Dhu'l‑Qarnayn

In the Qur'anic narrative Dhu'l‑Qarnayn appears as a past, God‑guided ruler whose journeys to the west and east and whose construction of a barrier against Ya'juj wa‑Ma'juj (Gog and Magog) are narrated as signs and acts undertaken under divine authority. Classical and later exegetical traditions link the Qur'anic account to preexisting legends—most notably the Syriac Alexander Legend/Alexander Romance—and propose multiple historical identifications (Alexander the Great, Cyrus the Great, various Arabian or Lakhmid rulers). These interpretations are presented in exegesis as attempts to reconcile the scriptural episode with historical memory and legendary material.

The Qur'an itself gives no extended physical portrait beyond the epithet Dhū l‑Qarnayn, literally 'Owner/Possessor of Two‑Horns.' Exegetical traditions offer multiple readings of the epithet: a literal horned image (linked by later reception to Hellenistic Alexander iconography and Zeus‑Ammon), figurative senses referring to 'two ends' or 'two ages/periods,' or idiomatic readings (e.g., injuries on both sides of the head reported in some narrations). Apart from the epithet, the Qur'anic text describes scenes—seeing the sun set in a muddy spring at the western limit and rise from an ocean at the eastern limit—rather than physical features.

The Qur'anic and exegetical tradition attributes to Dhu'l‑Qarnayn long‑range travel to the 'extremities' of the inhabited world (west and east), administrative or judicial authority exercised in distant regions, and the capacity to organize and construct a substantial iron‑and‑copper barrier in a mountain pass to restrain Ya'juj wa‑Ma'juj. These capabilities are presented as works he undertakes under God's provision and mandate; the sources do not ascribe inherent supernatural powers over celestial bodies or magic to him, but narrate phenomenological descriptions (seeing the sun at limits) and engineering feats within a providential framework.