The Quran tells his story in a short passage in Surah Al-Kahf. It gives his deeds and his words, but not his real name, his country or his time. For this reason, Muslim scholars have suggested several different people, and modern researchers have added more ideas. This article reads the Quranic text first. It then explains the main views, and shows what is known and what is not.

The story is told in Surah Al-Kahf, verses 83 to 98, with verses 99 to 102 moving on to the Day of Judgment. It begins with a question put to the Prophet ﷺ:

The Quran then gives a short report, not a full biography. In simple terms, it says:

• Allah established him in the land and gave him “a way to everything” (Quran 18:84).
• He followed a way until he reached the setting of the sun (Quran 18:85–86).
• He followed another way until he reached the rising of the sun (Quran 18:89–90).
• He followed a third way until he reached a place between two mountains, where he built a barrier against Gog and Magog (Quran 18:92–98).

The word for “a way” is سَبَبًا (sababan). It can mean a road, a means or a cause. So the Quran may mean the ways of travel, the means of power, or both.

In the first journey, Dhul-Qarnayn reached the place where the sun sets and found a people there. The Quran says:

Three points help to read this verse:

• The sun “setting” is what he saw. Many commentators explain that the verse describes what Dhul-Qarnayn saw from where he stood, as anyone at the edge of a sea sees the sun go down into it. It is not a statement about how the sun moves. The Arabic word for the spring is also read in two ways, “muddy” or “hot,” and scholars discuss both.
• He was given a choice, and he chose justice. In the next verses he says that he will punish the one who does wrong, and that the one who believes and does good will receive a good reward and gentle treatment (Quran 18:87–88). He also says that people will return to their Lord (Quran 18:87).
• “We said.” Some scholars have asked whether this means Allah spoke to him by inspiration, and so whether he was a prophet. Others say it can also describe a message given through a prophet of his time, or an inner guidance. The Quran does not settle this.

In the second journey he reached the rising of the sun and found a people who had no shelter from it (Quran 18:90). The Quran does not say who they were or what happened to them. It only adds that Allah knew everything about Dhul-Qarnayn’s situation (Quran 18:91).

In the third journey he came between two mountains and found people who could hardly understand speech. They asked him for help against Gog and Magog (Yajuj and Majuj), whom they called corrupters in the land. They offered to pay him (Quran 18:93–94). His answer is one of the best-known verses of the story:

He refused payment, but he asked for their work. He told them to bring sheets of iron. When he had filled the space between the two cliffs, he told them to blow, and when the iron became like fire he asked for molten copper to pour over it. So Gog and Magog could neither climb it nor dig through it (Quran 18:96–97).

Then Dhul-Qarnayn said something that is just as important as the building itself:

He gave the credit to Allah, not to himself. He also said that the barrier would not last forever. In Surah Al-Anbiya, the Quran says that Gog and Magog will be let loose and will spread out from every height before the end of time (Quran 21:96). Verse 99 of Surah Al-Kahf looks ahead to the same Day.

The Quran never gives his name, his country or the century he lived in. What it gives is a title, and a set of actions. Why then was he asked about at all? An early report in the biography of the Prophet ﷺ, passed on from Ibn Ishaq and attributed to Ibn ‘Abbas, says that the Quraysh sent two men to the Jewish scholars of Madinah for questions to test Muhammad ﷺ. One of the three questions was about a traveller who reached the east and west of the earth. The Quran answers the question, and it answers it by telling the story, not by naming the man.

What does “Dhul-Qarnayn” mean?

The title means “the possessor of the two qarns.” The word qarn has several meanings in Arabic, and scholars have suggested several readings:

• Two horns. This is the most direct meaning, and it gives the English “the Two-Horned One.” Some suggest a helmet or crown with horns.
• Two ends of the earth. This reading connects the title with his travels to the east and the west.
• Two generations or ages. In the Quran, qarn usually means a generation or a people of one era (for example in 6:6), so some scholars read the title as “the one who lived through two ages.”
• Two locks of hair. This is another meaning of the word that is given in tafsir.

No one of these readings is stated in the Quran, and the title alone does not identify the man.

Muslim scholars have discussed this question since the earliest period. The table shows the main views. Each has been argued by serious scholars, and each has difficulties.

