Dhu al-Qarnayn

"Zulkarnain" redirects here. For the footballer, see Zulkarnain (footballer).

Dhu al-Qarnayn, (Arabic: ذُو ٱلْقَرْنَيْن, romanized: Ḏū l-Qarnayn, IPA: [ðuː‿l.qarˈnajn]; lit. "The Two-Horned One") appears in the Quran, Surah al-Kahf (18), Ayahs 83–101 as one who travels to east and west and sets up a barrier between a certain people and Gog and Magog (Arabic: يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ, romanized: Yaʾjūj wa-Maʾjūj).^[1] Elsewhere, the Quran tells how the end of the world will be signaled by the release of Gog and Magog from behind the barrier. Other apocalyptic writings predict that their destruction by God in a single night will usher in the Day of Resurrection (Yawm al-Qiyāmah).^[2]

Dhu al-Qarnayn building a wall with the help of the jinns to keep away Gog and Magog. Persian miniature from a book of Falnama copied for the Safavid emperor Tahmasp I (r. 1524–1576), currently preserved in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin.

Dhu al-Qarnayn has most popularly been identified by Western and traditional Muslim scholars as Alexander the Great.^[3][4][5][6] However, Wheeler^[7] and a number of Muslim scholars differed,^[8][9] identifying the character with several other historical figures,^[10] such as the South Arabian king Sa'b Dhu Marathid^[7][11] and the North Arabian king al-Mundhir ibn Imru al-Qays,^[10] with modern Muslim commentators such as Maududi leaning in favour of identifying him as Cyrus the Great.^[6]

Quran 18:83-101

 

The Caspian Gates in Derbent, Russia, part of the defence systems built by the Sasanian Empire, often identified with the Gates of Alexander.

Recitation of al-Kahf, verses 83-101

The story of Dhu al-Qarnayn is related in Quran 18, al-Kahf, revealed to Muhammad when his tribe, Quraysh, sent two men to discover whether the Jews, with their superior knowledge of the scriptures, could advise them on whether Muhammad was a true prophet of God. The rabbis told them to ask Muhammad about three things, one of them "about a man who travelled and reached the east and the west of the earth, what was his story". "If he tells you about these things, then he is a prophet, so follow him, but if he does not tell you, then he is a man who is making things up, so deal with him as you see fit." (Verses 18:83-98).^[12]

The verses of the chapter reproduced below show Dhu al-Qarnayn traveling first to the Western limit of travel where he sees the sun set in a muddy spring, then to the furthest East where he sees it rise from the ocean, and finally northward to a place in the mountains where he finds a people oppressed by Gog and Magog:

