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Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance: Difference between revisions
Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance (view source)
Revision as of 20:55, 14 February 2024
, 14 February→Early Islamic Scholars: Added two more classical Islamic scholars explicitly identifying Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander.
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{{Quote|Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah| | {{Quote|Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah| | ||
A man who used to purvey stories of the foreigners, which were handed down among them, told me that Dhul-Qarnayn was an Egyptian whose name was Marzuban bin Mardhaba, the Greek.<ref>Ibn Ishaq; Guillaume, Alfred, ed. (2002). "The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah". Oxford University Press. pp. 138–140. ISBN 978-0-19-636033-1.</ref>}} | A man who used to purvey stories of the foreigners, which were handed down among them, told me that Dhul-Qarnayn was an Egyptian whose name was Marzuban bin Mardhaba, the Greek.<ref>Ibn Ishaq; Guillaume, Alfred, ed. (2002). "The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah". Oxford University Press. pp. 138–140. ISBN 978-0-19-636033-1.</ref>}} | ||
Tafsir Muqātil ibn Sulaymān, which is the earliest surviving authentically attributed tafsir, explicitly names him as Alexander. | |||
{{Quote|1=[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=67&tSoraNo=18&tAyahNo=83&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 Tafsir Muqātil ibn Sulaymān on Verse 18:83]|2={And they ask you about Dhul-Qarnayn}, meaning Alexander Caesar, and he is called: the holding king, on Qaf, which is a mountain surrounding the world, Dhul-Qarnayn, but it was called Dhul-Qarnayn; Because he came to the two horns of the sun, the east and the west.}} | |||
As does the famous Qur'anic scholar al-Zamakhshari. | |||
{{Quote|1=[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=2&tSoraNo=18&tAyahNo=83&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 Tafsir Al-Zamakhshari on verse 18:83]|2=Dhul-Qarnayn is Alexander who ruled the world. It was said that it was owned by two believers, Dhul-Qarnayn and Sulayman.}} | |||
Al-Qurturbi gives both Ibn Ishaq's provided name (with the description matching Alexander the Great), as well as noting Ibn Hisham, the Muslim historian who preserved and edited Ibn Ishaq's biography of the prophet, named him as Alexander. | |||
{{Quote|1=[https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=5&tSoraNo=18&tAyahNo=83&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=1 Tafsir Al-Qurtubi on Verse 18:83]|2=Ibn Ishaq said: Among Dhul-Qarnayn’s reports was that he was given what no one else had been given, so his paths were extended until he traveled from the lands to the easts and wests of the earth. He would not set foot on land except that he was given authority over Its people, Until he reached from the East and the West to what is beyond it; there is nothing of creation. Ibn Ishaq said: Someone who narrated hadiths from the non-Arabs regarding the knowledge of Dhul-Qarnayn that they had inherited told me that Dhul-Qarnayn was a man from the people of Egypt whose name was Marzban bin Mardaba the Greek, from the descendants of Jonah bin Japheth bin Noah. Ibn Hisham said: His name is Alexander, and he is the one who built Alexandria, so it is attributed to him.}} | |||
Tafsir al-Jalalayn, a classical Sunni tafsir of the Qur'an, composed by Jalal ad-Din al-Mahalli in 1459 CE identifies Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander. | Tafsir al-Jalalayn, a classical Sunni tafsir of the Qur'an, composed by Jalal ad-Din al-Mahalli in 1459 CE identifies Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander. | ||