ward for it. He anfwered, This fhall be a ffeparation between me and
thee : but I will firft declare unto thee the fignification of that which thou
couldeft not bear with patience. The veffel belonged to certain poor mena
who did their bufinefs in the fea : and I was minded to render it unfer-
viceable, becaufe there was a kingb behind them, who took every found fliip
by force. As to the youth, his parents were true believers ; and we feared
left he, being an unbeliever, fhould oblige them to fuffer his perverfenefs
and ingratitude: wherefore we defired that their L ord might give them a
more righteous child in exchange for him, and one more affectionate towards
themc. And the wall belonged to two orphan youths d in the city, and
under it was a treafure hidden which belonged to them •, and their father was
'a righteous man: and thy L o r d was pleafed that they ftiould attain their
full age, and take forth their treafure, through the mercy of thy L ord.
And I did not what thou baft feen of mine own will, but by God's direction.
This is the interpretation of that which thou couldeft not bear with patience.
The Jews will afk thee concerning D hu’ lk arn e in e. Anfwer I
will rehearfe unto you an account of him. We made him powerful in the
earth, and we gave him means to accomplifh every thing he pleafed. And
he followed his way, until he came to the place where the fun fetteth;
and he found it to fet in a fpring of black mud f ; and he found near the
fame-a certain people.8. And we faid, O D hu’ lk a r n e in , either punifh
this
a Certain poor men ;] They were ten brothers,
five of whom were paft their labour by
reafon of their age 1.
b A king;] Named Jaland Ebn Karkar, or
Minwar Ebn J aland al Azdi 2.
c That their L ord might give them a more
righteous child, &c.] It is faid that they had afterwards
a daughter, who was the wife and the
mother of a prophet ; and that her fon converted
a whole nation 3.
d Two orphans ;] Their names were Afram
and Sarim 4 *.
* Dbu'lkarnein.] Or, The two-horned. The
generality of the commentators * fuppofe the
perfon here. meant to be Alexander the Great,
or, as they call him, Ifcander al Rumi, king of
Perfia and Greece ; but there are very different
■ opinions as to the reafon of this furname. Some
think it was given him becaufe he was king of
the Eajl and of the Weft, or becaufe he had
made expeditions to both thofe extream parts of
the earth; or elfe becaufe he had two horns on
his diadem, or two curls of hair, like horns,
on his forehead; or, which is moft probable,
by reafon of his great valour. Several modern
writers 6 rather fuppofe the furname was oc*
eafioned by his being reprefented in his coins
and ftatues with horns, as the fon of Jupiter
Ammon; or elfe by his being compared by the
prophet Daniel to a he-goat7 ; tho’ he is there
reprefented with but one horn 8.
There are fome good writers, however, who
believe the prince intended in this paflage of
the Koran, was not Alexander the Grecian, but
another great conqueror,'who bore the fame
name and furname, and was much more ancient
than he, being contemporary with Abraham, and
one of the kings of Perfia of the firft race 9 s or,
as others fuppofe, a king of Taman, named
Afaab Ebn al Rayejh 10.
They all agree he was a true believer, but
whether he was a prophet or no, is a dilputed
point.
f He found the fun to fet in a fpring of black
muds] That is, it feemed fo to him, when he
came to the ocean, and faw nothing but wate
r 1 1 .
g A certain peoples] An unbelieving nation,
who were cloathed in the skins of wild beafts,
and lived upon what the fea caft on fhore 1 2.
1 Idem. * Idem* 3 Idem. 4 Idem. * Idem, A l Z amakshari,. J allalo’ddir,
Yahya. 6 Scaliger, ^ Emend, temp. L ’E mpereur, not. in Jachiad.Dan. viii. ç.G ol.inAlfrag.
p. 58, &c. 7 Schickard. Tarikb reg. Perf. p. 73. 8 See Dan. viii. ^ A êuieeda,
K hondemir, Tarikb Montakhab, &c. V. D’H erbel. Bibl. Orient. Art. Efcander. 10 Ex trad.