Verse Number	Arabic (Uthmani script)	Talal Itani
18:83	وَيَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَن ذِى ٱلْقَرْنَيْنِ ۖ قُلْ سَأَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْكُم مِّنْهُ ذِكْرًا	And they ask you about Zul-Qarnain. Say, “I will tell you something about him.”
18:84	إِنَّا مَكَّنَّا لَهُۥ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَءَاتَيْنَٰهُ مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ سَبَبًا	We established him on earth, and gave him all kinds of means.
18:85	فَأَتْبَعَ سَبَبًا	He pursued a certain course.
18:86	حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ مَغْرِبَ ٱلشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُبُ فِى عَيْنٍ حَمِئَةٍ وَوَجَدَ عِندَهَا قَوْمًا ۗ قُلْنَا يَٰذَا ٱلْقَرْنَيْنِ إِمَّآ أَن تُعَذِّبَ وَإِمَّآ أَن تَتَّخِذَ فِيهِمْ حُسْنًا	Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it setting in a murky spring, and found a people in its vicinity. We said, “O Zul-Qarnain, you may either inflict a penalty, or else treat them kindly.”
18:87	قَالَ أَمَّا مَن ظَلَمَ فَسَوْفَ نُعَذِّبُهُۥ ثُمَّ يُرَدُّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِۦ فَيُعَذِّبُهُۥ عَذَابًا نُّكْرًا	He said, “As for him who does wrong, we will penalize him, then he will be returned to his Lord, and He will punish him with an unheard-of torment.
18:88	وَأَمَّا مَنْ ءَامَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَٰلِحًا فَلَهُۥ جَزَآءً ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ۖ وَسَنَقُولُ لَهُۥ مِنْ أَمْرِنَا يُسْرًا	“But as for him who believes and acts righteously, he will have the finest reward, and We will speak to him of Our command with ease.”
18:89	ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَ سَبَبًا	Then he pursued a course.
18:90	حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ مَطْلِعَ ٱلشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَطْلُعُ عَلَىٰ قَوْمٍ لَّمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُم مِّن دُونِهَا سِتْرًا	Until, when he reached the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had provided no shelter from it.
18:91	كَذَٰلِكَ وَقَدْ أَحَطْنَا بِمَا لَدَيْهِ خُبْرًا	And so it was. We had full knowledge of what he had.
18:92	ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَ سَبَبًا	Then he pursued a course.
18:93	حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ بَيْنَ ٱلسَّدَّيْنِ وَجَدَ مِن دُونِهِمَا قَوْمًا لَّا يَكَادُونَ يَفْقَهُونَ قَوْلًا	Until, when he reached the point separating the two barriers, he found beside them a people who could barely understand what is said.
18:94	قَالُوا۟ يَٰذَا ٱلْقَرْنَيْنِ إِنَّ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ مُفْسِدُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَهَلْ نَجْعَلُ لَكَ خَرْجًا عَلَىٰٓ أَن تَجْعَلَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُمْ سَدًّا	They said, “O Zul-Qarnain, the Gog and Magog are spreading chaos in the land. Can we pay you, to build between us and them a wall?”
18:95	قَالَ مَا مَكَّنِّى فِيهِ رَبِّى خَيْرٌ فَأَعِينُونِى بِقُوَّةٍ أَجْعَلْ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُمْ رَدْمًا	He said, “What my Lord has empowered me with is better. But assist me with strength, and I will build between you and them a dam.”
18:96	ءَاتُونِى زُبَرَ ٱلْحَدِيدِ ۖ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا سَاوَىٰ بَيْنَ ٱلصَّدَفَيْنِ قَالَ ٱنفُخُوا۟ ۖ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا جَعَلَهُۥ نَارًا قَالَ ءَاتُونِىٓ أُفْرِغْ عَلَيْهِ قِطْرًا	“Bring me blocks of iron.” So that, when he had leveled up between the two cliffs, he said, “Blow.” And having turned it into a fire, he said, “Bring me tar to pour over it.”
18:97	فَمَا ٱسْطَٰعُوٓا۟ أَن يَظْهَرُوهُ وَمَا ٱسْتَطَٰعُوا۟ لَهُۥ نَقْبًا	So they were unable to climb it, and they could not penetrate it.
18:98	قَالَ هَٰذَا رَحْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّى ۖ فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ رَبِّى جَعَلَهُۥ دَكَّآءَ ۖ وَكَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّى حَقًّا	He said, “This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord comes true, He will turn it into rubble, and the promise of my Lord is always true.”
18:99	وَتَرَكْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَمُوجُ فِى بَعْضٍ ۖ وَنُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ فَجَمَعْنَٰهُمْ جَمْعًا	On that Day, We will leave them surging upon one another. And the Trumpet will be blown, and We will gather them together.
18:100	وَعَرَضْنَا جَهَنَّمَ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْكَٰفِرِينَ عَرْضًا	On that Day, We will present the disbelievers to Hell, all displayed.
18:101	ٱلَّذِينَ كَانَتْ أَعْيُنُهُمْ فِى غِطَآءٍ عَن ذِكْرِى وَكَانُوا۟ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَمْعًا	Those whose eyes were screened to My message, and were unable to hear.

