 "The two horned one" is thought to refer to Cyrus by many Qur'anic commentators. Dhul-Qarnayn is mentioned in the Qur'an. The story of Dhul-Qarnayn appears in sixteen verses of the Qur'an, specifically the 16 verses 18:83-98. February 2006 : ↠- January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → 28 February 2006 (Tuesday) Al Askari Mosque bombing: Sixty-eight people have been killed so far today in Baghdad, Iraq. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (450x848, 218 KB)Sketch is from a German 19th century excavation report published in Iran in the early 1900s. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (450x848, 218 KB)Sketch is from a German 19th century excavation report published in Iran in the early 1900s. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (520x759, 348 KB) Summary I took this image myself on a Fuji 200 Slide film in Summer 2004. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (520x759, 348 KB) Summary I took this image myself on a Fuji 200 Slide film in Summer 2004. ...
Tomb of Cyrus II Reconstruction of the Tomb of Cyrus II Pasargadae was a city in ancient Persia, and is today an archeological site. ...
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The QurÄn (Arabic: recitation), also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly as Alcoran, is the holy book of Islam. ...
There is extensive ongoing debate on who exactly was the historical character of Dhul-Qarnayn. Traditionally, many believe that Dhul Qarnayn is modelled on the Alexander The Great, through the intermediary of the Alexander Romance. However, in recent years, alternative theories have been proposed supporting other explanations. One of the most prominent of these is the theory that Dhul-Qarnayn was no other than Cyrus the Great of Persia. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Alexander the Great (in Greek , transliterated Megas Alexandros) (July 356 BC – June 11, 323 BC), King of Macedon (336–323 BC), is considered one of the most successful military commanders in world history, conquering most of the world known to the ancient Greeks before his death. ...
The Alexander Romance is any of several collections of legends concerning the mythical exploits of Alexander the Great. ...
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Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia, also known as Cyrus the Great or Cyrus the Elder, (ca. ...
For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ...
This theory has been endorsed by such scholars as Maududi, the Indian minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Allameh Tabatabaei (in Vol 26 of his al-Mizan), and Grand Ayatollah Makarim al-Shirazi (Bargozideh Tafseer-i Nemuneh, Vol 3, p69), among others. Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi (alternative spelling Syed; often referred to Maulana Maududi) was one of the most influential Muslim theologians of the 20th century and the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami (Islamic Party), an Islamist political party in Pakistan. ...
Abul Kalam Azad Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin (November 11th 1888, Mecca- February 22, 1958), better known as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was a renowned scholar, poet, freedom fighter and leader of the Indian National Congress in Indias struggle for Independence. ...
Allameh Tabatabaei, one of contemporarys greatest Islamic Philosophers, chatting with Ayatollah al-Shirazi. ...
Analysis
Maududi writes in His Tafsir[1] Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi (alternative spelling Syed; often referred to Maulana Maududi) was one of the most influential Muslim theologians of the 20th century and the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami (Islamic Party), an Islamist political party in Pakistan. ...
A tafsir ( (Arabic: تÙسير )tafsÄ«r, also transliterated tafseer, Arabic explanation) is Quranic exegesis or commentary. ...
The identification of Dhul-Qarnain has been a controversial matter from the earliest times. Generally, commentators have been of the opinion that Dhul-Qarnayn is actually Alexander, but some characteristics of Dhul-Qarnain described in the Qur'an, it has been argued, are not applicable to the historical Alexander. The fact that the Alexander-as-Dhul-Qarnay theory actually refers to the semi-mythical Alexander described in the Alexander Romance makes the connection even more problematic for some Islamic scholars. Today some commentators are inclined to believe that Dhul-Qarnain was actually Cyrus The Great, an ancient king of Achaemenid Persia. The QurÄn (Arabic: recitation), also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly as Alcoran, is the holy book of Islam. ...
Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Dynasty was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire, including Cyrus II the Great, Darius I and Xerxes I. At the height of their power, the Achaemenid rulers of Persia ruled over territories roughly emcompassing some parts of todays Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon...
For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ...
