The View of Some Commentators on the Identity of Dhū al-Qarnayn
Dhū al-Qarnayn is one of the least known and most debated figures of the Qur’an. Surah al-Kahf refers to him through the story of his travels and world conquest and his building of a barrier against Gog and Magog.
Nearly thirty possibilities, drawn from four nations – Arab, Roman, Iranian and Chinese – have been put forward concerning his identity, none of which rests on firm and conclusive proof. Some of them are mentioned here.
Fakhr Rāzī reports three views on the identity of Dhū al-Qarnayn and offers explanations for his being given this title:
a) Alexander of Macedon, the Greek;
b) the statement of Abū Rayḥān, the astronomer of Herat, in al-Āthār al-Bāqiyah, who identified him as Abū Karib Shamir ibn ʿUbayr ibn Afrīqash al-Ḥimyarī;
c) an unknown righteous servant to whom God granted knowledge, wisdom and awe.
Fakhr Rāzī accepts the first view. For it is established in history that the only person who traversed the East and West of the world of his day, became its master and built the world-famous barrier was Alexander the Greek; what the Qur’an describes has no historical instance other than Alexander the Greek; one who accomplishes a work of world scale deserves an enduring name; and he is the one who built Alexandria in Egypt and named it after himself. Therefore Dhū al-Qarnayn can be none other than Alexander the Greek. This view, however, faces a strong objection: he was a student of the sage Aristotle and followed his school. The Noble Qur’an praises him for his greatness, and this Qur’anic honour would require Aristotle’s school to be true and sound – yet there is no way to regard Aristotle’s school as true. And God knows best!(16)
It should be noted that what Fakhr Rāzī says about Aristotle – that his school cannot be judged true and sound – does not agree with what he himself relates about Aristotle in al-Maṭālib al-ʿĀliyah min al-ʿIlm al-Ilāhī. There he writes: “It is related that whenever a problem became difficult for Aristotle’s companions, they would go to his grave and discuss it there, and the problem would be solved for them. The same thing often happens at the graves of great scholars and ascetics…”.(17)
Ālūsī, in the course of the many ups and downs he presents, and without placing much trust in what history yields, writes: If Dhū al-Qarnayn was a student of Aristotle, he may not have agreed with him in his scholarly views.(18) Beyond this, Mullā Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī has said that Aristotle was a sage, a worshipper and a monotheist, who believed that the world is created in time (ḥudūth) and subject to change(19); what has become widely attributed to Aristotle concerning the world is a misconception arising from failure to understand his words, and the same holds for the words of the other pillars of wisdom.
The Master, ʿAllāmah Shaʿrānī (r.a.), held that Dhū al-Qarnayn is none other than Alexander of Macedon.
The Jews knew him, because he conquered Bayt al-Muqaddas without killing anyone, left them in the religion they held, honoured their scholars, kept their laws and judges in place, and commanded them to follow the Torah that was in use among them. Abū Rayḥān Bīrūnī said that Dhū al-Qarnayn was one of the kings of Ḥimyar. Some in our own time believe that Dhū al-Qarnayn is Cyrus, king of Persia, and that the Jews know him too; yet the first view (that Dhū al-Qarnayn is Alexander of Macedon) is the most evident and the best known.(20)
The Master, ʿAllāmah Shaʿrānī (r.a.), writes under the verse “… then he will be returned to his Lord”(21) that these words show that Dhū al-Qarnayn believed in God and the Day of Resurrection, since he was a student of Aristotle and learned from him monotheism, the immateriality of the soul and its survival after death, just as his teacher believed. Alexander’s brilliance across all the regions of the earth spread the Greek sciences and the Greek language among people; schools of medicine, astronomy and philosophy were built, and their language remained current in the world for nearly a thousand years, like Arabic after Islam. Their teachings were gathered in Egypt, and they built the Library of Alexandria. Apart from the prophets, no one succeeded as Alexander of Macedon did in promoting the sciences, refining souls and sharpening minds; for this reason he became renowned among kings.(22)
ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī (r.a.), citing ʿAllāmah Sayyid Hibat al-Dīn Shahristānī, writes that the Dhū al-Qarnayn mentioned in the Qur’an lived several centuries before Alexander of Macedon and was one of the righteous kings of Yemen, whose custom in naming was to use the word “Dhī”, as in Dhī Hamdān, Dhī Ghumdān, Dhī al-Manār, Dhī Adhghār and Dhī Yazan; and that he was a Muslim, a monotheist and just.(23) He then raises the possibility that he was Cyrus the Great. At the end of the verses on Dhū al-Qarnayn he gives a lengthy discussion of who Dhū al-Qarnayn was, in two parts, Qur’anic and historical. From the context and explicit wording of certain verses he concludes that he was called by this very name even in his lifetime; that he believed in God and in the Resurrection; that a prophet from among the prophets supported him; and that he attained a kingdom in the world that took him on journeys to the East and the West.
