (before).
88. But whoever believes, and works righteousness,- he shall have a goodly reward, and easy will be his task as We order it by our Command.’
89. Then followed he (another) way,
90. Until, when he came to the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had provided no covering protection against the sun.
91. (He left them) as they were: We completely understood what was before him.
92. Then followed he (another) way,
93. Until, when he reached (a tract) between two mountains, he found, beneath them, a people who scarcely understood a word.
94. They said: ‘O Zul-qarnain! the Gog and Magog (People) do great mischief on earth: shall we then render thee tribute in order that thou mightest erect a barrier between us and them?’
95. He said: ‘(The power) in which my Lord has established me is better (than tribute): Help me therefore with strength (and labour): I will erect a strong barrier between you and them:
96. Bring me blocks of iron.’ At length, when he had filled up the space between the two steep mountain-sides, He said, ‘Blow (with your bellows)’ Then, when he had made it (red) as fire, he said: ‘Bring me, that I may pour over it, molten lead.’
97. Thus were they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it.
98. He said: ‘This is a mercy from my Lord: But when the promise of my Lord comes to pass, He will make it into dust; and the promise of my Lord is true.’
99. On that day We shall leave them to surge like waves on one another: the trumpet will be blown, and We shall collect them all together.
100. And We shall present Hell that day for Unbelievers to see, all spread out,-
101. (Unbelievers) whose eyes had been under a veil from remembrance of Me, and who had been unable even to hear.
102. Do the Unbelievers think that they can take My servants as protectors besides Me? Verily We have prepared Hell for the Unbelievers for (their) entertainment.
103. Say: ‘Shall we tell you of those who lose most in respect of their deeds?-
104. Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they thought that they were acquiring good by their works?’
105. They are those who deny the Signs of their Lord and the fact of their having to meet Him (in the Hereafter): vain will be their works, nor shall We, on the Day of Judgment, give them any weight.
106. That is their reward, Hell, because they rejected Faith, and took My Signs and My Messengers by way of jest.
107. As to those who believe and work righteous deeds, they have, for their entertainment, the Gardens of Paradise,
108. Wherein they shall dwell (for aye): no change will they wish for from them.
109. Say: ‘If the ocean were ink (wherewith to write out) the words of my Lord, sooner would the ocean be exhausted than would the words of my Lord, even if we added another ocean like it, for its aid.’
110. Say: ‘I am but a man like yourselves, (but) the inspiration has come to me, that your God is one God: whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness, and, in the worship of his Lord, admit no one as partner.’ “
The following commentary regarding the Noble Verses above was copied from Appendix 6, page 738, from the Noble Quran’s Commentary.
“We now come to the Iron Gate which corresponds exactly to the Quranic description, and has the best claim to be connected with Alexander’s story. It is near another Derbend in Central Asia, Hissar District, about 150 miles southeast of Bukhara. A very narrow defile, with overhanging rocks, occurs on the main route between Turkestan and India: latitude 38 degrees N; longitude 67 degrees E. It is now called in Turkish-Buzghol Khana (Goat- house), but was formerly known as the Iron Gate (Arabic, Bab al Hadid; Persian, Dar-i-ahani; Chinese Tie-men-kuan). There is no iron gate there now, but there was one in the seventh century, when the Chinese traveler Hiouen Tsiang saw it on his journey to India. He saw two folding gates cased with iron hung with bells. Nearby is a lake named Iskandar Kul, connecting the locality with Alexander the Great.
We know from history that Alexander, after his conquest of Persia and before his journey to India, visited Sogdiana (Bukhara) and Maracanda (Samarqand). We also know from al Maqdis, the Arab traveler and geographer; who wrote about A.H. 375 (A.C. 985-986) that the Abbasi Caliph al Wathiq (842-846 A.C.) sent out mission to Central Asia to report on this Iron Gate. They found the defile 150 yards wide: on two jambs, made with bricks of iron welded together with molten lead, were hung two huge gates, which were kept closed. Nothing could correspond more exactly with the description in (Noble Verses) 18:95-96.
If, then, the Barrier in 18:95-98 refers to the Iron Gate near Bukhara, we are able to proceed to a consideration of the Gog-Magog people with some confidence. They were the Mongol tribes on the other side of the Barrier, while the industrious men who did not understand Dhu al Qarnayn’s language were the Turks, with their agglutinative language, so different from the languages then spoken in Western Asia.
