The Quraysh Question the Prophet (s.a.w.) about Dhū al-Qarnayn

According to the narrations on the occasion of this surah’s revelation, the Quraysh sent three men to the tribe of Najrān to learn certain questions from the Jews of that land and to test the Messenger of God (s.a.w.) with them. Having heard what the Quraysh envoys had to say, the Jews of Najrān told them: Ask him about three matters; if he answers in the way that we know, he is truthful in his claims… .(5) One of those questions was: Who was the man who travelled between the East and the West until he reached the barrier of Gog and Magog, and what is his story?(6) In this verse God the Glorified alludes to that question, saying: The polytheists of the Hijaz (the Quraysh) (taught by the Jews) ask you about Dhū al-Qarnayn; tell them that I will soon recite to you, from God, verses (that are revealed to me on this subject): “And they ask you about Dhū al-Qarnayn. Say: I will recite to you a mention of him”.

Another possibility regarding the mention of Dhū al-Qarnayn’s story is that the polytheists knew this story from chest to chest, and since they were interested in stories and history, they asked the Prophet (s.a.w.) about his story – not about his standing and his personality in knowledge and action. The Noble Qur’an, however, following a wise method, taught them that in question and answer one should ask about a person’s standing and identity in knowledge and action, not about the details of his identity papers – for example, what his name was, who his father and mother were, in which land he lived, and when he was born and when he died – because knowing these matters is of no benefit to them. Hence the Qur’an’s answer, which comes in the following verses, is an account of Dhū al-Qarnayn’s identity in knowledge and action. In short, the central axis of the Wise Qur’an’s mission is teaching the Book and wisdom on the one hand and purifying souls on the other; other, lower-level topics have no place in the content of this divine Book.