The Master, ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī (r.a.), then sets out possibilities about who Dhū al-Qarnayn was, citing historians and commentators. After refuting the proofs of all the possibilities and views, he favours the sixth view and does not reject it. He identifies Dhū al-Qarnayn with Cyrus the Great, and regards his barrier as the one in the Dariel Gorge between the Georgian city of Tbilisi and Vladikavkaz, which in the local language is called Demirqapu, meaning “iron gate”. By Gog and Magog he understands the Mongol people, an invading group who lived in north-east Asia and who sometimes attacked China, at other times Armenia and northern Iran through the Dariel Gorge of the Caucasus, and at other times, after the barrier was built, northern Europe.(24) This theory was first put forward by Mr. Abū al-Kalām Āzād (d. 1379 AH)(25), who is said to have been a renowned researcher and commentator and India’s minister of culture. Some historical evidence and inscriptions, however, such as the “Charter of the Conquest of Babylon”, show that Cyrus was an idol-worshipper, since they mention the idol Marduk (the national god of the Babylonians).(26)
It is worth noting:
a) According to some historians, two historical figures bore the name “Dhū al-Qarnayn”. The Dhū al-Qarnayn mentioned in the Qur’an was a righteous and believing man who lived in the time of Prophet Abraham (a.s.); his name was Alexander, son of the first Caesar of Rome, a descendant of Sām son of Noah. The second Dhū al-Qarnayn was Alexander son of Philip, who was not a believer.(27)
b) Of the views on Dhū al-Qarnayn, two are the better known. One: Alexander the Roman, the student of Aristotle, who lived before the birth of the Messiah (a.s.), was a believer, had faith in the sharīʿah prevailing in his time, and spread and promoted culture, civilisation and learning. Two: according to Abū Rayḥān Bīrūnī’s report, he was one of the kings of Ḥimyar and one of the Tubbaʿ kings.(28)
c) The world-conquerors known to recorded history after the flood of Noah (a.s.) were three: Alexander of Macedon, Caesar and Cyrus the Great. For the time before the flood of Noah (a.s.), no recorded history is available.
d) In identifying “Dhū al-Qarnayn” with any of these figures, the features given in the Qur’an must be taken into account:
One. According to the verses of the Qur’an, he was a believer and received divine words directly or indirectly, and from the prophet of his time.
Two. He acted by God’s command and was not one of the rulers the Qur’an condemns: “Indeed kings, when they enter a town, ruin it and make the most honoured of its people the most humbled”(29). Rather, he treated people with kindness and affection, and his wars were in truth waged to end the oppression of tyrants and to rescue people living under the rule of oppressors. Dhū al-Qarnayn removed from the path the tyrants who stood in the way of people’s progress, and left people free to choose their path and their religion.
Three. The Qur’anic Dhū al-Qarnayn treated the people of the West of the earth and of the East of the earth alike, without any difference.
History records some of these virtues of Cyrus the Great: in his wars and conquests he did not kill the elders of the people, eliminated only the corrupters and tyrants, did not interfere with anyone’s religion, and did not compel people to accept any particular religion.(30) Confirming these accounts about him, of course, requires further research. In any case, anyone who wishes to identify the Qur’anic Dhū al-Qarnayn with Cyrus or Alexander must establish historically the particulars that the Noble Qur’an states about his attributes and characteristics.
