Dhu al-Qarnayn: He is Alexander who ruled the world. It is said: Two believers ruled it: Dhu al-Qarnayn and Solomon, and two disbelievers: Nimrod and Nebuchadnezzar. [It was narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah through the chain of Mujahid. He said, "No one ruled the entire earth except four: two believers and two disbelievers, and he mentioned them."] He came after Nimrod. There is a difference of opinion about him; it is said: He was a righteous servant whom Allah granted dominion over the earth, and He gave him knowledge and wisdom, and He clothed him with awe and made light and darkness subservient to him. When he moved, light guided him from in front of him, and darkness surrounded him from behind him. It is said: He was a prophet. It is said: He was a king among the angels. And from Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that he heard a man say: O Dhu al-Qarnayn, he said: O Allah, forgive! You were not pleased for them to be named after the prophets until they named themselves after the angels. And from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, it was said: The clouds were made subservient to him, and the means were extended for him, and light was spread for him. He was asked about him and he said: Allah loved him, so He loved him. Ibn al-Kawwa asked him: Who is Dhu al-Qarnayn? Is he a king or a prophet? He said: He is neither a king nor a prophet, but he was a righteous servant. He struck his right horn in obedience to Allah and died, then Allah resurrected him and he struck his left horn and died, then Allah resurrected him and he was named Dhu al-Qarnayn, and there is one like him among you. It was said: He used to call them to monotheism, and they would kill him, and Allah would revive him. And from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: He was named Dhu al-Qarnayn because he circled the two horns of the world. [I did not find it raised, but it was narrated by al-Daraqutni in the Mu'talif from the narration of Abdul Aziz ibn Imran from Sulayman ibn Asid from al-Zuhri who said: He was named Dhu al-Qarnayn because he reached the horn of the sun from its setting and the horn of the sun from its rising.] Meaning its two sides, its east and west. It is said: He had two horns, meaning two braids. It is said: In his time, two horns of people became extinct. And from Wahb: Because he ruled the Romans and Persians. It was narrated: The Romans and Turks. And from him, it was said: The sides of his head were of copper. It is said: His crown had two horns. It is said: He had on his head something resembling horns. He may be called that for his bravery, as the brave is called a ram because he butts his peers. He was from the Romans, born to an old woman who had no other child besides him. The questioners: They are the Jews who asked him as a test. It is said: Abu Jahl and his followers asked him, and the address in عَلَيْكُمْ is to one of the two groups, FROM EVERYTHING, meaning from the means of everything, what he intended from his purposes and objectives in his dominion as a means, a path leading to it. The means is what one uses to reach the intended goal, whether it is knowledge, ability, or tools. He intended to reach the west, so he followed a means that would lead him to it until he reached it. Likewise, he intended the east, so he followed a means, and he intended to reach the two barriers, so he followed a means. And it was read: فأتبع. It was read: حمئة, from حمئت البئر if it became muddy. And حامية meaning hot. And from Abu Dharr: I was riding behind the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, on a camel, and he saw the sun when it set and said: "O Abu Dharr, do you know where this sets?" I said: Allah and His Messenger know best.

Allah and His Messenger know best. He said, "It sets in a hot spring." Al-Hakim added, "without hamzah." It was narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah, Ahmad, Abu Ya'la, and Al-Bazzar, and he added, "And it proceeds until it falls prostrate to its Lord beneath the Throne. When it is time for its departure, Allah permits it. If Allah wishes to bring it forth from its setting, He restrains it, saying, 'Arise from where you set.' That is when faith will not benefit a soul." It was said that Sufyan ibn Husayn uniquely narrated this from Al-Hakim. The group narrated it from Ibrahim Al-Taymi. It is in the two Sahihs without the phrase "It sets in a hot spring," and it begins with, "I was sitting with the Prophet ﷺ," the hadith. He said, "It sets in a hot spring," and this is the reading of Ibn Mas'ud, Talhah, Ibn 'Umar, Ibn 'Amr, and Al-Hasan. Ibn 'Abbas read it as 'ham'ah.' Ibn 'Abbas was with Mu'awiyah, and Mu'awiyah read it as 'hamiyah.' Ibn 'Abbas said, 'ham'ah.' Mu'awiyah said to Abdullah ibn 'Amr, 'How do you read?' He said, 'As the Commander of the Faithful reads.' Then he turned to Ka'b Al-Ahbar, asking, 'How do you find the sun setting?' He said, 'In water and mud; we find it thus in the Torah.' It was narrated as 'in thaat,' which agreed with the words of Ibn 'Abbas. There was a man there who recited the words of Tubba'.

He saw the setting of the sun at its return... in the eye of Dhul-Khalb and Tha't Harmad.

Dhul-Qarnayn was my grandfather, a Muslim... a king to whom kings submit and prostrate.

He reached the west and the east seeking... the means of a wise guide.

He saw the setting of the sun at its return... in the eye of Dhul-Khalb and Tha't Harmad.

This is Tubba' the greater Yemeni mentioned in the Qur'an, boasting of his grandfather, Alexander Dhul-Qarnayn, son of the Greek philosopher. It is narrated as 'passed' instead of 'my grandfather.' 'And they submit' means they comply. It was narrated as 'He rose in the land without denial,' meaning without being disbelieved; thus, there is no fault in the rhyme. 'Khalb' (with two dammas) means mud, and 'Tha't' means mud mixed with water, which increases moisture and spoils. 'Harmad' means black mud. He praised Dhul-Qarnayn and then said that he reached the places of the setting and rising of the sun, seeking from Allah means that would lead him to his goal. He saw the place of the sun's setting at its return, meaning its return to him. It is narrated as the return of the sun at its setting, meaning its disappearance.

'In the eye': it is related to 'setting' or to an omitted word, meaning: he saw it setting in an eye. It may be that it is a state of the setting, because the eye is wider than it, meaning in the eye of water with black mud mixed with water, and this is consistent with the apparent meaning of the verse. Abu Ali Al-Jubai interpreted it as a form of imagery, just as one who has not seen the western shore of the vast sea sees the sun setting in it, while in reality it sets in darkness beyond the white, because the earth is spherical.

That is, in the eye of water with black mud, and there is no contradiction between 'ham'ah' and 'hamiyah'; it is possible for the eye to encompass both descriptions. They were disbelievers, and Allah chose for them between punishing them by killing or inviting them to Islam. He chose the invitation and striving to win them over. He said: 'As for the one I called, he insisted on remaining in the great injustice which is polytheism: that is the one punished in both abodes. And as for the one who believed and did what belief necessitates, for him is the best reward.' It was said that He chose for him between killing and captivity, and He called it kindness in contrast to killing: 'For him is the best reward.' He has the right to be rewarded with the best reward. Or, for him is the reward of the good deed which is the testimony of faith. It was read as 'for him is the reward of the best,' meaning: for him the good deed is a reward. And from Qatadah: He used to cook from disbelief in pots, which is the terrible punishment. And for the believer, He gives him and clothes him from Our command with ease, meaning We do not command him with something difficult and burdensome, but with what is easy and manageable, such as zakat and taxes and others. The meaning is: this is ease, as in His saying, 'a word that is easy.' It was read as 'yusra,' with two dammas.