Al-Kahf (The Cave)

98. “He said: ‘This is mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord comes to pass, He will make it level (with the ground), and the promise of my Lord is ever true’.”

Godly men believe that their successes are because of the Mercy of Allah, and they never become proud. Of course, the Mercy and Lordship of Allah are connected to each other. Saintliness of work and effort, stability of the action, people’s cooperation, administratorship and industry, and high goals are all a collection of Divine Favours.

Thus, here, Zul-Qarnayn, who was a godly man and had fulfilled a very important accomplishment, did not boast of his action nor did he hold those people under obligation in the same way that the tyrant usually do, but with the utmost courtesy he treated, and:

“He said: ‘This is mercy from my Lord...”

Zul-Qarnayn implied that if he had such a knowledge by which he could perform an important action like that, it was from the side of Allah, and his power as well as effectiveness of his word, were from Him, too.

Then he added this meaning that they should not think that their barrier was eternal, but when the promise of Allah comes, it will be made level with the ground and He will change it into an even land, because the promise of Allah is always true.

The verse say:

“…But when the promise of my Lord comes to pass, He will make it level (with the ground), and the promise of my Lord is ever true’.”

In this statement, Zul-Qarnayn points to the distraction of the world and its disturbance at the threshold of Resurrection.

There are many instructive points in this story, the which, in fact, form the essential aim of the Qur’an. Some of them are as follows:

1. The first lesson that this story teaches us is that no work is possible to be fully done in this world without its means. Therefore, Allah gave the means of success to Zul-Qarnayn.

2. No government can embrace the victory but with encouraging the helpful people and punishing the evildoers. This is the very principal which Zul-Qarnayn utilized. Ali-ibn-Abitalib (as), in his famous command to Malik-i-Ashtar, which is a consistent instruction for action in governing a country, says:

“…The virtuous and the vicious should not be in equal position before you, because this means dissuasion of the virtuous from virtue and persuasion of the vicious to vice.”1

3. A difficult duty is never fit for a godly just government, and it was for this very reason that Zul-Qarnayn, after declaring that he would punish the unjust and reward the righteous a good recompense, he added:

“…we will assign easiness for him by our command”,

so that the righteous could be able to do it willingly and eagerly.

4. A vast just government cannot be heedless unto the differences and varieties of the life of people and their different conditions.

5. Zul-Qarnayn did not leave out even the group of people who, as the Qur’an says, could not understand a saying, and by any possible means, he listened to them and removed their difficulty.

6. Security is the first and the most important condition of a safe social life. It was for the same reason that Zul-Qarnayn undertook the most labourous works to provide it with them.

7. Another lesson which can be learnt from this historical event, is that the main owners of social pain must take part in performing their own affairs, because their effort will surely be affective.

Principally, an action which proceeds with the participation of the essential owners of the pain both helps the innate talents to be appeared and they value the resulting consequence and try to protect it, for they have tolerated much trouble in its construction.

However, it makes clear that even a nation in the state of being retarded can practically prove such an important and marvelous development when they apply a right design and administratorship.

8. A godly leader must be disrespectful to wealth and material things and be content with what Allah has bestowed upon him. One of the concepts which is found frequently in the Qur’an is that one of most basic statements of the divine prophets is that they demand no wage or wealth from people for their invitation to truth.

9. To secure the affairs from any point of view is another lesson of this Qur’anic story.

10. Howsoever powerful, vigorous, clever, wealthy and authoritative a person may be, and can afford great works, he must never boast and become proud. This is also another lesson that Zul-Qarnayn taught.

11. Every thing will be vanished, and the firmest and strongest buildings of this world will finally be destroyed even though they are built from some massive iron and steel.

This is the last lesson of this event, a lesson for all those who imagine that this world is eternal, and practically try to amass wealth and earn ranks so unconditioned and greedily that as if there is no death and destruction.

Who Were Gog and Magog?

Gog and Magog are mentioned in two suras of the Qur’an. One of them is in the Surah under discussion, and the second is in Surah Al-’Anbiya’, No. 21, verse 96.

The verse of the Qur’an clearly shows that these two appellations had belonged to two wild, cruel tribes, who were very troublesome for the people who lived around the center of their living place. For more explanation about them, please refer to: commentary books of Atyab-ul-Bayan, Tafsir-i-Nemunah, Tafsir-i-Kabir, Qara’ib-ul-Qur’an, and Tafsir-i-Ruh-ul-Bayan.