Cyril Glasse writes that the reference to "He of the two horns" also has a symbolical interpretation: “He of the two Ages”, which reflects the eschatological shadow that Alexander casts from his time, which preceded Islam by many centuries, until the end of the world. The Arabian word qam means both "horn" and “period” or “century”.^[13]

Regarding the Gog and Magog, a minority of Muslim commentators argue that Gog and Magog here refers to some barbaric North Asian tribes from pre-Biblical times which have been free from Dhu al-Qarnayn's wall for a long time.^[14][15] Modern Islamic apocalyptic writers put forward various explanations for the absence of the wall from the modern world, such as "not everything in existence can be seen", similar to human intelligence and angels, or that God has concealed the Gog and Magog from human eyes.^[15]

People identified as Dhu al-Qarnayn

Alexander the Great

 

Silver tetradrachm of Alexander the Great shown wearing the horns of the ram-god Zeus-Ammon.

Main article: Theories about Alexander the Great in the Quran

According to some historians, the story of Dhu al-Qarnayn has its origins in legends of Alexander the Great current in the Middle East, namely the Syriac Alexander Legend.^[16] The first century Josephus repeats a legend whereby Alexander builds an iron wall at a mountain pass (potentially at the Caucasus Mountains) to prevent an incursion by a barbarian group known as the Scythians, whom elsewhere he identified as Magog.^[17][18] The legend went through much further elaboration in subsequent centuries before eventually finding its way into the Quran through a Syrian version.^[19] However, some have questioned whether the Syriac Legend influenced the Quran on the basis of dating inconsistencies and missing key motifs,^[20][21][22] although others have in turn rebutted these arguments.^[23]

While the Syriac Alexander Legend references the horns of Alexander, it consistently refers to the hero by his Greek name, not using a variant epithet.^[24] The use of the Islamic epithet Dhu al-Qarnayn "Two-Horned", first occurred in the Quran.^[22] The reasons behind the name "Two-Horned" are somewhat obscure: the scholar al-Tabari (839-923 CE) held it was because he went from one extremity ("horn") of the world to the other,^[25] but it may ultimately derive from the image of Alexander wearing the horns of the ram-god Zeus-Ammon, as popularised on coins throughout the Hellenistic Near East.^[26]

The wall Dhu al-Qarnayn builds on his northern journey may have reflected a distant knowledge of the Great Wall of China (the 12th-century scholar Muhammad al-Idrisi drew a map for Roger II of Sicily showing the "Land of Gog and Magog" in Mongolia), or of various Sasanian walls built in the Caspian Sea region against the northern barbarians, or a conflation of the two.^[27]

Dhu al-Qarnayn also journeys to the western and eastern extremities ("qarns", tips) of the Earth.^[28] Ernst claims that Dhu al-Qarnayn finding the sun setting in a "muddy spring" in the West is equivalent to the "poisonous sea" found by Alexander in the Syriac legend. In the Syriac story Alexander tested the sea by sending condemned prisoners into it, while the Quran refers to this as a administration of justice. In the East both the Syrian legend and the Quran, according to Ernst, have Alexander/Dhu al-Qarnayn find a people who live so close to the rising sun that they have no protection from its heat.^[29]

Some exegetes believed that Dhu al-Qarnayn lived near the time of Abraham.^[30] This was because the Quran lists the story of Dhu al-Qarnayn after that of an unnamed old man in Quran 18:60–82. Some exegetical traditions identified this figure with Khidr and some placed Khidr as living in the time of Abraham. Since the pericope of Dhu al-Qarnayn appears right after that of the old man, Dhu al-Qarnayn was also inferred to have lived in this time period, in the time of Abraham. To avoid a chronological discrepancy, several medieval exegetes and historians did not identify him Dhu al-Qarnayn with Alexander.^[31] To resolve these, al-Tabari inferred that there were two Dhu al-Qarnayn's: the earlier one, called Dhu al-Qarnayn al-Akbar, who lived in the time of Abraham, and the later one, who was Alexander.^[32] In one account concerning Abraham building a well at Beersheba, Dhu al-Qarnayn seems to have been placed in the role of Abimelech as described in Gen 21:22–34.^[33]

Other notable Muslim commentators, including ibn Kathir,^[34]:100-101 ibn Taymiyyah,^[34]:101[35] and Naser Makarem Shirazi,^[36] have used theological arguments to reject the Alexander identification: Alexander lived only a short time whereas Dhu al-Qarnayn (according to some traditions) lived for 700 years as a sign of God's blessing, though this is not mentioned in the Quran, and Dhu al-Qarnayn worshipped only one God, while Alexander was a polytheist.^[37]

