"Then he followed a means, till he reached the place of the rising sun. He found it rising over a people for whom We had not made any shelter from it. Thus [it was], and We encompassed that which lay before him in awareness. Then he followed a means, till he reached the place between the two mountain barriers. he found beyond them a people who could scarcely comprehend speech. They said, 'O Dhu'l-Qarnayn! Truly God and Magog are workers of corruption in the land. Shall we assign thee a tribute, that thou mightest set a barrier between them and us?' He said, 'That wherewith my Lord has established me is better; so aid me with strength. I shall set a rampart between you and them. Bring me pieces of iron.' Then, when he had leveled the two cliffs, he said, 'Blow!' till when he had made it fire, he said, 'Bring me molten copper to pour over it.' Thus they were not able to surmount if, nor could they pierce it. He said, 'This is a mercy from my Lord. And when the Promise of my Lord comes, He will crumble it to dust. And the Promise of my Lord if true.' And We shall leave them, on that Day, to surge against one another like waves. And the trumpet shall be blown, and We shall gather them together. And We shall present Hell, on that Day, as an array for the disbelievers, those whose eyes were veiled from the remembrance of Me, and could not hear.'"
Quran 18: 89-101
We're continuing our exploration of al-Khaf, "The Cave," the 18th surah, and the adventures of Alexander the Great, here recorded as Dhu'l-Qarnayn. He's continued his journey until he comes to the "place between the two mountain barriers," another liminal space - and we continue our metaphoric journey. In this case he hears of Gog and Magog, which those of you who are familar with the Old and New Testaments will recognize.
As Nasr tells us in the commentary:
"Gog and Magog translate Ya'juj and Ma'juj, also called Yajuj (or Ajuj) and Majuj elsewhere in Arabic literature. Commentators report that Gog and Magog are the offspring of Noah's son Japheth; see Genesis 10:2, where Magog is listed as one of Japheth's sons. Some have speculated that Gog and Magog were the ancestors or distant relatives of the Turks or possibly the Daylamites (who hailed from regions to the north of Iran), although such speculations seem to be based upon the rather fearsome reputation these two people has as warriors for medieval Muslims. Some suggest that Ya'juj or Ajuj may derive from ta'ajjuj, meaning to ignite a fire, and Ma'jujm from Mawj, referring to the waves of the sea - both of which may be destructive forces. Gog and Magog are also mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures and in the New Testament as forces of destruction: in Ezekiel 38:2, the prophet Ezekiel is told to prophecy against Gog; of the land of Magog, who would attack of Israel; and in Revelation 20:8, Gog and Magog refer to the nations that Satan will rouse to fight with him in the end times." (p. 759)
The same story is similarly told in the Persian epic the Shahnameh in the section focused on Alexander. This story also gets caught up in the Islamic eschatological tradition, which is, as we've discussed previously, more than a bit messy. Once again, metaphors on top of metaphors, which is what drew me to surah 18 in the first place, and changed my entire perception of the Quran and Islam.
Quran 18: 89-101
We're continuing our exploration of al-Khaf, "The Cave," the 18th surah, and the adventures of Alexander the Great, here recorded as Dhu'l-Qarnayn. He's continued his journey until he comes to the "place between the two mountain barriers," another liminal space - and we continue our metaphoric journey. In this case he hears of Gog and Magog, which those of you who are familar with the Old and New Testaments will recognize.
As Nasr tells us in the commentary:
"Gog and Magog translate Ya'juj and Ma'juj, also called Yajuj (or Ajuj) and Majuj elsewhere in Arabic literature. Commentators report that Gog and Magog are the offspring of Noah's son Japheth; see Genesis 10:2, where Magog is listed as one of Japheth's sons. Some have speculated that Gog and Magog were the ancestors or distant relatives of the Turks or possibly the Daylamites (who hailed from regions to the north of Iran), although such speculations seem to be based upon the rather fearsome reputation these two people has as warriors for medieval Muslims. Some suggest that Ya'juj or Ajuj may derive from ta'ajjuj, meaning to ignite a fire, and Ma'jujm from Mawj, referring to the waves of the sea - both of which may be destructive forces. Gog and Magog are also mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures and in the New Testament as forces of destruction: in Ezekiel 38:2, the prophet Ezekiel is told to prophecy against Gog; of the land of Magog, who would attack of Israel; and in Revelation 20:8, Gog and Magog refer to the nations that Satan will rouse to fight with him in the end times." (p. 759)
The same story is similarly told in the Persian epic the Shahnameh in the section focused on Alexander. This story also gets caught up in the Islamic eschatological tradition, which is, as we've discussed previously, more than a bit messy. Once again, metaphors on top of metaphors, which is what drew me to surah 18 in the first place, and changed my entire perception of the Quran and Islam.
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