The View of Some Commentators on the Identity of Dhū al-Qarnayn
Dhū al-Qarnayn is one of the least known and most debated figures of the Qur’an. Surah al-Kahf refers to him through the story of his travels and world conquest and his building of a barrier against Gog and Magog.
Nearly thirty possibilities, drawn from four nations – Arab, Roman, Iranian and Chinese – have been put forward concerning his identity, none of which rests on firm and conclusive proof. Some of them are mentioned here.
1) The View of Fakhr Rāzī
Fakhr Rāzī reports three views on the identity of Dhū al-Qarnayn and offers explanations for his being given this title:
a) Alexander of Macedon, the Greek;
b) the statement of Abū Rayḥān, the astronomer of Herat, in al-Āthār al-Bāqiyah, who identified him as Abū Karib Shamir ibn ʿUbayr ibn Afrīqash al-Ḥimyarī;
c) an unknown righteous servant to whom God granted knowledge, wisdom and awe.
Fakhr Rāzī accepts the first view. For it is established in history that the only person who traversed the East and West of the world of his day, became its master and built the world-famous barrier was Alexander the Greek; what the Qur’an describes has no historical instance other than Alexander the Greek; one who accomplishes a work of world scale deserves an enduring name; and he is the one who built Alexandria in Egypt and named it after himself. Therefore Dhū al-Qarnayn can be none other than Alexander the Greek. This view, however, faces a strong objection: he was a student of the sage Aristotle and followed his school. The Noble Qur’an praises him for his greatness, and this Qur’anic honour would require Aristotle’s school to be true and sound – yet there is no way to regard Aristotle’s school as true. And God knows best!(16)
It should be noted that what Fakhr Rāzī says about Aristotle – that his school cannot be judged true and sound – does not agree with what he himself relates about Aristotle in al-Maṭālib al-ʿĀliyah min al-ʿIlm al-Ilāhī. There he writes: “It is related that whenever a problem became difficult for Aristotle’s companions, they would go to his grave and discuss it there, and the problem would be solved for them. The same thing often happens at the graves of great scholars and ascetics…”.(17)
2) The Opinion of Ālūsī
Ālūsī, in the course of the many ups and downs he presents, and without placing much trust in what history yields, writes: If Dhū al-Qarnayn was a student of Aristotle, he may not have agreed with him in his scholarly views.(18) Beyond this, Mullā Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī has said that Aristotle was a sage, a worshipper and a monotheist, who believed that the world is created in time (ḥudūth) and subject to change(19); what has become widely attributed to Aristotle concerning the world is a misconception arising from failure to understand his words, and the same holds for the words of the other pillars of wisdom.
3) The View of the Master, ʿAllāmah Shaʿrānī
The Master, ʿAllāmah Shaʿrānī (r.a.), held that Dhū al-Qarnayn is none other than Alexander of Macedon.
The Jews knew him, because he conquered Bayt al-Muqaddas without killing anyone, left them in the religion they held, honoured their scholars, kept their laws and judges in place, and commanded them to follow the Torah that was in use among them. Abū Rayḥān Bīrūnī said that Dhū al-Qarnayn was one of the kings of Ḥimyar. Some in our own time believe that Dhū al-Qarnayn is Cyrus, king of Persia, and that the Jews know him too; yet the first view (that Dhū al-Qarnayn is Alexander of Macedon) is the most evident and the best known.(20)
The Master, ʿAllāmah Shaʿrānī (r.a.), writes under the verse “… then he will be returned to his Lord”(21) that these words show that Dhū al-Qarnayn believed in God and the Day of Resurrection, since he was a student of Aristotle and learned from him monotheism, the immateriality of the soul and its survival after death, just as his teacher believed. Alexander’s brilliance across all the regions of the earth spread the Greek sciences and the Greek language among people; schools of medicine, astronomy and philosophy were built, and their language remained current in the world for nearly a thousand years, like Arabic after Islam. Their teachings were gathered in Egypt, and they built the Library of Alexandria. Apart from the prophets, no one succeeded as Alexander of Macedon did in promoting the sciences, refining souls and sharpening minds; for this reason he became renowned among kings.(22)
4) The View of the Master, ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī
ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī (r.a.), citing ʿAllāmah Sayyid Hibat al-Dīn Shahristānī, writes that the Dhū al-Qarnayn mentioned in the Qur’an lived several centuries before Alexander of Macedon and was one of the righteous kings of Yemen, whose custom in naming was to use the word “Dhī”, as in Dhī Hamdān, Dhī Ghumdān, Dhī al-Manār, Dhī Adhghār and Dhī Yazan; and that he was a Muslim, a monotheist and just.(23) He then raises the possibility that he was Cyrus the Great. At the end of the verses on Dhū al-Qarnayn he gives a lengthy discussion of who Dhū al-Qarnayn was, in two parts, Qur’anic and historical. From the context and explicit wording of certain verses he concludes that he was called by this very name even in his lifetime; that he believed in God and in the Resurrection; that a prophet from among the prophets supported him; and that he attained a kingdom in the world that took him on journeys to the East and the West.