The characteristics of Dhul-Qarnain in the light of his story as given in the Qur'an now follow:
(1) The title Dhul-Qarnain ("The Two-Horned") should have been quite familiar to the Jews, for it was at their instigation that the disbelievers of Mecca put this question to Mohammad. Therefore one must turn to Judaic literature in order to learn who was the person known as "The Two-Horned" or which was the kingdom known as "The Two-Horned." CITY OF TRASH ...
The Book of Daniel Chapter 8 says [2]: The Book of Daniel, written in Hebrew and Aramaic, is a book in both the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Christian Old Testament. ...
 A "two horned" Elamite figure wrestling with serpents. - "2 In the vision I was looking and saw myself in Susa the capital, in the province of Elam, and I was by the river Ulai. 3 I looked up and saw a ram standing beside the river. It had two horns. Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up second. 4 I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. All beasts were powerless to withstand it, and no one could rescue from its power; it did as it pleased and became strong. 5 As I was watching, a male goat appeared from the west, coming across the face of the whole earth without touching the ground. The goat had a horn between its eyes. 6 It came toward the ram with the two horns that I had seen standing beside the river, and it ran at it with savage force."
The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible gives the following interpretation from Gabriel: "As for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia." Image File history File links Download high resolution version (418x800, 280 KB) Summary I took this photo with a digital camera. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (418x800, 280 KB) Summary I took this photo with a digital camera. ...
Elam (Persian: ایلام) is one of the most ancient civilizations on record. ...
For other uses of the name Susa please see this page. ...
Elam (Persian: ایلام) is one of the most ancient civilizations on record. ...
The Bible (Hebrew: ×ª× ×´×š tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hÄ“ biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Word of God, The Word Scripture, Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their (differing but overlapping) canons of sacred texts. ...
For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ...
Furthermore, two horns and two horned symbolism was not an unknown emblem of the kingdoms of Persia and its predecessors, for we see that Elamite kings used this symbol routinely in their insignia. Elam (Persian: ایلام) is one of the most ancient civilizations on record. ...
(2) Dhul-Qarnayn must have been a great ruler and a great conqueror whose conquests might have spread from the East to the West and on the third side to the North or to the South. Before the revelation of the Qur'an there had been several historical figures, who are known to have been conquerors of such calibre. So one must confine one's search for Dhul-Qarnayn to one such person. Cyrus The Great is the candidate that fits this description quite fittingly.
(3) This title should be applicable to such a ruler who might have constructed a strong wall across a mountain pass to protect his kingdom from the incursions of the Gog and Magog. In order to investigate this, one must determine as to who were the Gog and Magog. One must also consider when such a wall was historically built, if at all, and by whom and to which territory it was adjacent to. The tradition of Gog and Magog begins with cryptic Biblical references regarding apocalyptic prophecy in the Book of Ezekiel. ...
(4) Besides possessing the aforementioned characteristics, he should also be a God-worshipper and a just ruler, since the Qur'an has brought into prominence these characteristics more than anything else in the quotted passages.
As mentioned above, the first of these characteristics is easily applicable to Cyrus, for according to the Bible Prophet Daniel saw in his vision that the united kingdom of Media and Persia was like a two-horned ram before the rise of the Greeks. (Dan. 8: 3,"20). The Jews had a very high opinion of "The Two-horned" one, because it was his invasion which brought about the downfall of the kingdom of Babylon and the liberation of the Israelites (also refer to E.N. 8 of Chapter XVII). Babylon is the Greek variant of Akkadian Babilu, an ancient city in Mesopotamia (modern Al Hillah, Iraq). ...
The second characteristic is applicable to Cyrus to a great extent but not completely. Though his conquests spread to Syria and Asia Minor in the West and to Bākhtar (Balkh) in the East, there is no trace of any of his great expeditions to the North or to the South, whereas the Qur'an makes an explicit mention of his third expedition. However some historians do verify the probability of such a voyage. Nevertheless, this third expedition is not completely out of question for history tells us that Cyrus' kingdom extended to Caucasia in the North. As regards Gog and Magog, it has been established that they were the wild tribes of Central Asia who were known by different names: Tartars, Mongols, Huns, and Scythians, who had been making incursions on various kingdoms and empires from very ancient times. It is also known that strong bulwarks had been built in southern regions of Caucasia, though it has yet to be determined historically whether these were built by Cyrus. Today Balkh is a small town in the Province of Balkh, Afghanistan, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some 74 km (46 miles) south of the Amu Darya, the Oxus River of antiquity, of which a tributary formerly flowed past Balkh. ...
