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Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance: Difference between revisions
Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance (view source)
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==Background== | ==Background== | ||
The gargantuan conquests of Alexander the Great, stretching 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 | The gargantuan conquests of Alexander the Great, stretching 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. Separately to the Greek recensions of the ''Alexander Romance'' traditions (known as ''Pseudo-Callisthenes''), a Syriac Legend with a distinctive storyline appeared in the 6th or 7th century CE. While probably written by a Syriac-speaking Christian, Theodor Nöldeke saw signs that the Syriac had been translated from a lost Pahlavi Persian source<ref> Encyclopedia of Islam Volume IV E. J. Bril 1997, p. 127</ref>. As the legend of Alexander spread, so too did the claims of his miraculous deeds grow in scope and size. | ||
===Historical vs Legendary Alexander=== | ===Historical vs Legendary Alexander=== | ||
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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|18|60|64}}|And [mention] when Moses said to his servant, "I will not cease [traveling] until I reach the junction of the two seas or continue for a long period." But when they reached the junction between them, they forgot their fish, and it took its course into the sea, slipping away. So when they had passed beyond it, [Moses] said to his boy, "Bring us our morning meal. We have certainly suffered in this, our journey, [much] fatigue." He said, "Did you see when we retired to the rock? Indeed, I forgot [there] the fish. And none made me forget it except Satan - that I should mention it. And it took its course into the sea amazingly". [Moses] said, "That is what we were seeking." So they returned, following their footprints.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|18|60|64}}|And [mention] when Moses said to his servant, "I will not cease [traveling] until I reach the junction of the two seas or continue for a long period." But when they reached the junction between them, they forgot their fish, and it took its course into the sea, slipping away. So when they had passed beyond it, [Moses] said to his boy, "Bring us our morning meal. We have certainly suffered in this, our journey, [much] fatigue." He said, "Did you see when we retired to the rock? Indeed, I forgot [there] the fish. And none made me forget it except Satan - that I should mention it. And it took its course into the sea amazingly". [Moses] said, "That is what we were seeking." So they returned, following their footprints.}} | ||
The next section of the story (18:65-82), in which Moses is taught lessons about justice by a servent of God, is in line with a contemporary genre of literature in which a | The next section of the story (18:65-82), in which Moses is taught lessons about justice by a servent of God, is in line with a contemporary genre of literature in which a wandering ascetic is upset by notions of divine justice demonstrated to him by an angel before the events are explained to him. In the section of his book quoted above, Reynolds goes on to highlight the work of Roger Paret who has demonstrated a connection between the Quranic justice story and a sixth century CE tale, the Leimon (or Pratum Spirituale, Spiritual Meadow) of John Moschus (d. 619 CE).<ref>Ibid. p. 465</ref> The basic structure of this story is identical to the Quranic passage, and has many similarities of detail though also differences.<ref>For an english translation of the relevant passage in the Spiritual Meadow see the screenshots in this tweet by Professor Sean Anthony [https://twitter.com/shahanSean/status/1476999552230166532 Twitter.com] - 31 Dec 2021 [https://web.archive.org/web/20220402192704/https://twitter.com/shahanSean/status/1476999552230166532 archive]</ref> | ||
==Parallels to the Syriac Legend== | ==Parallels to the Syriac Legend== | ||
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===Early Christian Legends=== | ===Early Christian Legends=== | ||
As early as the 399 CE, local stories of Alexander building a wall against the Huns had made their way into Christian writings as well. St. Jerome, an early church father, writes about rumors of attacks against Jerusalem by invaders from the north. He refers to these invaders as Huns who live near the gate that was built by Alexander. | As early as the 399 CE, local stories of Alexander building a wall against the Huns had made their way into Christian writings as well. St. Jerome, an early church father, writes about rumors of attacks against Jerusalem by invaders from the north. He refers to these invaders as Huns who live near the gate that was built by Alexander, though the wall does not yet have escatalogical implications. | ||
