Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance: Difference between revisions

The gargantuan conquests of Alexander the Great, streching from Macedonia in the West to the river Indus in the East, left an indelible mark on all the regions where his troopers trode. Alexander founded cities, declared himself a god and the son of a god, solved the famous Gordian knot, initiated a new chapter in the history of civilizational exchange and spread Greek Hellenic culture far and wide. Dying at 33 of either alcohol overdose or perhaps poisoning, his legend quickly became larger than life. First Jews and then Christians claimed his as their own, though according to Theodore Theodor Nöldeke the origin of their Alexander Romances was actually a Pahlavi Persian Alexander romance (though probably written by a Syriac-speaking Christian) <Ref> Encyclopedia of Islam Volume IV E. J. Bril 1997, p. 127</Ref>. As the legend of Alexander spread, so to did the claims of his miraculous deeds grow in scope and size.  

The Dhul-Qarnayn of the Qur'an is the Alexander of legend, not as some authors have asserted the Alexander of hisory<ref>For example, [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.understanding-islam.com%2Fq-and-a%2Fsources-of-islam%2Fwho-is-the-prophet-zulqarnain-5247&date=2013-11-25 Amar Ellahi Lone] completely ignores the Alexander Legends of the 4^th-7^th century and focuses on a historical account of Alexander. [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iranchamber.com%2Fhistory%2Farticles%2Fzolqarnain_cyrus_quran.php&date=2013-11-25 Baha'eddin Khoramshahi] rejects Alexander based solely on his historical identity. And [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fanswering-islam.org%2FAuthors%2FNewton%2Falex.r.html&date=2013-11-25 Khalid Jan] gives background information on the historical Alexander and why he is not a fit to the Qur'anic story.  Expresses no knowledge of the Alexander legends.</ref> is that the story in the Qur'an is not based on an historically accurate account of Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BC).  Instead, it is based entirely upon legendary stories of Alexander which bare little resemblance to the Alexander of history.  In particular, the Qur'an parallels a Syriac legend where Alexander is portrayed as a monotheistic king who awaits the second coming of the Messiah and the end of the world.<ref name="Budge">{{cite web|url= http://books.google.com/books/about/The_History_of_Alexander_the_Great_Being.html?id=_14LmFqhc8QC|title= The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version of the Pseudo-Callisthenes, Volume 1|publisher= The University Press|author= Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge|date= 1889|archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref>

After leaving the muddy sea, The Qur'an tells us that Dhul-Qarnayn travels to the east where the sun rises. The author then conveys an odd and cryptic detail that the people living there have "no covering protection against the sun"; however, it gives no further explanation as to what that means. Again, the Syriac legend not only has an expanded, parallel account but it helps clarify the Qur'anic story. We are told that the people who live near the location where the sun "enters the window of heaven" (i.e. rises above the flat earth) must seek cover because the sun is much closer to the ground and its rays burn the people and animals there.

===Summary===

After seeing the numerous and explicit connections between the Qur'an and the Syriac Legend, it is easy to agree with Van Bladel who summaries the parallels between the two stories.

The parallels between the Syriac Legend and the Qur'an are obvious and striking and both accounts are clearly telling the same story. After establishing this fact, we must now determine the dependency between the two stories. Is the Qur'anic story based on the Syriac story? Is the Syriac story based on the Qur'an? Are both dependent upon earlier stories? In order to determine the answer to those questions, we must look at scholarly works that date both the Qur'anic account, the Syriac legend, and prior Alexander folklore.

While the Syriac story tells a specific version of the Alexander Romance, many aspects of this legend draw from earlier materials. Similar stories of Alexander pre-date both the Qur'an and Syriac legends by many centuries including folklore found in earlier Christian and Jewish writings. Parallels to the ancient Epic of Gilgamesh and the Biblical story of Gog and Magog can be clearly identified in the story as well.

The Jewish historian Josephus (37-100 CE), records in his two books legendary stories of Alexander that were known to the Jews of the first century. In his first book, "The Antiquities of the Jews", he mentions that the tribes of Magog are called the Scythians by the Greeks. In his second book, "The Wars of the Jews", he further details that these people are held behind a wall of iron that has been built by Alexander the Great. In this legend, Josephus relates that Alexander allows the tribes of Magog to come out from behind the wall and create havoc in the land. Here we see a very clear connection of Alexander to an iron gate and the tribes of Magog being prevented from plundering the land. This shows that local folklore already contained the basic backbone of the Alexander story almost six centuries before the story found in the Qur'an.

According to Muslim scholars, Al-Kahf (The Cave) was generally revealed in Mecca, except verse 28 and verses 83-101 which were revealed in Medina.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://tanzil.net/pub/ebooks/History-of-Quran.pdf|title= The History of the Quran|publisher= Al-Tawheed|author= Allamah Abu Abd Allah al-Zanjani, Mahliqa Qara'i (trans.)|page=34|date= |archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref> Based on this information, we can date the story of Dhul-Qarnayn, contained in verses 83-101, sometime after the Hijra in June 622 CE and before Muhammed's death in June 632 CE; a more specific date is difficult to ascertain with any certainty. Since the community of Muslims in Mecca were far from well known outside of Arabia, the possibility of their story influencing Christians in Syria is extremely remote. The Syriac work also contains no references to the Arabic phrases used in the Qur'anic account, which would be expected if the Syrian story was using that as its source.<ref name="VanBladel" /> While the timelines are tight, it is clear that the composition of the Syriac legend fits into the timeline of the Qur'anic revelation and likely pre-dates it.