The Caucasus is a region in eastern Europe and western Asia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus mountains and surrounding lowlands. ...
Tatars or Tartars is a collective name applied to the Turkic-speaking people of Europe and Asia. ...
The Mongols are an ethnic group that originated in what is now Mongolia, Russia, and China, particularly Inner Mongolia. ...
The Huns were a confederation of Eurasian tribes, most likely of diverse origin with a Turkic-speaking aristocracy, who appeared in Europe in the 4th century, the most famous being Attila the Hun. ...
Scythia was an area in Eurasia inhabited in ancient times by an Indo-Aryans known as the Scythians. ...
As regards the last characteristic, Cyrus is the only known conqueror among the ancient rulers, to whom this may be applicable, for even his enemies have been full of praise for him for his justice, and, Ezra, asserts that he was a God-worshipper and a God-fearing king who set free the Israelites because of his God-worship, and ordered that the Temple of Solomon be rebuilt for the worship of God. For other uses of this name, see Ezra (disambiguation). ...
Solomons Temple was the first Jewish temple in Jerusalem which functioned as a religious focal point for worship and the sacrifices known as the korbanot in ancient Judaism. ...
Thus in the light of the above, it is easy to conclude that of all the conquerors who had passed away before the revelation of the Qur'an, Cyrus alone is the one to whom the characteristics of "Dhul-Qarnain" are most applicable. There is no other conqueror to whom the characteristics stated in the Qur'an are as much applicable as to Cyrus.
The historical Cyrus was a Persian ruler whose rise began about 549 BCE. Within a few years he had conquered the kingdoms of Media and Lydia; by 539 BCE he had conquered Babylon. There was no powerful kingdom left to oppose him. His conquests extended westward to Turkistan; eastward to Ionia; northward to Caucasia--covering, in fact, much of the known civilized world. Lydia (disambiguation) Lydia is a historic region of western Anatolia, congruent with Turkeys modern provinces of Ä°zmir and Manisa. ...
Babylon is the Greek variant of Akkadian Babilu, an ancient city in Mesopotamia (modern Al Hillah, Iraq). ...
Ionia (Greek Ιωνία; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was an ancient region of southwestern coastal Anatolia (now in Turkey) on the Aegean Sea. ...
The Caucasus is a region in eastern Europe and western Asia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus mountains and surrounding lowlands. ...
Journey towards West "The limit where the sun set" does not mean the "place" of the setting of the sun. According to Ibn Kathir, it means that he marched to the West conquering one country after the other till he reached the last boundary of the land, beyond which there was ocean. "He found the sun setting in black muddy waters of the sea": if Dhul-Qarnain was Cyrus, then that place would be the western limit of Asia Minor and the "black waters" would be the Aegean Sea. This interpretation is supported by the use of the word "`ain" instead of "bahr" in the Qur'an. Ibn Kathir (Arabic : بن كثير ) was an Islamic scholar born in Busra, Syria in 1301 CE. He was taught by the Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyya in Damascus, Syria. ...
Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asian portion of Turkey. ...
The Aegean Sea. ...
Journey towards East That is, "When he advanced towards the East, conquering one country after the other, he reached a territory where the limits of the civilized world had come to an end and beyond which was the territory of barbaric people, who had no shelter at all of tents or buildings."
Journey towards north/Gog & Magog The "two mountains" must have been parts of that mountain range which runs between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. This must be, for beyond them was the territory of Gog and Magog. "It was difficult to communicate with them: their language was almost foreign to Dhul-Qarnain and his companions, and, as they were quite barbaric, none could understand their language, nor were they acquainted with any foreign language." Caspian Sea viewed from orbit The Caspian Sea is a landlocked endorheic sea between Asia and Europe (European Russia). ...
Map of the Black Sea. ...