King Ṣaʿb Dhu-Marāthid

Main article: Sa'b Dhu Marathid

The various campaigns of Dhu al-Qarnayn mentioned in Q:18:83-101 have also been attributed to the South Arabian Himyarite king Ṣaʿb Dhu-Marāthid (also known as al-Rāʾid).^[38][39] According to Wahb ibn Munabbih, as quoted by ibn Hisham,^[40] King Ṣaʿb was a conqueror who was given the epithet Dhu al-Qarnayn after meeting the Khidr in Jerusalem. He then travels to the ends of the earth, conquering or converting people until being led by the Khidr through the Land of Darkness.^[41] According to Wheeler, it is possible that some elements of these accounts that were originally associated with Ṣaʿb have been incorporated into stories which identify Dhu al-Qarnayn with Alexander.^[42]

Cyrus the Great

 

 

The relief of a winged genie, or according to some scholars, Cyrus the Great, in Pasargadae. The two horns of the Hemhem crown have been related to the name "Dhu al-Qarnayn".

In modern times, some Muslim scholars have argued in favour of Dhu al-Qarnayn being actually Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire and conqueror of Persia and Babylon. Proponents of this view cite Daniel's vision in the Old Testament where he saw a two-horned ram that represents "the kings of Media and Persia" (Daniel 8:20).^[41] Brannon Wheeler argues that this identification is unlikely on the basis of a lack of Arab histories viewing him as a conqueror in the sense described in the Dhu al-Qarnayn narrative, and the lack of any early commentaries identifying Dhu al-Qarnayn as Cyrus.^[41]

Archeological evidence cited includes the Cyrus Cylinder, which portrays Cyrus as a worshipper of the Babylonian god Marduk, who ordered him to rule the world and establish justice in Babylon. The cylinder states that idols that Nabonidus had brought to Babylon from various other Babylonian cities were reinstalled by Cyrus in their former sanctuaries and ruined temples reconstructed. Supported with other texts and inscriptions, Cyrus appears to have initiated a general policy of permitting religious freedom throughout his domains.^[43][44][45]

A famous relief on a palace doorway pillar in Pasagardae depicts a winged figure wearing a Hemhem crown (a type of ancient Egyptian crown mounted on a pair of long spiral ram's horns). Some scholars take this to be a depiction of Cyrus due to an inscription that was once located above it,^[46][47] though most see it as a tutelary genie, or protective figure and note that the same inscription was also written on other palaces in the complex.^[48][49][50]

This theory was proposed in 1855 by the German philologist G. M. Redslob, but it did not gain followers in the west.^[51] Among Muslim commentators, it was first promoted by Sayyed Ahmad Khan (d. 1889),^[45] then by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,^[36][52] and generated wider acceptance over the years.^[53]

Others

Other persons who either were identified with the Quranic figure or given the title Dhu al-Qarnayn:

• Afrīqish al-Ḥimyarī, king of Himyar. Al-Biruni in his book, The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries, listed a number of figures whom people thought to be Dhu al-Qarnayn. He favoured the opinion that Dhu al-Qarnayn was the Yamani prince Afrīqish, who conquered the Mediterranean and established a city called Afrīqiah. He was called Dhu al-Qarnayn because he ruled the lands of the rising and setting sun. To support his argument, al-Biruni cited Arabic onomastics, noting that compound names beginning with Dhū, such as Dhū Nuwās and Dhū Yazan, were common among the kings of Himyar.^[54]
• Fereydun. According to al-Tabari's Tarikh, some say Dhu al-Qarnayn the Elder (al-akbar), who lived in the era of Abraham, was the mythical Persian king Fereydun, who al-Tabari rendered as Afrīdhūn ibn Athfiyān.^[55]
• In an account attributed to Umar bin Khattab, Dhu al-Qarnayn is said to be an angel or part angel.^[56]
• Imru'l-Qays (died 328 CE), a prince of the Lakhmids of southern Mesopotamia, an ally first of Persia and then of Rome, celebrated in romance for his exploits.^[10][57]
• Messiah ben Joseph, a fabulous military saviour expected by Yemenite Jews.^[58]
• Darius the Great.^[59]
• Kisrounis, Parthian king.^[60][10]