The Barrier served its purpose for the time being. But the warning that the time must come when it must crumble to dust has also come true. It has crumbled to dust. Long since, the Mongols pushed through on their westward journey, pushing the Turks before them, and the Turks became a European Power and still have a footing in Europe. We need not bother about the legends of the Gog and Magog people. They were reputed to be giants, and two tiny hills in flat Cambridgeshire are derisively called the Gog-Magog hills! Similarly the statues of Gog and Magog in the Guildhall in London, which M.M.A. takes so seriously, only remind us how legends are apt to grow and get transported to strange places.
In the Alexander legends of medieval Europe, Gog and Magog are said to have come with 400,000 men to the help of Porus whom Alexander defeated, and to have fled after that defeat. They fled to the mountains, and Alexander built a wall with brass gates to prevent their irruptions. See Paul Meyer, Alexandre le Grand dans la literature francaise du Moyen Age: Paris, 1886; Vol. 2, pp. 386-389.
Personally, I have not the least doubt that Dhu al Qarnayn is meant to be Alexander the Great, the historic Alexander, and not the legendary Alexander, of whom more presently. My first appointment after graduation was that of Lecturer in Greek history. I have studied the details of Alexander’s extraordinary personality in Greek historians as well as in modern writers, and have since visited most of the localities connected with his brief but brilliant career.
Few readers of Quranic literature have had the same privilege of studying the details of his career. It is one of the wonders of the Quran, that, spoken through an Ummi’s (illiterate) mouth, it should contain so many incidental details which are absolutely true. The more our knowledge increases, the more we feel this. There are little touches which need not have been mentioned. They come in incidentally like the incidental remarks of a person full of knowledge, who does not intend to put forward these points but whose fullness of knowledge brings them in inevitably.
One such point occurs in the mention of Alexander’s westward journey (18:86). He saw the sun set in a piece of murky water which is described as “Spring”. Most commentators have understood the “Spring” to be the sea, and the “murky water” to be its dark-blue water. Nizami, in his Romance of Alexander, takes Alexander right west along North Africa to Andalusia and the Atlantic Ocean. There is no historic proof that Alexander ever reached the Atlantic. But he was of course familiar with the deep-blue waters of the Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean interpretation may pass if we had not a closer explanation. Alexander’s first exploits were when he was a mere boy, in the reign of his father Phillip. The region of Illyricum was due west of Macedonia, and Macedonia’s first expansion was in that direction. The town of Lychnis was annexed to Macedonia and thus the western frontier of Macedonia was secured. The northern frontier towards the Danube had already been secured, and the lesson he subsequently gave no Thebes secured him against attack from the Greek States to the south, and prepared the way for his great march east against the Persian Empire.
To the west of the town of Lychnis is a lake170 square miles in area, fed by underground springs that issue through limestone rocks and give out murky water. Both town and lake are now called Ochrida, about 50 miles west of Monastir. The water is so dark that the river which forms the outlet of the lake to the north is called the Black Drin. Looking at the sunset from the town, the observer would see the sun set a pool of murky water (18:86). It was a question before the boy Alexander — the dreamy, impulsive, fearless rider — whether he would put the barbarous Illyricans to the sword or show them mercy. He showed true discrimination and statesmanship. He punished the guilty but showed kindness to the innocent, and thus consolidated his power in the west. This I construe to be the meaning of (Noble Verses) 18:86-87; otherwise these verses do not seem to be perfectly clear.
Another point may be noted. The three episodes mentioned are the journey to the west, the journey to the east, and the journey to the Iron Gate. The journey to the west I have just explained. The journey to the east was to the Persian Empire. Here he found a people who lived in the open and wore little clothing. This might apply to people who live in an inland place in the latitude of Persepolis or Multani. He left them alone as they were (18:91).
He was not warring against populations: he was warring against the proud but effete Persian Empire. He left them as they were, with their local institutions, and under their local chiefs. In feeling, he treated them as his own, not as aliens. In some things, he himself adopted their ways. His followers misunderstood him. But Allah understood, for He approves of all things that lead to Unity among mankind.
The direction of the third journey is not mentioned. The Commentators suggest the north, but they might with better reason have suggested the south, as Alexander visited Egypt. But the visit to the Iron Gate was to the East — a continuation of his journey east. That is why the direction is not mentioned again. Here his mission was different. He had to protect, against turbulent and restless invaders. He helped them to protect themselves, but warned them that all human precautions, though good and necessary, are vain without Allah’s help.
Each of the episodes mentioned is historical. But the pomp and glitter of military conquest are not mentioned. On the contrary, spiritual motives are revealed and commended. We need not know or learn any history or geography or science or psychology or ethics to understand them. But the more real knowledge we have, the more completely shall we understand them and the lessons to be drawn from them. The earthly journeys are treated as mere symbols to show us the evolution of a great and noble soul which achieved so much in a short earthly life.