The Master, ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī (r.a.), then sets out possibilities about who Dhū al-Qarnayn was, citing historians and commentators. After refuting the proofs of all the possibilities and views, he favours the sixth view and does not reject it. He identifies Dhū al-Qarnayn with Cyrus the Great, and regards his barrier as the one in the Dariel Gorge between the Georgian city of Tbilisi and Vladikavkaz, which in the local language is called Demirqapu, meaning “iron gate”. By Gog and Magog he understands the Mongol people, an invading group who lived in north-east Asia and who sometimes attacked China, at other times Armenia and northern Iran through the Dariel Gorge of the Caucasus, and at other times, after the barrier was built, northern Europe.(24) This theory was first put forward by Mr. Abū al-Kalām Āzād (d. 1379 AH)(25), who is said to have been a renowned researcher and commentator and India’s minister of culture. Some historical evidence and inscriptions, however, such as the “Charter of the Conquest of Babylon”, show that Cyrus was an idol-worshipper, since they mention the idol Marduk (the national god of the Babylonians).(26)
It is worth noting:
a) According to some historians, two historical figures bore the name “Dhū al-Qarnayn”. The Dhū al-Qarnayn mentioned in the Qur’an was a righteous and believing man who lived in the time of Prophet Abraham (a.s.); his name was Alexander, son of the first Caesar of Rome, a descendant of Sām son of Noah. The second Dhū al-Qarnayn was Alexander son of Philip, who was not a believer.(27)
b) Of the views on Dhū al-Qarnayn, two are the better known. One: Alexander the Roman, the student of Aristotle, who lived before the birth of the Messiah (a.s.), was a believer, had faith in the sharīʿah prevailing in his time, and spread and promoted culture, civilisation and learning. Two: according to Abū Rayḥān Bīrūnī’s report, he was one of the kings of Ḥimyar and one of the Tubbaʿ kings.(28)
c) The world-conquerors known to recorded history after the flood of Noah (a.s.) were three: Alexander of Macedon, Caesar and Cyrus the Great. For the time before the flood of Noah (a.s.), no recorded history is available.
d) In identifying “Dhū al-Qarnayn” with any of these figures, the features given in the Qur’an must be taken into account:
One. According to the verses of the Qur’an, he was a believer and received divine words directly or indirectly, and from the prophet of his time.
Two. He acted by God’s command and was not one of the rulers the Qur’an condemns: “Indeed kings, when they enter a town, ruin it and make the most honoured of its people the most humbled”(29). Rather, he treated people with kindness and affection, and his wars were in truth waged to end the oppression of tyrants and to rescue people living under the rule of oppressors. Dhū al-Qarnayn removed from the path the tyrants who stood in the way of people’s progress, and left people free to choose their path and their religion.
Three. The Qur’anic Dhū al-Qarnayn treated the people of the West of the earth and of the East of the earth alike, without any difference.
History records some of these virtues of Cyrus the Great: in his wars and conquests he did not kill the elders of the people, eliminated only the corrupters and tyrants, did not interfere with anyone’s religion, and did not compel people to accept any particular religion.(30) Confirming these accounts about him, of course, requires further research. In any case, anyone who wishes to identify the Qur’anic Dhū al-Qarnayn with Cyrus or Alexander must establish historically the particulars that the Noble Qur’an states about his attributes and characteristics.