Dhu al-Qarnayn in later literature

Further information: Alexander the Great in Arabic tradition and Alexander the Great in Islamic tradition

Dhu al-Qarnayn, the traveller, proved a popular subject for later writers. In Al-Andalus, for instance, an Arabic translation of the Syriac Alexander Legend appeared, entitled Qissat Dhulqarnayn. This work explores Dhu al-Qarnayn's life – his upbringing, journeys, and eventual death. The text identifies Dhu al-Qarnayn with Alexander the Great and portrays him as the first person to complete the Hajj pilgrimage.^[61]

Another Hispano-Arabic legend featuring Dhu al-Qarnayn, representing Alexander, is the Hadith Dhulqarnayn (or the Leyenda de Alejandro). In one of the many Arabic and Persian versions depicting Alexander's encounter with Indian sages, the Persian Sunni Sufi theologian al-Ghazali (1058–1111) describes a scene where Dhu al-Qarnayn meets a people who own nothing but dig graves outside their homes. Their king explains that death is life's only certainty, a reason for their practices. Ghazali's interpretation found its way into the One Thousand and One Nights.^[62]

The esteemed medieval Persian poet Rumi (1207-1273) wrote about Dhu al-Qarnayn's eastward travels. Here, the hero climbs Mount Qaf, the emerald 'mother' of all mountains encircling the Earth, its veins spreading below every land. Upon Dhu al-Qarnayn's request, the mountain reveals how earthquakes occur: when God wills it, one of its veins pulsates, triggering a tremor. Atop this grand mountain, Dhu al-Qarnayn encounters Israfil (archangel Raphael), prepared to sound the trumpet on Judgement Day.^[63]

The Malay epic Hikayat Iskandar Zulkarnain links several Southeast Asian royal lines to Iskandar Zulkarnain;^[64] this includes the Minangkabau royalty of Central Sumatra^[65] and the Cholan emperor Rajendra I in the Malay Annals.^[66][67][68]

