سورة الکهف
Surah Al-Kahf 18:86
The Place of Refuge · Verse 86 of 110
حَتَّىٰ إِذَا بَلَغَ مَغْرِبَ الشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُبُ فِي عَيْنٍ حَمِئَةٍ وَوَجَدَ عِنْدَهَا قَوْمًا ۗ قُلْنَا يَا ذَا الْقَرْنَيْنِ إِمَّا أَنْ تُعَذِّبَ وَإِمَّا أَنْ تَتَّخِذَ فِيهِمْ حُسْنًا
Abdul Mannan Omar
So that when he reached (the land of) the setting of the sun, (the western most part of his empire,) he found it (- the sun) disappearing (as if) in a vast muddy pool of murky water (- the Black Sea), and close to it he found a certain people. We said, `Dhul-Qarnain! you may either punish (them) or treat them with kindness. (They being at your disposal.)´
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
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.
Ahmed Ali
Till he reached the point of the setting sun, and saw it set behind a muddy lake, and near it found a people. We said: "O Dhu´l-Qarnain, you may either punish them or treat them with kindness."
12 more translations
Ali Unal
Until, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he saw it setting in a spring of hot and black muddy water, and nearby he found a people. We said: "O Dhu’l-Qarnayn! You can either punish them or you can treat them with kindness. (Which way will you choose?)"
Daryabadi
Until when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he perceived it setting in a miry spring, and he found beside it a nation. We said: Zul Qarnian! either chastise them or take in respect of them the way of kindness.
Faridul Haque
To the extent that when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and found a nation there; We said, "O Zul-Qarnain – either punish them or choose kindness for them."
Maulana Muhammad Ali
Until, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it going down into a black sea, and found by it a people. We said: O Dhu-l-qarnain, either punish them or do them a benefit.
Maulvi Sher Ali
Until when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting as if in a pool of murky water, and near it he found a people. WE said, `O Dhu'l Qarnain, you may punish them, or treat them with kindness.'
Muhammad Asad
[And he marched westwards] till, when he came to the setting of the sun, it appeared to him that it was setting in a dark, turbid sea; and nearby he found a people [given to every kind of wrongdoing].
Muhammad Musin Khan
Until, when he reached the setting place of the sun, he found it setting in a spring of black muddy (or hot) water. And he found near it a people. We (Allah) said (by inspiration): "O Dhul-Qarnain! Either you punish them, or treat them with kindness."
Muhammad Pickthall
Till, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and found a people thereabout. We said: O Dhu'l-Qarneyn! Either punish or show them kindness.
Muhammad Sarwar
to the West where he found the sun setting into a warm source (spring) of water and a people living near by. We asked him, "Dhu 'l-Qarnayn, you may punish them or treat them with kindness?"
Muhammed ali Shakir
Until when he reached the place where the sun set, he found it going down into a black sea, and found by it a people. We said: O Zulqarnain! either give them a chastisement or do them a benefit.
Rashad Khalifa
When he reached the far west, he found the sun setting in a vast ocean, and found people there. We said, "O Zul-Qarnain, you can rule as you wish; either punish, or be kind to them."
Shabbir Ahmed
(Conquering land to the west toward Lydia, he reached as far as the Black Sea.) The sun was setting and it appeared to him as if it was setting in the dark waters. (The local people, given to wrongdoing, fought against him and lost.) We said, "O Zul-Qarnain! Either punish or be kind to them."
Commentary 18:86 Christian theologians raise an objection to this verse saying that the statement is wrong. How can it be possible that a sun, which is supposed to be…
حَتَّىٰ إِذَا بَلَغَ مَغْرِبَ الشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُبُ فِي عَيْنٍ حَمِئَةٍ َ
18:86 Christian theologians raise an objection to this verse saying that the statement is wrong. How can it be possible that a sun, which is supposed to be several times larger than the earth, can sink into a muddy pool of murky water? The answer to this objection is very simple: If that were the case, the Holy Qur’ân would have used the words: wa kâna hunâk taghrub al-Shamsوكان هناك تغرب الشمس – indicating that was the place where the sun actually sank and disappeared. Now compare these verses with, “Here I am saving my people from the land of the sunrise and the setting of the sun” (Zechariah 8.7). The place mentioned here was most probably the delta of the Danube on the Black Sea