His career was so extraordinary that it impressed his contemporaries as a world event. It undoubtedly was on of the greatest world events in history. Legends began to grow up round his name. In many cases the legends overlaid the history. Today the world is thrilled by Sir Ayrel Stein’s identification of Aornos, a very small geographical detail in a great career full of lessons, in political, ethical, and religious wisdom.
But the generations immediately following Alexander’s period wrote the transmitted all sorts of wonderful legends that passed current in East and West. The philosopher Kallisthenes had been with Alexander in Asia. Under his name was produced a Greek book in Alexandria some time before the second century of the Christian era. It was translated into Latin in the third century. Translations were subsequently made into most of the European languages. In Chaucer’s time (1340-1400) these Alexander legends were known to every “weight that hath discrecion” (The Monk in Canterbury Tales).
Alexandria was a focus of Christian and Jewish learning for some centuries. The Christians also made Alexander a saint. The Jews carried the Alexander cycle into the East. Our Persian poet Jami (A.H. 535-599, A.C. 1141-1203) worked it up into his epic the Iskandar-nama. He is careful to show the historical or semi-historical and the ethical parts separately. The one relates to action or exploits (Iqbal) and the other to wisdom (Khirad). He had the advantage of the Quranic story before him. That story mentions three historical episodes incidentally, but draws our attention to matters of the weightiest spiritual significance, and that is the chief thing to note in the story.”
My Personal Thoughts and Proofs:
Notice very carefully that Noble Verse 18:90 says: “Until, when he came to the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had provided no covering protection against the sun.“
If you look at the Oriental people today (i.e., China, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam, etc…) you would notice that their eyes are a bit stretched out. The reason for this formation of their eyes is because the amount of excessive sun rays that hit their eyes. Of course, it probably took thousands of years for their eyes to be formed and effected this way from the sun rays.
The point is that those people, the Gog and Magog, whom GOD Almighty “provided no covering protection against the sun” seem to belong to what we call today the “Oriental” race according to the Noble Quran.
Also, notice that Noble Verses 18:91-94 say:
“91. (He left them) as they were: We completely understood what was before him.
92. Then followed he (another) way,
93. Until, when he reached (a tract) between two mountains, he found, beneath them, a people who scarcely understood a word.
94. They said: “O Zul-qarnain! the Gog and Magog (People) do great mischief on earth: shall we then render thee tribute in order that thou mightest erect a barrier between us and them?”
This means that Zul-qarnain left those “Oriental” people and traveled further to where he found another type of people who looked different and understood his language; “a people who scarcely understood a word. (The Noble Quran, 18:93)”. They complained about the people of “Gog and Magog” for doing mischief on earth. If you look at the countries bordering China today from the West and the South West such as India, Pakistan, Russia, etc…., then you would notice that they are not Oriental countries, even though they have direct borders with China and Mongolia.
As Sheikh (Minister) Abdullah Yusuf Ali said above, the people of Gog and Magog were the Mongolians (which could include Mongolia, China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan), and the righteous people whom Zul-qarnain protected with the Iron Gates were the Turks (which could include Turkey, South Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and several other Arab countries).
It just immediately grabbed my attention when Allah Almighty in the Noble Quran described the people of Gog and Magog as people whom He the Almighty “provided no covering protection against the sun. (The Noble Quran, 18:90)” because it perfectly fits the description of the Oriental race today.
If you look at the Oriental countries today, you would see that they are Pagan countries or Idol Worshiping Countries. If you look at the Middle Eastern and South Russian (such as Chechneya, Georgia, Uzpakistan, etc…) today, then you would see that they are Muslim countries.
Some Muslims believe that Dhul-qarnain or Zul-qarnain was the Persian King Cyrus:
Please visit The Gog and Magog in the Bible and the Noble Quran.
Please also visit Was King Cyrus of Persia the Dhul-qarnain of the Noble Quran who stopped Gog and Magog?
Please be advised that for this link, I disagree with the author for claiming that Alexander was a Pagan. According to the historical references above in this article, Alexander was considered a great person to the Jews and is considered like a Saint for the Christians, even though he existed before Jesus peace be upon him. His importance to both Jews and Christians eliminates the (perhaps false) fact that he was an idol worshiper.
Will the army of Gog and Magog return?