As has already been pointed out, Gog and Magog were the wild tribes of North Eastern Asia which, from the very early times had been making inroads on settled kingdoms and empires in Asia and Europe and ravaging them. According to Genesis (Chapter 10), they were the descendants of Japheth, the sort of Noah, and the Muslim historians have also accepted this. And according to the book of Ezekiel (Chapters 38, 39), they inhabited the territories of Meshech (Moscow) and Tubal (Tubalsek). According to the Israelite historian Josephus, they were the Scythians and their territory spread to the north and the east of the Black Sea. According to Jerome, Magog inhabited the territory to the north of Caucasia near the Caspian Sea. Genesis (Greek: ΓÎνεσις, having the meanings of birth, creation, cause, beginning, source and origin), also called The First Book of Moses, is the first book of Torah (five books of Moses), and is the first book of the Tanakh, part of the Hebrew Bible; it is also the first book of...
Japheth (יֶפֶת / יָפֶת enlarge, Standard Hebrew Yéfet / Yáfet, Tiberian Hebrew / ) is one of the sons of Noah in the Bible. ...
Noahs Ark, Französischer Meister (The French Master), Magyar Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest. ...
Ezekiel the Prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures is depicted on a 1510 Sistine Chapel fresco by Michelangelo. ...
Moscow (Russian: МоÑкваÌ, Moskva, IPA: (help· info)) is the capital of Russia and the countrys principal political, economic, financial, educational and transportation center, located on the river Moskva. ...
Scythia was an area in Eurasia inhabited in ancient times by an Indo-Aryans known as the Scythians. ...
He said: "As a ruler it is my duty to protect you from the ravages of your enemies: therefore it is not lawful for me to levy any extra taxes on you for this purpose. The treasury that Allah has placed in my custody, suffices for this purpose. You shall, however, have to help me with your manual labour."
The Wall He said: "Though I have built a very strong iron-wall, as far as it was possible for me, it is not ever-lasting, for it will last only as long as Allah wills, and will fall down to pieces when the time of my Lord's promise shall come. Then no power in the world shall be able to keep it safe and secure."
Some people have entertained the misunderstanding that the wall attributed here to Dhul-Qarnain refers to the famous Great Wall of China, whereas this wall was built between Derbent and Dar'yal, two cities of Daghestan in the Caucasus, the land that lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian. There are high mountains between the Black Sea and Dar'yal having deep gorges which cannot allow large armies to pass through them. Between Derbent and Dar'yal, however, there are no such mountains and the passes also are wide and passable. In ancient times savage hordes from the north invaded and ravaged southern lands through these passes and the Persian rulers who were fearful of them had to build a strong wall, 50 miles long, 29 feet high and 10 feet wide, for fortification purposes, ruins of which can still be seen.[3] Though it has not yet been established historically who built this wall in the beginning, muslim historians and geographers assign it to Dhul-Qarnain because its remains correspond with the description of it given in the Qur'an, despite the fact that the wall is in fact Sassanid in origins, and thusly is about 1000 years too late to have been built by Cyrus. Location of the Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (Simplified Chinese: 万里长城; Traditional Chinese: è¬é‡Œé•·åŸŽ; Pinyin: ; literally 10,000 Li¹ long wall) is a Chinese fortification built from 3rd century BC until the beginning of the 17th century, in order to protect the various dynasties from raids by Mongol...
Darband is built around a Sassanid fortress, the only one preserved in the world. ...
The Republic of Dagestan (Russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н) is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). ...
For Caspian Sea, go to: Caspian Sea CASPIAN Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN) is a national grass-roots consumer group dedicated to fighting supermarket loyalty or frequent shopper cards. ...
Ibn Jarir Tabari and Ibn Kathir have recorded the event, and Yaqut al-Hamawi has mentioned it in his Mujam-ul-Buldan that: when after the conquest of Azerbaijan, Umar sent Suraqah bin `Amr, in 22 A.H. (643CE) on an expedition to Derbent, the latter appointed `Abdur Rahman bin Rabi`ah as the chief of his vanguard. When 'Abdur Rehman entered Armenia, the ruler Shehrbaz surrendered without fighting. Then when `Abdur Rehman wanted to advance towards Derbent, Shehrbaz informed him that he had already gathered full information about the wall built by Dhul-Qarnain, through a man, who could supply all the necessary details and then the man was actually presented before `Abdur Rehman. (Tabari, Vol. III, pp. 235-239; Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, Vol. VII, pp. 122-125, and Mu'jam-ul-Buldan, under Bab-ul-Abwab: Derbent). Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari (Arabic الطبري, AD 838-AD 923), was an author from Persia. ...