It is worth saying plainly that the Quran’s purpose is not historical identification. It tells the story in order to teach what a just and humble ruler looks like. The classical commentators generally handled the identity as a matter of reasoned opinion, and Ibn Kathir, who preferred the earlier believing ruler, did not present his view as certain.

Modern academic scholars have noticed that the story in Surah Al-Kahf has strong similarities to a group of stories about Alexander that circulated before and around the time of the Prophet ﷺ. These include the Greek Alexander Romance, and, most importantly, a Syriac Christian text known as the Syriac Alexander Legend, written in the early seventh century (around 630 CE according to many scholars; the date is debated).

In that text, Alexander travels to the west and then to the east, and then reaches mountains in the north where he closes a pass with an iron gate against the people of Gog and Magog, who will break out near the end of time. The Syriac story also has Alexander speak of a time when the gate will be opened.

The academic positions differ:

• Direct borrowing. Theodor Nöldeke, in the 19th century, and later scholars including Gerrit Reinink and Kevin van Bladel, argued that the Quranic story is a close retelling of this Syriac legend. Tommaso Tesei has developed related arguments about the shared sequence of events and the prophecy at the end.
• A common background. Other scholars say the Quranic account is not copied from any one text. They suggest that both draw on older traditions that circulated widely in the region, and they point to differences in detail.
• The Muslim view. Muslim scholars hold that the Quran is revelation from Allah and that its account of Dhul-Qarnayn is true. They would point out that similarity of themes does not decide the question of origin, and that the Quran corrects and reshapes older stories, for example by presenting Dhul-Qarnayn as a believer who gives credit to his Lord.

This is a question of belief and method, and this article does not try to settle it. The useful point for the reader is that the Quran is speaking to an audience that already knew stories of a traveller-king and a wall against Gog and Magog, and that it tells the story in its own way.

Many people ask where the barrier is. The Quran does not say. It only describes “between the two mountains” (Quran 18:93) and a barrier built of iron and copper (Quran 18:96). It does not give a country, a mountain range or a date.

Some medieval writers and some modern scholars have connected the barrier with defensive walls and passes in the Caucasus, including the area of Derbent and the Caspian Gates, or with structures in Central Asia. Maududi suggested that Gog and Magog were the wild tribes of Central Asia who attacked settled lands again and again, and he noted that strong barriers were built in the southern Caucasus, though he said it had not been historically established who built them. Other scholars hold that Gog and Magog are better understood in terms of the end of time, as in Quran 21:96, and do not try to match them with a map.

These are interpretations. The Quran’s own point is clear: a strong barrier was built, it held for a time, and it will be levelled when Allah’s promise comes.

Popular retellings often include details that the Quran does not give. The most common are:

• His real name. The Quran gives only the title Dhul-Qarnayn.
• His country and his time. No kingdom, city or century is named.
• Whether he was a prophet. The Quran calls him a ruler to whom Allah gave power, and scholars disagree on whether he was a prophet or a righteous king.
• The location of the wall. No place is named.
• What his army or his people looked like. The Quran does not describe them.
• How long his travels took. The Quran gives no time.
• The exact identity of Gog and Magog. The Quran names them and describes their harm, but gives no further information about who they are.
• His death. The Quran does not record it. Stories about his death, his scribe and his last words come from later books.

Some later books also say that he travelled with a minister named Khidr or that he reached the Water of Life. These stories come from later tradition, and the Quran does not say them.

• ۞Power is a trustAllah “established him in the land” (Quran 18:84). Everything Dhul-Qarnayn had was given to him, and he knew it.
• ۞Justice and mercyHe promised punishment for the one who does wrong and kindness for the one who does good (Quran 18:87–88).
• ۞Credit belongs to AllahAfter building the barrier he did not praise himself. He said, “This is a mercy from my Lord” (Quran 18:98).
• ۞Serve people without asking for paymentHe refused the people’s offer of money because what Allah had given him was better (Quran 18:95).
• ۞Use strength together with cooperationHe asked the people for their labour and used their effort, rather than doing everything by command (Quran 18:95–96).
• ۞Every work has an endEven a strong barrier will be levelled when Allah’s promise comes (Quran 18:98). This leads the reader to the Day of Judgment.

Surah Al-Kahf contains four stories that many scholars read together: the People of the Cave (faith under pressure), the owner of two gardens (wealth), Musa and Khidr (knowledge), and Dhul-Qarnayn (power). Each story is a test, and the surah shows how a believer should act in each. Dhul-Qarnayn’s story comes after Musa and Khidr, and the surah closes with a warning about the Day of Judgment, which matches the end of his own account.

