Surah Al-Kahf (18) — Ayah 85

(Ayah 86,85) ➊ { فَاَتْبَعَ سَبَبًا : ’’ تَبِعَ ‘‘} went along, {’’أَتْبَعَ‘‘} (Af'al form) took along, that is, he prepared for a long journey to strengthen and expand his rule and to make Allah’s word prevail over the whole earth, and for this, he took with him the required armies, weapons, and travel provisions, and set out towards the west for jihad in the way of Allah. On the way, overcoming every opponent and crushing every obstacle, he reached that part of the land where, at that time, population existed and travel was possible; beyond that, before the sea, there was a vast marshy area, in which neither travel by land was possible nor by sea. There he observed the setting of the sun, so it appeared to him as if it was setting in a muddy spring, because due to the effect of the sea ahead and the abundance of springs, the land had become marshy and muddy. Just as, whether it is the sea, desert, or plain, whatever is in front, the sun appears to set in it. Some people who have objected that, according to the Qur’an’s statement, the sun sets in a muddy spring, have not considered that the Qur’an has described the observation of Dhul-Qarnayn, and even now, to the observer, it will appear the same way. The real fact has been stated elsewhere, as He said: «{ وَ الشَّمْسُ تَجْرِيْ لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَّهَا }» [ یٰس : ۳۸ ] “And the sun runs on to its resting place (which Allah alone knows).”

➋ { قُلْنَا يٰذَا الْقَرْنَيْنِ … :} That is, in the farthest part of the population towards the west, he found a people, so We said: O Dhul-Qarnayn! You have the authority, if you wish, you may punish them by killing, imprisoning, enslaving, or in whatever way you wish, or you may adopt kindness towards them.

➌ The statement of Allah, {’’ قُلْنَا يٰذَا الْقَرْنَيْنِ ‘‘} (We said: O Dhul-Qarnayn!) has been considered by some commentators as evidence of Dhul-Qarnayn being a prophet, but these words are not explicit for that meaning, because it is also possible that, like Talut, there was a prophet with him, through whom Allah conveyed this message to him, as He said: «{ فَقُلْنَا اضْرِبُوْهُ بِبَعْضِهَا }» [ البقرۃ : ۷۳ ] “So We said: Strike it with a piece of it.” Or, the state of giving this people completely into the authority of Dhul-Qarnayn has been expressed in these words, so most of the predecessors do not hold him to be a prophet. However, there is no doubt that he was a righteous, sincere, and mujahid servant of Allah, who gave up his comfort and spent his whole life in jihad for the dominance of Islam.

85. 1 The meaning of "another cause" is taken as "path" or it means that from the resources given by Allah, further resources were prepared and made available, just as from the iron created by Allah, various types of weapons and similarly, from other raw materials, many things are made.

The tafsir of this ayah is included with the following verse(s).