Surah Al-Kahf 18:83

وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَن ذِي الْقَرْنَيْنِ

18:83 “They ask you about Dhul Qarnain” - This was the question some Jews asked the Holy Prophet (pbuh) with reference to the vision of Daniel mentioned in their Scriptures (cf. Daniel 8.1-20). As the Holy Qur’ân always does, it offers a corrected account of an important historical event and concludes with great prophecies related to said account. Qurnainالْقَرْنَيْنِ is the dual form of qaran قَرَنَ . Qaran is a generation,a century, an edge, border, or a brave man (Tâj, Lisân, Qâmûs). According to Qâmûs, it also means 100 years. ‘Alî(rz) was given the title of Dhul Qarnain by the Holy Prophet (pbuh) (“Inna laka baita fi Jannat wa innaka la Dhul Qarnaiha). This prophecy is about ‘Alî(rz), and found its fulfilment when ‘Alî became the effective ruler of the lands of Tigris and Furat. Dhul Qarnain also means the “two-horned one”, “one belonging to two generations”, or “ruler of two kingdoms with two borders”. In the past, it was common that the kings and the knights used to wear crowns with two horns as a symbol of their power and bravery. The Old Testament (Daniel 8.20) gives the interpretation of Daniels vision. “The ram that you saw possessing the two horns, stands for Midya and Persia, and the hairy he-goat stands for the king of Greece”. In that light, the opinion of some that the Dhul Qarnain of the Holy Qur’ân is Alexander the Great of Greece is wrong. Most importantly, it is impossible that the figure is Alexander of Greece since it is not consistent with the Holiness of the Qur’ân to praise a polytheist.

The question arises then as to who this king was for whom the Holy Qur’ân finds words of praise. Who was this king and Prophet (cf. 18:87-88; 18:95) who ruled over a vast empire and was concerned with the welfare of his people? To get back to the biblical vision, he was Jehovahs “friend”, His “anointed" and His “shepherd", and he “performed all His pleasures” (Daniel 8.3-20). When one reads the Qur’ânic narration that follows carefully, all descriptions apply to Cyrus, known as Kaiqabad Khourus - the king of Midya and Persia who lived about 535 BC (Târîkh Ibn Khaldûn). He is erroneously called Darius in the Bible (Isaiah 44.28; 45.1-3; Ezra1.1-2; Chron. 36.22-23).

This narration teaches us in the first place that worldly renunciation is not a prerequisite to true spirituality. Worldly status and royal power need not conflict with piety or prophethood. We find two other such examples in the Holy Qur’ân, that of David and then of his son Solomon, who were both powerful kings. Dhul Qarnain, or Cyrus, was the founder of the great Midyo-Persian Empire, which is symbolized by the two horns. He was a great and just ruler of vast territories (cf: 18:84). He is famous for the “Cyrus cylinder”, which some scholars call the first human rights charter in history. The verses 18:85-98 describe the extent of his territories and the people he ruled. His empire extended to the black sea and Asia Minor in the west (18:85-88), in the east to the barren lands of Baluchistan and Afghanistan (18:90) and in the north to the territory between Caspian Sea and Caucasus mountains. The narration of Gog and Magog and Dhul Qarnain are inseparably linked with each other. Verses 18:99-100 contain the prophecies about the return of nations described here as Gog and Magog, who will try to seize control over these lands.