A Discussion of the Narrations

1) How Dhū al-Qarnayn Was Established over the West and the East

A man asked ʿAlī (a.s.): Tell me about Dhū al-Qarnayn – how was he able to reach the East and the West? He said: God subjected the clouds to him, extended the means for him, and spread out the light for him, so that night and day were the same for him.(93)

From Abū ʿAbd Allāh (a.s.), who said: God – blessed and exalted is He – gave Dhū al-Qarnayn the choice between the two clouds, the tame and the difficult, and he chose the tame one, which is the one in which there is neither lightning nor thunder… .(94)

Note:

a) According to these narrations, Dhū al-Qarnayn, like Prophet Solomon (a.s.), possessed extraordinary means.

b) Speech without a chain of transmission, or with an unknown chain, cannot be proof even of a matter less than this, let alone establish a matter equal to the miracle of some of the prophets (a.s.).

2) The Prophethood of Dhū al-Qarnayn from the Perspective of the Narrations

From Abū al-Ṭufayl, who said: I heard ʿAlī (a.s.) say: Dhū al-Qarnayn was neither a prophet nor a messenger [but he was a servant who loved God, so God loved him], and he was sincere to God, so He was sincere to him… .(95)

From Abū Jaʿfar (a.s.), who said: God did not send prophets as kings on the earth except four after Noah (a.s.): the first of them Dhū al-Qarnayn, whose name was ʿAyyāsh, and David, Solomon and Joseph… .(96)

Note:

a) As was said in the discussion of allusions and subtleties, the prophethood of Dhū al-Qarnayn cannot be established from his story in the Qur’an. The narrations, too, do not convey a uniform meaning on this subject.

b) The Qur’an explicitly mentions the kingship of Ṭālūt and Solomon; but how far apart are rule over hearts and rule over clay! What is said today of His Holiness ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā (a.s.) – that he is the sultan of the throne of irtiḍā – is a manifestation of the heavenly rule of the friends of God.

3) The Sameness of the Practice of Dhū al-Qarnayn and of the Qāʾim of the Family of Muḥammad (a.s.)

From Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, who said: I heard the Messenger of God (s.a.w.) say: Dhū al-Qarnayn was a righteous servant whom God – mighty and majestic is He – made a proof over His servants. He called his people to God and commanded them to be mindful of Him… And God – mighty and majestic is He – established Dhū al-Qarnayn in the land and gave him a means to everything, and he reached the West and the East. And God – blessed and exalted is He – will make his practice run in the Qāʾim from my descendants, and will make him reach the east of the earth and its west, until there remains no watering-place [manhal] and no spot [mawḍiʿ], of plain or mountain, that Dhū al-Qarnayn trod, but he will tread it; and God – mighty and majestic is He – will bring forth for him the treasures of the earth and its mines.(97)

Note: Most of the contents of this narration can be drawn from the Noble Qur’an; but the particular designation of prophethood and the like – other than the title “God’s proof over His servants” – cannot be drawn from this narration, even after overlooking its chain.

4) The Sun Setting in a Muddy Spring

From al-Ṣādiq (a.s.): … [The questioner said]: Then tell me about the sun – where does it set? He (a.s.) said: One of the scholars said: When it descends to the bottom of the dome, the celestial sphere turns it towards the inner part of the sky, ever ascending, until it goes down to the place of its rising – that is, it sets in a hot spring – then it pierces the earth, returning to the place of its rising, and remains bewildered beneath the Throne until it is given leave to rise; and its light is taken from it every day, and it is clothed in another light.(98)

Note:

a) The Master, ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī (q.s.), in explaining this narration, says that the Imam’s (a.s.) words describe the course of the sun from the time of its setting to the time of its rising in the orbit of the sky, on the basis of the well-known Ptolemaic hypothesis that was current at that time, which rests on the stillness of the earth and the motion of the celestial bodies around it. Hence the Imam (a.s.) attributed this proposition to some of the scholars; and the statement “the sun has sunk into a muddy spring; then it pierces the earth and returns again to the place of its rising” is not part of the Imam’s (a.s.) words, but the words of some of the narrators of the report, who, through a deficiency of understanding, interpreted the verse “setting in a muddy spring” itself as the sun sinking into a muddy spring and disappearing in it, and… .

It is worth noting that from the attribution of the matter to some of the scholars in the Imam’s (a.s.) words, it is understood to some extent that this view was not approved by the Imam (a.s.), and that there was also no opportunity to state the truth, since the people of that era were unable to understand it.(99)

b) It must be borne in mind that the culture of everyday conversation is different from the language of science and from what is accepted by experts – quite apart from the fact that such hadiths have no reliable chain.