Dhul-Qarnayn (Arabic: ذو القرنين ḏū al-qarnayn, IPA: [ðuːlqarˈnajn]), literally "He of the Two Horns" or "He of the two centuries" [1] is a figure mentioned in the Qur'an, the sacred scripture of Islam, where he is described as a great and righteous ruler who built a long wall that keeps Gog and Magog from attacking the people who he met on his journey to the east (i.e., the rising of the sun). According to a classical interpretation, the name is due to his having reached the two 'Horns' of the Sun, east and west, where it rises and where it sets" during his journey.[2]
The identification of Dhul-Qarnayn in historical context is not clear, and therefore this subject has generated various theories. In modern scholarship the character is usually identified as Alexander the Great,[3] who is ascribed similar adventures in the Alexander romance.[4] The same opinion is held in traditional Islamic scholarship.[5] In other modern scholarship the character is usually identified as Cyrus the Great.[6] Some modern scholars also identify the character as Byzantine emperor Heraclius, who was celebrated by his contemporaries as a "second Alexander" and whose Persian campaign had inspired the Alexander romance.[7]
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Arabic "Dhul-Qarnayn" (Arabic: ذو القرنين, ḏū al-qarnayni) literally translates to "possessor of the two horns". "Dhu" (Arabic: ذو, ḏū) means "owner".
The story of Dhul-Qarnayn appears in sixteen verses of the Qur'an, specifically verses 18:83-98:
| Verse | Abdullah Yusuf Ali | Pickthall |
|---|---|---|
| 18:83 | They ask thee concerning Zul-qarnain Say, "I will rehearse to you something of his story." | They will ask thee of Dhu'l-Qarneyn. Say: "I shall recite unto you a remembrance of him." |
| 18:84 | Verily We established his power on earth, and We gave him the ways and the means to all ends. | Lo! We made him strong in the land and gave him unto every thing a road. |
| 18:85 | One (such) way he followed, | And he followed a road |
| 18:86 | 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." | Till, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and found a people thereabout. We said: "O Dhu'l-Qarneyn! Either punish or show them kindness." |
| 18:87 | 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). | He said: "As for him who doeth wrong, we shall punish him, and then he will be brought back unto his Lord, Who will punish him with awful punishment!" |
| 18:88 | "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." | "But as for him who believeth and doeth right, good will be his reward, and We shall speak unto him a mild command." |
| 18:89 | Then followed he (another) way. | Then he followed a road |
| 18:90 | 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. | Till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had appointed no shelter therefrom. |
| 18:91 | (He left them) as they were: We completely understood what was before him. | So (it was). And We knew all concerning him. |
| 18:92 | Then followed he (another) way. | Then he followed a road |
| 18:93 | Until, when he reached (a tract) between two mountains, he found, beneath them, a people who scarcely understood a word. | Till, when he came between the two mountains, he found upon their hither side a folk that scarce could understand a saying. |
| 18:94 | 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?" | They said: "O Dhu'l-Qarneyn! Lo! Gog and Magog are spoiling the land. So may we pay thee tribute on condition that thou set a barrier between us and them?" |
| 18:95 | 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: | He said: "That wherein my Lord hath established me is better (than your tribute). Do but help me with strength (of men), I will set between you and them a bank." |
| 18:96 | "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." | "Give me pieces of iron" - till, when he had leveled up (the gap) between the cliffs, he said: "Blow!" - till, when he had made it a fire, he said: "Bring me molten copper to pour thereon." |
| 18:97 | Thus were they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it. | And (Gog and Magog) were not able to surmount, nor could they pierce (it). |
| 18:98 | 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." | He said: "This is a mercy from my Lord; but when the promise of my Lord cometh to pass, He will lay it low, for the promise of my Lord is true." |
According to Tafsir ibn Kathir by Ibn Kathir, a widely used 14th-century commentary on the Qur'an:
According to Maududi's conservative 20th century commentary:
The suggestion that Dhul-Qarnayn is Cyrus the Great is supported by some of the Quranic commentaries (Tafsir) and Islamic scholars such as Allameh Tabatabaei (in his Tafsir al-Mizan)[8], Allameh Tehrani [6], Syed Ahmed Khan (known interpreter of the Quran), Abul Kalam Azad (Minister of Culture, India, in Majma' al-Bayan), and Dr. Baha-ed-Din Khorramshahi. Mohammad Ebrahim Bastani Parizi the historian, also deny that Dhul-Qarnayn was Alexander the Great.[9] They tend to suspect that Dhul-Qarnayn was Cyrus the Great, the King and founder of Achaemenid empire. They provide strong evidence, including artifacts, stone carving palaces and graves. Some of their reasons are:
Azad also rejected what it already belongs to Qahtaan Arabic Yemen, on the basis that the question of the Jews by the Prophet was with a view to embarrass him, even if the Arabs of Quraish were aware of it and asked what was miraculous.[9][8][10]
Azad builds his theory on the basis that the origin of the name "Dhul-Qarnayn" comes from the name stated in the Torah is "Haqqərānayim" which is launched by the name of the Jews to Cyrus, to show tolerance to them when his predecessors had been unjust to them.[9][10][11]
In Arabic translations of the Old Testament, the word "Dhul Qarnayn" (Hebrew: Ba'al Haqqərānayim בעל הקרנים) appears once in the Old Testament, in the Book of Daniel 8:20:
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