E bn Abbas. V. Poc. Spec. p. 58. 11 Al Beidawï, J allalo’ddin. l2 Jidem.
this people, or ufe gentlenefs towards them*. He anfwered, Whofoever o f
them (hall commit injuftice, ,wp will furely puniih him in this world; afterwards
(hall he return unto his L o r d , and he (hall puniih him with a
fevere punilhment. But whofoever believeth, and doth that which is right,
(hall receive the mod; excellent reward, and we will give him in command
that which is eafy. Then he continued his way, until he came to the place
where the fun rifethb; and he found it to rife on certain people, unto whom
we had" not given any thing wherewith to (helter themfelves therefrom'. Thus
it was ; and we comprehended with our knowledge the forces which were
with him. And he profecuted his journey from fouth to north, until he came
between the two mountains'1 ; beneath which he found certain people, who
could fcarce underftand what was faid'. And they faid, O D hu’ l k a r n e in ,
verily G og and M a g o g wafte the land1 ; (hall we therefore pay thee tribute,
on condition that thou build a rampart between us and them ? He anfwered,
The power wherewith my L ord hath ftrengthened me, is better
than your tribute: but aflift me ftjenuoudy, and I will fet a ftrong wall
between you and them. Bring me iron in large peices, until it fill up the
[■ pace between the two fides o f thefe mountains. And he faid to the workmen,
Blow with your bellows, until it make the iron red hot as fire. And
he faid further, Bring me molten brafs, that I may pour upon it. .Wherefore,
when this wall was finijhed, Gog and M agog could not fcale it, neither
could
Magog. Thefe mountains are fituate in Armenia
and Adherbijan, or, according- to others,
much more northwards, on the confines of
Turkeftan 2. The relation of a journey taken
to this rampart, by one who was fent on pur-
pofe to view it by the KhaTif al Wathec,
may be feen in D'Herbelot. 3v
e Who could fcar.ce underftand what was faids]
By reafon of the ftrangenefe of their fpeech
and their flownefs of apprehenfion ; wherefore
they were obliged to make ufe of an
interpreter 4.
f Gog and Magog wafte the land s] The A-
rabs call them Tajui and Majuj, and fay they
are two nations or tribes delcended from Ja-
phet the fon of Noah, or, as others write, Gog
are a tribe of the Turks, and Magog of thofe of
Gildn the Geli and Geles of' Ptolemy and
Strabo 6.
It is faid thefe barbarous people made their
irruptions into the neighbouring countries in
the fpring, and deftroyed and carried off all 1
the fruits of the earth; and fome pretend they .
were man-eaters 7.
a Either punijh them or- ufe them with gentleness]
For G o d gave Dbu'lkarnein his choice,
either to deftroy them for their infidelity, or to
inflruft them in the true faith ; or, according to
others, either to put them to the fword, or to
take them captives: but the words which follow
confirm thé former interpretation, by which
it appears he chofe to invite them to the true
religion, and to punifh only the difobedient and
incredulous. •
b The place where the fun rifeth ;] i. e. That
part of the habitable world on which the fun firft
rifes. '
c And he found it to rife on a certain people, &c.]
Who had neither cloaths nor houfes, their
country not bearing any buildings, but dwelt in
holes under ground, into which they retreated
from the heat of the fun I. Jallalo'ddin fays they
were the Zenj, a black nation lying fouth-weft of
Ethiopia. They feem to be the Troglodytes of
the ancients.
^The two mountains;] Between which Dbu'lkarnein
built the famous rampart, mentioned
immediately, againft the irruptions of Gog and
1 Iidem. 2 A l Beidawi.
Idem. V. D’Herbel. ubifupra.
3 Bibl. Orient. Art. Jagiouge.
6 V. G ol. in Alfrag. p. 207.
4 A l B e i d a w i .
A l B e i d a w i . . .