This section is short and optional. The main subject of this article is the Quran. The Bible does not tell a story of Dhul-Qarnayn, but it contains several related points:

• Daniel 8. The prophet Daniel sees a ram with two horns, and the text explains that it stands for the kings of Media and Persia (Daniel 8:20). This is one reason some scholars link the “two horns” to Persia and Cyrus.
• Isaiah 45:1. The Bible calls Cyrus the Lord’s “anointed,” because he allowed the Jews to return from Babylon. This is the main reason Azad and Maududi looked to Cyrus.
• Ezekiel 38–39 and Revelation 20:7–8. These texts speak of Gog and Magog in connection with the end of time.
• Josephus (1st century CE). He identifies Magog with the Scythians, and also mentions a legend of Alexander closing a mountain pass with iron gates against northern peoples.
• The Alexander Romance and the Syriac legend. These later stories, discussed above, tell of Alexander’s travels and the barrier against Gog and Magog.

So the figures of Gog and Magog, and the idea of a gate or wall, are older than the Quran. The Quran’s account is shorter and is focused on the belief of the ruler and the promise of Allah.

• ۞“The Quran says Dhul-Qarnayn was Alexander the Great”It does not. The Quran gives only a title. Alexander is one of several suggestions, and many classical and modern scholars have rejected it.
• ۞“Scholars agree who he was”They do not. There are at least four main views, and each has supporters and difficulties.
• ۞“The wall of Dhul-Qarnayn has been found”No identification is certain. Several walls and passes have been suggested, but the Quran gives no location.
• ۞“Academic research proves the Quran copied the Alexander legend”Research shows similarities, and some scholars argue for borrowing, but others disagree. The question is debated and cannot be settled by the text alone.

The story of Dhul-Qarnayn is short and rich in meaning. In summary:

• ۞The QuranAllah gave Dhul-Qarnayn power. He travelled west and east, dealt justly with people, and built a barrier of iron and copper against Gog and Magog (18:83–98).
• ۞ScholarsThey have suggested Alexander, Cyrus, a king of Yemen, and an earlier believer. The Quran names none of them.
• ۞Academic researchModern researchers see links with the Alexander legends, and the question of how to explain these links is still debated.
• ۞LessonsPower is a trust, justice matters, credit belongs to Allah, and every human work has an end.
• ۞Other sourcesGog and Magog and the idea of a gate are older than the Quran, which tells the story in its own way.

The Quran does not tell us who Dhul-Qarnayn was. It tells us what kind of ruler he was, and what he said when he finished his work: “This is a mercy from my Lord.”

The Holy Quran

Surah Al-Kahf (18:83–102); Surah Al-Anbiya (21:96). Translation used for English quotations: Sahih International.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Commentary on Surah Al-Kahf 18:83–98, by Hafiz Ibn Kathir.

Tafsir al-Tabari

Jami‘ al-Bayan, by Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, commentary on Quran 18:83–98.

Tafsir al-Qurtubi

Al-Jami‘ li-Ahkam al-Qur’an, by al-Qurtubi, commentary on Quran 18:83–98.

Tafheem al-Qur’an

Sayyid Abul A‘la Maududi, commentary on Surah Al-Kahf 18:83.

Abul Kalam Azad

His study identifying Dhul-Qarnayn with Cyrus the Great.

Ibn Ishaq / Ibn Hisham

Sirat Rasul Allah, the report on the Quraysh questions to the Jewish scholars of Madinah.

Kevin van Bladel

“The Alexander Legend in the Qur’an 18:83–102,” in G. S. Reynolds (ed.), The Qur’an in Its Historical Context (Routledge, 2008).

Tommaso Tesei

“The Prophecy of Dhū-l-Qarnayn (Q 18:83–102) and the Origins of the Qur’ānic Corpus,” in Miscellanea Arabica (2013).

Gerrit J. Reinink

Studies and editions of the Syriac Alexander Legend (Peeters, 1983 and later).

Jewish and Christian sources

Daniel 8:20–21; Isaiah 45:1; Ezekiel 38–39; Revelation 20:7–8; Josephus, Jewish War 7 and Antiquities 1.123; the Alexander Romance (Pseudo-Callisthenes).