{{Quote| Letters of St. Jerome, Letter 77| For news came that the hordes of the Huns had poured forth all the way from Mæotis (they had their haunts between the icy Tanais and the rude Massagetæ; where '''the gates of Alexander keep back the wild peoples''' behind the Caucasus); and that, speeding here and there on their nimble-footed horses, they were filling all the world with panic and bloodshed.<ref>Translated by W.H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W.G. Martley. From "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series", Vol. 6. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1893.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3001077.htm Letters of St. Jerome: Letter 77] <small>([http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newadvent.org%2Ffathers%2F3001077.htm&date=2013-11-24 archived])</small>>.</ref>}} | {{Quote| Letters of St. Jerome, Letter 77| For news came that the hordes of the Huns had poured forth all the way from Mæotis (they had their haunts between the icy Tanais and the rude Massagetæ; where '''the gates of Alexander keep back the wild peoples''' behind the Caucasus); and that, speeding here and there on their nimble-footed horses, they were filling all the world with panic and bloodshed.<ref>Translated by W.H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W.G. Martley. From "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series", Vol. 6. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1893.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3001077.htm Letters of St. Jerome: Letter 77] <small>([http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newadvent.org%2Ffathers%2F3001077.htm&date=2013-11-24 archived])</small>>.</ref>}} | ||
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===Spread of the Syriac Legend to Arabia=== | ===Spread of the Syriac Legend to Arabia=== | ||
The popularity of the Syriac legend of Alexander is evidenced by its inclusion in other works soon after its composition | The popularity of the Syriac legend of Alexander is evidenced by its inclusion in other works soon after its composition: The "Song of Alexander", composed a few years later but before the Arab conquest of Syria sometime between 630 CE and 636 CE; The Syriac Apocalpyse of Pseudo-Ephrem composed between 640 CE and 683 CE and the "Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius" composed around 692 CE.<ref name="VanBladel" /><ref>{{cite book |date=2010 |last1=van Donzel |first1=Emeri |last2=Schmidt |first2=Andrea |title=Gog and Magog in Early Eastern Christian and Islamic Sources: Sallam's Quest for Alexander's Wall |publisher=Leiden: Brill |pages=25–31 |isbn=9789004174160}}</ref> Since the work was composed as a piece of propaganda, its intentional dissemination makes sense of its rapid adoption and popularity in the region. This would have included Christian Arabs of the Ghassanid. It is even possible that early Muslim followers heard the story of the Syrian legend during their raids on Mu'ta on the borders of Syria around September 629 CE.<ref name="VanBladel" /> | ||
===Views of Modern Scholars=== | ===Views of Modern Scholars=== | ||
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{{Quote|The Meaning of the Qur'an, Introduction to Chapter 18|This Surah was sent down in answer to the three questions which the mushriks of Makkah, in consultation with the people of the Book, had put to the Holy Prophet in order to test him. These were: (1) Who were "the Sleepers of the Cave"? (2) What is the real story of Khidr? and (3) What do you know about Dhul-Qarnayn? As these three questions and the stories involved concerned the history of the Christians and the Jews, and were unknown in Hijaz, a choice of these was made to test whether the Holy Prophet possessed any source of the knowledge of the hidden and unseen things.<ref name="Maududi18">{{cite web|url= http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/maududi/introductions/mau-18.php|title= Tafsir Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an|publisher= |author= Maududi|date= 1972 |series= Introduction to Chapter 18|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usc.edu%2Forg%2Fcmje%2Freligious-texts%2Fmaududi%2Fintroductions%2Fmau-18.php&date=2013-11-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>}} | {{Quote|The Meaning of the Qur'an, Introduction to Chapter 18|This Surah was sent down in answer to the three questions which the mushriks of Makkah, in consultation with the people of the Book, had put to the Holy Prophet in order to test him. These were: (1) Who were "the Sleepers of the Cave"? (2) What is the real story of Khidr? and (3) What do you know about Dhul-Qarnayn? As these three questions and the stories involved concerned the history of the Christians and the Jews, and were unknown in Hijaz, a choice of these was made to test whether the Holy Prophet possessed any source of the knowledge of the hidden and unseen things.<ref name="Maududi18">{{cite web|url= http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/maududi/introductions/mau-18.php|title= Tafsir Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an|publisher= |author= Maududi|date= 1972 |series= Introduction to Chapter 18|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usc.edu%2Forg%2Fcmje%2Freligious-texts%2Fmaududi%2Fintroductions%2Fmau-18.php&date=2013-11-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>}} | ||