Ibn Kathir (Arabic : بن كثير ) was an Islamic scholar born in Busra, Syria in 1301 CE. He was taught by the Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyya in Damascus, Syria. ...
Yaqut (Yaqut ibn-Abdullah al-Hamawi) (1179 - 1229) was an Arab biographer and geographer. ...
Two hundred years later, the Abbasid Caliph Al-Wathiq despatched a party of 50 men under Sallam-ul-Tarjuman to study the wall of Dhul-Qarnain, whose observations have been recorded in great detail by Yaqut al-Hamawi in Mu jam-ul-Buldan and by Ibn Kathir in Al-Bidayah. They write: Al-Wathiq ibn Mutasim (d. ...
Yaqut (Yaqut ibn-Abdullah al-Hamawi) (1179 - 1229) was an Arab biographer and geographer. ...
Ibn Kathir (Arabic : بن كثير ) was an Islamic scholar born in Busra, Syria in 1301 CE. He was taught by the Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyya in Damascus, Syria. ...
this expedition reached Samarrah from where they reached Tbilisi and then through As-Sarir and Al-Lan, they reached Filanshah, from where they entered the Caspian territory. From there they arrived at Derbent and saw the wall. (Al-Bidayah Vol. II, p. 111, Vol. VII, pp. 122-125; Mu jam-ul-Buldan: under Bab-ul-Abwab). This clearly shows that even up until the tenth century, muslim scholars regarded this wall of the Caucasus as the wall of Dhul-Qarnain. Tbilisi (Georgian თბილისი) is the capital city of the country of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura (Mtkvari) river, at 41°43′N 44°47′E. Tbilisi is still sometimes known by its former Turkish name of Tiflis. ...
Yaqut in his Mu jam-ul-Buldan has further confirmed the same view at a number of places. For instance, under Khazar (Caspian) he writes:
- "This territory adjoins the Wall of Dhul-Qarnain just behind Bab-ul-Abwab, which is also called Derbent." In the same connection, he records a report by Ahmad bin Fadhlan, the ambassador of Caliph Al-Muqtadir, who has given a full description of the Caspian land, saying that Caspian is the name of a country whose capital is Itil (near the present Astrakhan) right through which flows River Itil, which joins the Caspian front Russia and Bulghar.
Regarding Bab-ul-Abwab he says that this city is called both Al-Bab and Derbent, which is a highly difficult passage for the people coming from the northern lands towards the south. Once this territory was a part of the kingdom of Nausherwan, and the Persian rulers paid particular attention to strengthening their frontiers on that side. Al-Muqtadir (d. ...
About Zul-Qayrnoon, Muhammad Ali says (p586): {The word qarn means a horn, as also a generation or a century and dhul qarnain literally means the two-horned one, or one belonging to the two generations or two centures. The reference here seems to be to the two horned ram of Daniel's vision (dan. 8:3), which he interpreted as the Kindoms of Media and Persia, which were combined into a single kindom under one ruler, Cyrus, who is erroneousy called Darius in the Bible. The reference in Daniel's vision is, however, not to Cyrus but to Darius I Hystaspes (521-485 B.C.), "who allowed the Jews to rebuild their temple, and is referred to in Ezra 4:5,24;5:5;6:1;Hag1:1;2:10;Zech 1;7, and probably in Neh 12:22. His liberality towards the Jews is in complete accord with what we know otherwise of his general policy in relgious matter towards the subject nations"
That the "two horned ram" of Daniel's vision is the king of Media and Persia is made plain in Daniel's book, where the interpretation of the dream is given in the following words: "The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the Kings of Media and Persia" (Dan8:20). The reference in the Qur'an in the history of Dhulqarnain is to Darius I: "Darius was the organizer of the Persian Empire. His conquests served to round off the boundaries of his realm in Armenia, the Causcasus and India, and along the Turanian steppes and the highland of Central Asia" (Jewish En., Darius I). The following remarks in the En. Br. strengthen this view: "Darius in his inscriptions apears as a ferven tbeliever in the true relgion of Zoroaster. But he was also a great statesman an dorganizer. The time of conquest had come tp an end; the wars which Darius undertook, like those of Augustus, only served the purpose of gaining strong natural frontiers for the empire and keeping down the barbarous tribes on its border. Thus Darius subjgated the wild nations of Caucasus. for the same reason he fought against the Sace and other Turanian tribes." The references in this quotation to Darius being a fervent believer in the true religion of Zoroaster, to his subduing the barabarous tribes on the border, to his gaing stron natural fronties for the empire, and to his fighting against the Sacae clearly point him out as the Dhul Qarnain of the Qur'an.