See also

• Gates of Alexander
• Iron Gate (Central Asia)
• Ergenekon

References

1. Netton 2006, p. 72.
2. Cook 2005, p. 8,10.
3. Bietenholz 1994, pp. 122–123.
4. Stoneman 2003, p. 3.
5. Watt 1960–2007: "It is generally agreed both by Muslim commentators and modéra [sic] occidental scholars that Dhu ’l-Ḳarnayn [...] is to be identified with Alexander the Great." Cook 2013: "[...] Dhū al-Qarnayn (usually identified with Alexander the Great) [...]".
6. Maududi, Syed Abul Ala. Tafhim al-Qur'an. The identification ... has been a controversial matter from the earliest times. In general the commentators have been of the opinion that he was Alexander the Great but the characteristics of Zul-Qarnain described in the Qur'an are not applicable to him. However, now the commentators are inclined to believe that Zul-Qarnain was Cyrus ... We are also of the opinion that probably Zul-Qarnain was Cyrus...
7. Wheeler, Brannon M.; Wheeler, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Chair of Comparative Religion Brannon M. (2002). Moses in the Quran and Islamic Exegesis. Psychology Press. pp. 16–19. ISBN 9780700716036. Of particular relevance to the origins of the later Alexander stories is the possible identification of Dhu al-Qarnayn with a South Arabian, Himyarī king, variously named Şa'b Dhu Marāthid, ... In al-Tabarī, for example, the king, ...conquers the Turks in Azerbaijan, ... There are a number of elements in Ibn Hisham's account that parallel elements not found in the early Greek and Syriac recensions ... This suggests that Ibn Hisham's account, coupled with Q 18:83-101, upon which he comments, could represent the immediate source for the stories which attribute these elements to the Alexander stories. These elements originally associated with Sa'b as Dhu al-Qarnayn were incorporated, along with the elements attributed to Dhu al-Qarnayn in Q 18:83-101, into the stories which identified Dhu al-Qarnayn with Alexander. ... It is not possible to show that the Ethiopic and Persian versions of the Alexander stories are derived directly from the Syriac versions. There are a number of problems with the dating of the Syriac versions and their supposed influence on the Quran and later Alexander stories, not the least of which is the confusion of what has been called the Syriac Pseudo-Callisthenes, the sermon of Jacob of Serugh, and the so-called Syriac "Legend of Alexander." Second, the key elements of Q 18:60-65, 18:83-101, and the story of Ibn Hisham's Șa'b Dhu al-Qarnayn do not occur in the Syriac Pseudo-Callisthenes.
8. Hämeen-Anttila, Jaakko (17 April 2018). Khwadāynāmag The Middle Persian Book of Kings. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-27764-9. Many Mediaeval scholars argued against the identification, though. Cf., e.g., the discussion in al-Maqrizi, Khabar §§212-232.
9. Maqrīzī, Aḥmad Ibn-ʿAlī al-; Hämeen-Anttila, Jaakko (2018). Al-Maqrīzī's al-Ḫabar ʻan al-bašar: vol. V, section 4: Persia and its kings, part I. Bibliotheca Maqriziana Opera maiora. Leiden Boston: Brill. pp. 279–281. ISBN 978-90-04-35599-6.
10. Emily Cottrell. "An Early Mirror for Princes and Manual for Secretaries: The Epistolary Novel of Aristotle and Alexander". In Krzysztof Nawotka (ed.). Alexander the Great and the East: History, Art, Tradition. p. 323).
11. Zadeh, Travis (28 February 2017). Mapping Frontiers Across Medieval Islam: Geography, Translation and the 'Abbasid Empire. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 97–98. ISBN 978-1-78673-131-9. In the early history of Islam there was a lively debate over the true identity of Dhū 'l-Qarnayn. One prominent identification was with an ancient South Arabian Ḥimyarī king, generally referred to in the sources as al-Ṣaʿb b. Dhī Marāthid. [...] Indeed the association of Dhū 'l-Qarnayn with the South Arabian ruler can be traced in many early Arabic sources.
12. Itani, Talal. Quran in English - Clear and Easy to Read.
13. Glassé & Smith 2003, p. 38.
14. Ghamidi, Javed Ahmed. "18". Al-Bayan.
15. Cook 2005, p. 205-206.
16. Van Bladel, Kevin (2008). "The Alexander Legend in the Qur'an 18:83-102". In Reynolds, Gabriel Said (ed.). The Qurʼān in Its Historical Context. Routledge.
17. Donzel, Emeri Johannes van; Schmidt, Andrea Barbara; Ott, Claudia (2009). Gog and Magog in early syriac and islamic sources: Sallam's quest for Alexander's wall. Brill's Inner Asian Library. Leiden: Brill. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-90-04-17416-0.
18. Bøe, Sverre (2001). Gog and Magog: Ezekiel 38 - 39 as pre-text for Revelation 19,17 - 21 and 20,7 - 10. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 221–222, 230. ISBN 978-3-16-147520-7.
19. Bietenholz 1994, p. 122-123.
20. Wheeler 1998, p. 201: "There are a number of problems with the dating of the Syriac versions and their supposed influence on the Qurʾan and later Alexander stories, not the least of which is the confusion of what has been called the Syriac Pseudo-Callisthenes, the sermon of Jacob of Serugh, and the so-called Syriac Legend of Alexander. Second, the key elements of Q 18:60-65, 18:83-102, and the story of Ibn Hishām's Saʿb dhu al-Qarnayn do not occur in the Syriac Pseudo-Callisthenes."
21. Klar, Marianna (2020). "Qur'anic Exempla and Late Antique Narratives". The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studies (PDF). p. 134. The Qur'anic exemplum is highly allusive, and makes no reference to vast tracts of the narrative line attested in the Neṣḥānā. Where the two sources would appear to utilize the same motif, there are substantial differences to the way these motifs are framed. These differences are sometimes so significant as to suggest that the motifs might not, in fact, be comparable at all.^{[permanent dead link]}
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