Some Apologists argue that the identity of Dhul-Qarnayn must have been well known to the Jews and should therefore be found in the Bible. However, no justification is ever given as to why only the Bible is considered and not other literature used by Jews and Christians of the 7<sup>th</sup> century. This includes the Talmud, apocryphal books, and other non-canonical writings. In fact, this very account refers to another non-canonical story, [[Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Quran|the Sleepers of the Cave]], which is a 5<sup>th</sup> century legend popular in both Syria and Arabia. In point of fact the Alexander | Some Apologists argue that the identity of Dhul-Qarnayn must have been well known to the Jews and should therefore be found in the Bible. However, no justification is ever given as to why only the Bible is considered and not other literature used by Jews and Christians of the 7<sup>th</sup> century. This includes the Talmud, apocryphal books, and other non-canonical writings. In fact, this very account refers to another non-canonical story, [[Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Quran|the Sleepers of the Cave]], which is a 5<sup>th</sup> century legend popular in both Syria and Arabia. In point of fact the storyline of the Alexander Legend was well known to both Christian and Jewish audiences in late antiquity, so the assumption that the story is well known to the audience of this verse once again points to the Alexander Legend. | ||
Another detail about this account is that the audience of the verse is not asked to simply identify Dhul-Qarnayn. If that were the case, the answer would have been something such as "he is Alexander" or "he is Cyrus". The speaker in the verse actually asks the audience to relate a ''story'' about Dhul-Qarnayn. This once again points to a well known narrative about Dhul-Qarnayn, the Alexander | Another detail about this account is that the audience of the verse is not asked to simply identify Dhul-Qarnayn. If that were the case, the answer would have been something such as "he is Alexander" or "he is Cyrus". The speaker in the verse actually asks the audience to relate a ''story'' about Dhul-Qarnayn. This once again points to a well known narrative about Dhul-Qarnayn, the Alexander Legend. In order for the audience to know the "right" answer to that question, they must already know the details of this story. This story does not appear anywhere in the Bible; but it does occur, point-by-point and detail-by-detail in the Alexander legend. Therefore, they must be using the Alexander legend as their source for the "right" answer. | ||
An argument based on this verse ignores the wide range of stories in circulation by Jews and Christians of the 7<sup>th</sup> century. It projects a modern understanding of the cannon of scripture back upon the people of that time. The Alexander legends were incorporated into the writings and theology of the Jews and Christians in Syria and Arabia, thus it is easy to see why the speaker in the verse expects a well-rehearsed answer. | An argument based on this verse ignores the wide range of stories in circulation by Jews and Christians of the 7<sup>th</sup> century. It projects a modern understanding of the cannon of scripture back upon the people of that time. The Alexander legends were incorporated into the writings and theology of the Jews and Christians in Syria and Arabia, thus it is easy to see why the speaker in the verse expects a well-rehearsed answer. | ||
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==Historicity of the Story== | ==Historicity of the Story== | ||
As for the story itself, either in the | As for the story itself, either in the Syriac Legend or in the Qur'an, it would seem to be almost entirely legendary. Besides the fact that Alexander was not a Christian, Muslim, or "believer" of any type all of the adventures of the Legend have no basis in the historical sources available on Alexander. The trope about Alexander damming up Gog and Magog till the end of the world is clearly mythical, feeding into established Judeao-Christian tropes on the end of the world, and has no basis in history or archaeology as there is no giant iron wall anywhere on the earth which is containing an entire nation of people. The very existence of such a wall for the past 2300 years would defy all of logic and science as it is known, and in any event would have been spotted by modern satellite technology, which it has not been. | ||
===Historical Claims in the Hadith=== | ===Historical Claims in the Hadith=== | ||