Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance

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Alexander the Great depicted with horns on a silver tetradrachm of Lysimachos, circa 297-281 B.C.

Introduction

Although there are some who consider Dhul-Qarnayn mentioned in Quran 18:86 to be one of the Persian kings, Darius the Great or Kyros, most scholars believe it to be referring to Alexander the Great, since Dhul-Qarnayn means the "two-horned one", and Alexander the Great was depicted on widely circulating coins with two horns on his headgear. There is also evidence that Alexander the Great was called Tre-Qarnayia in Aramaic, which means "the two horned-one".

It is very likely that the Qur'an was influenced by the so-called "Alexander Legend", part of the "Alexander Romance", since the journeys of the two-horned one to the setting and rising places of the sun, and the enclosing of Gog and Magog in the Qur'an closely match the records of the same episode in the Alexander Legend.

Gog and Magog

Gog and Magog in the Bible

The first account of the legend of Gog and Magog can be found in the Book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament of the Bible. According to this prophetical account, Gog and Magog will arrive at a later time in an apocalyptical scenario.

1. The word of The Lord came to me, saying,
2. Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3. and say, Thus says the Lord The Lord: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:
4. and I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;
5. Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
6. Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with you.
Ezekiel 38:1-6

Gog and Magog are also mentioned in the Revelation of John, but the background is totally different and there seems to be no relationship between the two records.

6. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years.
7. And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison,
8. and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9. They went up over the breadth of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them.
Revelation of John 20:6-9

Gog and Magog according to the Alexander Legend

When Alexander the Great died on June 10, 323 BC, legends about his life arised soon after. The first collections of the so-called Alexander Romance were written in Greek can be dated to the 3rd century. Later versions were written in many languages including Armenian, Georgian, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, Serbian, Slavonic, Romanian, Hungarian, German, English, Italian, and French. Farther east, a late Mongol version is also extant.

Within an early 7th century version of the Alexander Romance, we have the famous Syriac legend about Alexander. It has been known since 1890 thanks to Theodore Nöldeke that there is a very close similarity between the account in the Qur’an of Dhu’l Qarnayn and this Alexander Legend. It was written in Syriac, probably around 630 AD, but incorporates older traditions such as that of the iron gate built by Alexander dating to at least the time of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the 1st century AD[1] and journeys to the rising and setting place of the sun from the Epic of Gilgamesh.[2]

The Alexander Legend begins with Alexander expressing his desire to explore the ends of the Earth. It then has Alexander saying that God has given him horns on his head and he asks for power over other kingdoms. After collecting seven thousand iron and brass workers from Egypt, he goes to the fetid sea at the end of the Earth. He makes some evildoers go to the shore of the fetid sea, and they die. He and his men go to the window of heaven into which the sun sets between the fetid sea and a bright sea (although it does not say that the sun actually sets into this sea). The place where the sun rises is over the sea and the people who live there must flee from it and hide in the sea. The story then describes how Alexander[3] prostrates before God and travels through the heavens at night to the place where the sun rises. He then visits some mountains and the sources of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Next it has Alexander coming to some people who tell him about the Huns within the Northern mountains (Gog, Magog and other kings are listed). He offers to build an iron and brass gate to close up the breach between the mountains, does so and prophesises that God will destroy the gate at the end of the world and the Huns will go forth through it. Next there is a battle with the Persians and their allies after they were told of his gate. It then ends with Alexander worshiping in Jerusalem and his death in Alexandria.[4][5][6]

Kevin Van Bladel sums up the correspondence with the Qur’an passage in his recent article:

Thus, quite strikingly, almost every element of this short Qur’anic tale finds a more explicit and detailed counterpart in the Syriac Alexander Legend. In both texts the specific events are given in precisely the same order. Already earlier several cases of specific words that are exact matches between the Syriac and the Arabic were indicated. The water at the place where the sun sets is “fetid” in both texts, a perfect coincidence of two uncommon synonyms (Syraic Saryâ and Arabic hami’a).[7]

Gog and Magog according to the Qur'an

The account of Alexander the Great in the Qur'an can be found in the Surah of the Cave and starts at verse 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."
Quran 18:86

Surprisingly, Alexander the Great is regarded as a righteous follower of God who punishes disbelievers and promises reward for the believers:

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."
Qur'an 18:87-88

Then, he reaches the place where the sun rises:

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.
Quran 18:90

He meets people who let him build a barrier made of iron to protect themselves from the barbarians of Gog and Magog:

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.
Qur'an 18:93-97

After its completion, Alexander predicts that God will destroy the barrier at a certain time for an apocalyptic scenario:

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."
099. 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,-
Qur'an 18:98-100

Therefore, we have many confirmations that the story of Gog and Magog in the Qur'an derives from the Alexander Legend, a mythical account about Alexander the Great. This fact alone raises doubts and questions concerning the record in the Qur'an. However, even if this were not the case, the interpretation of the Qur'an contains many contradictions.

Contradictions in the Qur'an

The Qur'an refers to Alexander the Great as a holy man in an Islamic sense. However, according to many sources he not only believed in polytheism, but was also addicted to alcohol and never committed to Islam. This can in general also be said about the kings Kyros and Dareios.

But there are also contradictions against science. Did Alexander (or Kyros or Dareios) really find the places where the sun arises and disappears? This is impossible.

But this quote also clearly reveals that the knowledge of the author of the Qur'an in regards to the sun and space was influenced by contemporary literature and does not agree with modern science.

Moreover, the account does not agree with history. There is no place on earth where the iron walls built by Alexander (or Kyros or Dareios) can be found and there is also no evidence that Gog and Magog ever existed.

Conclusions

The story about Alexander the Great, his journeys to the setting and rising places of the sun and his barrier against Gog and Magog in the Qur'an are obviously derived from a version of the Alexander Legend, which was popular in the region at that time. Being a legend rather than a historical account, the story in the Qur'an contains many contradictions against history and science.

See Also

  • Alexander the Great - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Alexander the Great
  • Cosmology - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Cosmology

External Links

References

  1. ↑ Van Bladel, Kevin, “The Alexander legend in the Qur‘an 18:83-102″, In The Qur’ān in Its Historical Context, Ed. Gabriel Said Reynolds, p.181, New York: Routledge, 2007(See Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book VII, Chapter VII, Verse 4)
  2. ↑ Van Bladel 2007 op. cit. p.176 & p.197, note 6 See The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet IX - ancienttexts.org and The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet I - ancienttexts.org.
  3. ↑ Alexander, not the sun, as was incorrectly translated by A. W. Budge according to Van Bladel (Van Bladel 2007 op. cit. p. 198, note 12)
  4. ↑ A. W. Budge (trans.), “A Christian Legend Concerning Alexander” in The History Of Alexander The Great Being The Syriac Version Of The Pseudo-Callisthenes, pp. 144-158, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1889
  5. ↑ Budge's translation of the Syriac version and the much of the rest of the book can be viewed online at: The History Of Alexander The Great Being The Syriac Version Of The Pseudo-Callisthenes - Google books preview
  6. ↑ His translation is also quoted in full at A Christian Legend Concerning Alexander - answering-islam.org
  7. ↑ Van Bladel 2007 op. cit. p181
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