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him taught us that one of the Sings of the Hour (the Day of Judgment) is when the army of Gog and Magog returns and fights the Muslims:
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: “The Prophet said ‘The people will continue performing the Hajj and ‘Umra to the Ka’ba even after the appearance of Gog and Magog.’ Narrated Shu’ba extra: The Hour (Day of Judgment) will not be established till the Hajj (pilgrimage to the Mecca) is abandoned. (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Pilgrimage (Hajj), Volume 2, Book 26, Number 663)”
Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: “The Last Hour would not come until you fight with a people wearing shoes of hair and the Last Hour would not come until you fight with a people having small eyes and broad snub noses. (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book Pertaining to the Turmoil and Portents of the Last Hour (Kitab Al-Fitan wa Ashrat As-Sa`ah), Book 041, Number 6958)”
The People of Gog and Magog seem to be the Jews, Christians, Oriental and Hindu Pagans of today:
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said that the people of Hell are the people of Gog and Magog:
Abu Sa’id reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: “Allah, the High and Glorious, would say: O Adam I and he would say: At Thy service, at thy beck and call, O Lord, and the good is in Thy Hand. Allah would say: Bring forth the group of (the denizens of) Fire. He (Adam) would say: Who are the denizens of Hell? It would be said: They are out of every thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine. He (the Holy Prophet) said: It is at this juncture that every child would become white-haired and every pregnant woman would abort and you would see people in a state of intoxication, and they would not be in fact intoxicated but grievous will be the torment of Allah. He (the narrator) said: This had a very depressing effect upon them (upon the companions of the Holy Prophet) and they said: Messenger of Allah, who amongst us would be (that unfortunate) person (who would be doomed to Hell)? He said: Good tidings for you, Yajuj and Majuj (i.e., Gog and Magog in English) would be those thousands (who would be the denizens of Hell) and a person (selected for Paradise) would be amongst you. He (the narrator) further reported that he (the Messenger of Allah) again said: By Him in Whose Hand is thy life, I hope that you would constitute one-fourth of the inhabitants of Paradise. We extolled Allah and we glorified (Him). He (the Holy Prophet) again said: BY Him in Whose Hand is my life, I wish you would constitute one-third of the inhabitants of Paradise. We extolled Allah and Glorified (Him). He (the Holy Prophet) again said: By Him in Whose Hand is my life, I hope that you would constitute half of the inhabitants of Paradise. Your likeness among the people is the likeness of a white hair on the skin of a black ox or a strip on the foreleg of an ass. (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book of Faith (Kitab Al-Iman), Book 001, Number 0430)”
If we were to look at the Noble Quran, we would see that Allah Almighty promised those who rejected His Sings in the Noble Quran from Jews, Christians and Pagans the torture of Hell Fire:
“Those who reject (Truth), among the People of the Book [Jews and Christians] and among the Polytheists, will be in Hell-Fire, to dwell therein (for aye). They are the worst of creatures. (The Noble Quran, 98:6)”
The Arabic word for Polytheists in Noble Verse 98:6 is “Mushrikeen”, which literally means those who take partners with GOD Almighty in worship. Examples of “Mushrikeen” in Islam are: Trinitarian Christians, for they partner Jesus and the Holy Spirit with GOD Almighty in worship, and the Hindus and Buddhists, for they partner their idols with GOD Almighty in worship.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Pagan Orientals and Hindus along with the Sexually open, Satanic, Western Societies who are mostly Jews and Christians all end up in Hell Fire.
Bibliography:
1- The Meaning of the Holy Qur’ân.
Author: Abdullah Yusuf Ali.
Published by: Amana Publications, 10710 Tucker Street, Suite B, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2223 USA.
Telephone: (301) 595-5777.
Fax: (301) 595-5888.
ISBN: 0-91597-59-0 (HC).
Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri reported that the Messenger of Allaah (Peace & Blessings of Allaah be upon Him) said: “At the end of the time of my ummah, the Mahdi will appear. Allaah will grant him rain, the earth will bring forth its fruits, he will give a lot of money, cattle will increase and the ummah will become great. He will rule for seven or eight years. (Mustadrak al-Haakim, 4/557-558; he said: this is a hadeeth whose isnaad is saheeh, Al-Dhahabi agreed with him, and al-Albaani said: this is a saheeh sanad, and its men are thiqaat (trustworthy), Silsilat al-ahaadeeth al-saheehah, vol. 2, p. 336, hadeeth 771)
“By Him in Whose Hand is my life, Ibn Maryam (Jesus Christ) would certainly pronounce Talbiyah for Hajj or for Umrah or for both (simultaneously as a Qarin) in the valley of Rawha.” (Sahih Muslim, Book 7, No. 2877)
