Punishment after the Completion of Proof, and the Call to the Faith

On his journey to the west of the earth, beside the sea in which he imagined the sun was setting, Dhū al-Qarnayn found a group, and God, in the form of an alternative ruling, said to him: Will you punish them, or take the path of goodness with them?: “and found near it a people. We said: O Dhū al-Qarnayn, either you punish them, or you adopt a good way with them”. In other words, you are free to choose one of the two options mentioned!

The expression “We said: O Dhū al-Qarnayn” has two possible meanings:

1) God’s inspiration to him, like the inspiration to the mother of Moses (a.s.).

2) A legislative ruling which, if he himself was not a prophet, reached him from the prophet of that time; like the prophet who, by God’s leave, made Ṭālūt commander of war.

In any case, this expression does not indicate the prophethood of Dhū al-Qarnayn. In the view of the Master, ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī (q.s.), the sentence “then he will be returned to his Lord, and He will punish him”,(79) which comes in the third person, suggests that God’s speaking with Dhū al-Qarnayn took place through the mediation of a prophet who accompanied him, and that in reality his rule was like the rule of Ṭālūt among the Children of Israel.(80)

Accordingly, God the Glorified spoke to him through the tongue of a prophet, or of a righteous servant and one of His friends (awliyāʾ); for if the speaker had been God, he ought to have replied in this way: “As for whoever does wrong, we shall punish him, then he will be returned to You” – not “he will be returned to his Lord”. Although the possibility of a shift (iltifāt) from the second person to the third person is raised, the indication of Dhū al-Qarnayn’s answer in the following verse shows that the sentence “We said: O Dhū al-Qarnayn” is not a direct conversation between God and Dhū al-Qarnayn.

Stating the two sides of the division, “either you punish them, or you adopt a good way with them”, shows that there is a divided whole which, being known, has not been mentioned: that is, there is a religion, a creed and a call, which some accept and some do not; for without a mission and the completion of proof, punishment is not permissible, and until God sends a prophet He punishes no one: “And We do not punish until We send a messenger”.(81) The principle of divine punishment and reward comes after the conclusive proof. When God’s conclusive proof reaches a group, those who accept it receive reward; and those who have not accepted it may be pardoned, or their penalties may be lightened, or they may receive the full punishment. Hence God the Glorified, in the form of alternative guidance, says to Dhū al-Qarnayn: What decision will you make about that people? Will you punish them, or treat them with goodness?: “either you punish them, or you adopt a good way with them”. Of course, this division may be exhaustive, in the sense that each of its two parts includes all individuals, such that the second part has no instance at all.

Dhū al-Qarnayn was commissioned to do two things in the west and the east of the world:

1) To prevent oppression and corruption; hence, on his journey to the east, he blocked the corruption of Gog and Magog.

2) To spread justice and faith; hence, when he reached the west of the earth, God the Glorified, directly or through an intermediary, told him to convey the divine rulings to the people. Then He gave him the choice between the two sides of punishment and good treatment, which is in reality a distinction between the oppressor (who persists in false belief) and the believer; and the statement is not at all an interrogative request for information. So “either you punish…” means: you will treat well those who accepted, and you will bring to punishment those who did not.

In answer to God the Exalted’s question about what decision he would make, he said: We present the religion and the creed; whoever was an oppressor and did not accept, we will punish him, and then he will be returned to his Lord, so that God may punish him with a severe punishment: “He said: As for whoever does wrong, we shall punish him, then he will be returned to his Lord, and He will punish him with a terrible punishment”;(82) and whoever believes and does righteous deeds has a good end and a goodly reward: “But as for whoever believes and does righteous deeds, for him is the goodly reward”.(83)