The three journeys alluded to seem to have been undertaken with the object of stregthening the fronties of the empire, the mostimportant of thes being that spoken of in v.93, the part of the frontier between the Caspian and the Black Seas, where the Caucasus afforded a natural protection against the attacks of the Scythians. Darius goes first westward to the Black sea (v.85, 86). Then he undertakes an eastward journey-- the land of the rising sun. the description of the people found here, a people who had no shelter from the sun, is a description of the barbarous aboriginal tribes on the shores of the Caspian. The En. Br. says in the article on Media: "The names in the assyrian inscriptions prove that the tribes in the Zagros and the northern parts Media were not Iranians nor Ind-Eurpoeans, but an aboriginal population, like the early inhabitanbt of Armenia, perhaps connected with the numerous tribes of the Caucasus. we can see how the Iranian elemt gradually became dominant: prinecs with Iranian names occasionally occr as the ruler of these tribes. But the galae, Tapuri, Cadusii, Amardi, Utii and other tribes in Northern Media and on the shores of Caspain, were not Iranians."} Maududi says: {Early commenators on the Qur'an were generally inclined to believe that it referred to Alexander. The characteristics attribute to Dhul Qarnayn, however, hardly apply to Alexander. In the light of the latest historical evidence, contemporary commentators on the Qur'an are inclined to believe that Dhul Qarnayn signifies the Persian Emperor, Cyrus. This, in any case, seems more plausible. Nevertheless, the info available to date does not enable us to form a definitive opinion concerning Dhul Qarnayn's id. The name Cyrus (or Kourosh in Persian) may refer to: [[Cyrus I of Anshan]], King of Persia around 650 BC [[Cyrus II of Persia | Cyrus the Great]], King of Persia 559 BC - 529 BC — See also Cyrus in the Judeo-Christian tradition Cyrus the Younger, brother to the Persian king...
1) The title "The Two-Horned' was at least familiar to theJews. This is eviden tfrom the fact they had instigated the Makkan unbelievers to ask the Prophet about him. One must, therefore, inevtiably turn to Jewish literature to find out who this person was or to establish whiat was the kingdom know as 'The Two-Horned.' 2)(in summary of Maududi) there are only a few people who fit this description 3) The title of Dhul Qarnaynmay be used for a ruler who, being concerned with the defence of his kingdom from the assaults of Go and magog, had a strong protective wall construceted across a mountain pass. Who were they, and where is the wall? 4)He is a God conscious person. (Maududi then goes on to find evidence on each point).} Note that Greeks were hated by the Arabs, as evidenced by the verse about laden eyed people going to Hell, which literally translates into gray-blue eyes. Rodwell points this out as a hatred for the Greeks. My feeble 16 yr. old mind, which should be doing his homework, so is hurrying, cannot recall the verse.
Further indications The book Iranians in the Qur'an and Traditions by Ali Abtahi (ISBN 964-9760-40-6 ) mentions that a wall with characteristics mentioned in the verses of the Qur'an exists in the Daryal passage in the Caucasus mountains, and that there is even a stream nearby which is called "Saeres" by the locals. According to this source, local Armenians called this wall "Behag Gurai" (meaning "The passage of Cyrus").
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