Tarikh (al-Tabari) 341
the accounts of past peoples from the Israelites and others
وَاخْتَلَفُوا فِي سَبَبِ تَسْمِيَتِهِ بِذِي الْقَرْنَيْنِ عَلَى عَشَرَةِ أَقْوَالٍ: أَحَدُهَا: أَنَّهُ دَعَا قَوْمَهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فَضَرَبُوهُ عَلَى قَرْنِهِ فَهَلَكَ، فَغَبَرَ زَمَانًا ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فَدَعَاهُمْ إِلَى اللَّهِ فَضَرَبُوهُ عَلَى قَرْنِهِ الْآخَرِ فَهَلَكَ، فَذَلِكَ قَرْنَاهُ. قَالَهُ عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي طَالِبٍ ؓ فِي رِوَايَةٍ. وعَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ شُعَيْبٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ جَدِّهِ، أَنَّهُ قَالَ: دَعَا مَلِكًا جَبَّارًا إِلَى اللَّهِ فَضَرَبَهُ عَلَى قَرْنِهِ فَكَسَرَهُ وَرَضَّهُ، ثُمَّ دَعَاهُ فَدَقَّ قَرْنَهُ الثَّانِيَ، فَكَسَرَهُ، فَسُمِّيَ ذَا الْقَرْنَيْنِ. وَالثَّانِي: أَنَّهُ سُمِّيَ بِذِي الْقَرْنَيْنِ؛ لِأَنَّهُ سَارَ إِلَى مَغْرِبِ الشَّمْسِ وَإِلَى مَطْلَعِهَا. رَوَاهُ أَبُو صَالِحٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ. وعَنْ حَبِيبِ بْنِ جَادِمٍ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَجُلٌ لِعَلِيٍّ ؓ: كَيْفَ بَلَغَ ذُو الْقَرْنَيْنِ الْمَشْرِقَ وَالْمَغْرِبَ؟ فَقَالَ عَلِيٌّ: سُخِّرَ لَهُ السَّحَابُ، وَمُدَّتْ لَهُ الْأَسْبَابُ، وَبُسِطَ لَهُ النُّورُ. وَفِي رِوَايَةٍ أُخْرَى عَنْ عَلِيٍّ ؓ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: كَانَ عَبْدًا صَالِحًا نَاصَحَ لِلَّهِ وَأَطَاعَهُ، فَسَخَّرَ لَهُ السَّحَابَ فَحَمَلَهُ عَلَيْهِ، وَبَسَطَ النُّورَ. وَالثَّالِثُ: لِأَنَّ صَفْحَتَيْ رَأْسِهِ كَانَتَا مِنْ نُحَاسٍ. وَالرَّابِعُ: لِأَنَّهُ رَأَى فِي النَّوْمِ كَأَنَّهُ امْتَدَّ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ، فَأَخَذَ بِقَرْنَيِ الشَّمْسِ، فَقَصَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى قَوْمِهِ فَسُمِّيَ بِذِي الْقَرْنَيْنِ. وَالْخَامِسُ: لِأَنَّهُ مَلَكَ فَارِسَ وَالرُّومَ. وَالسَّادِسُ: لِأَنَّهُ كَانَ فِي رَأْسِهِ شِبْهُ الْقَرْنَيْنِ. رُوِيَتْ هَذِهِ الْأَقْوَالُ الْأَرْبَعَةُ عَنْ وَهْبِ بْنِ مُنَبِّهٍ. وَالسَّابِعُ: لِأَنَّهُ كَانَتْ لَهُ غَدِيرَتَانِ مِنْ شَعَرٍ. قَالَهُ الْحَسَنُ. قَالَ أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ الْأَنْبَارِيِّ: وَالْعَرَبُ تُسَمِّي الضَّفِيرَتَيْنِ مِنَ الشَّعَرِ غَدِيرَتَيْنِ وَضَفِيرَتَيْنِ وَقَرْنَيْنِ. وَمَنْ قَالَ سُمِّيَ بِذَلِكَ لِأَنَّهُ مَلَكَ فَارِسَ وَالرُّومَ قَالَ: لِأَنَّهُمَا عَالِيَانِ عَلَى جَانِبَيْنِ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ، فَقَالَ لَهُمَا قَرْنَانِ. وَالثَّامِنُ: لِأَنَّهُ كَانَ كَرِيمَ الطَّرَفَيْنِ مِنْ أَهْلِ بَيْتِ ذَوِي شَرَفٍ. وَالتَّاسِعُ: لِأَنَّهُ انْقَرَضَ فِي زَمَانِهِ قَرْنَانِ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَهُوَ حَيٌّ. وَالْعَاشِرُ: لِأَنَّهُ سَلَكَ الظُّلْمَةَ وَالنُّورَ. ذَكَرَ هَذِهِ الْأَقْوَالَ [الْأَرْبَعَةَ] أَبُو إِسْحَاقَ الثَّعْلَبِيُّ. قَالَ مُجَاهِدٌ: مَلَكَ الْأَرْضَ أَرْبَعَةٌ، مُؤْمِنَانِ وَكَافِرَانِ، فَالْمُؤْمِنَانِ: سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ دَاوُدَ، وَذُو الْقَرْنَيْنِ، وَالْكَافِرَانِ: نُمْرُودُ، وَبُخْتُ نَصَّرَ. قَالَ أَبُو الْحُسَيْنِ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ: زَعَمُوا أَنَّ ذَا الْقَرْنَيْنِ أَحَدُ عُظَمَاءِ مُلُوكِ الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا أَنَّ اللَّهَ أَعْطَاهُ مَعَ ذَلِكَ التَّوْحِيدَ وَالطَّاعَةَ وَاصْطِنَاعَ الْخَيْرِ، وَمَدَّ لَهُ فِي الْأَسْبَابِ، وَأَعَانَهُ عَلَى أَعْدَائِهِ، وَفَتَحَ الْمَدَائِنَ وَالْحُصُونَ، وَغَلَبَ الرِّجَالَ، وَعَمَّرَ عُمُرًا طَوِيلًا، بَلَغَ فِيهِ الْمَشَارِقَ وَالْمَغَارِبَ، وَبَنَى السَّدَّ فِيمَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ وَبَيْنَ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ، وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ رَحْمَةً لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ، وَحِرْزًا مَنِيعًا مِنَ الْبَلَاءِ الَّذِي لَا طَاقَةَ لَهُمْ بِهِ.
Translation
✧ They differed regarding the reason for his being named Dhū al-Qarnayn according to ten sayings: One of them: that he called his people to God Almighty, and they struck him on his horn, so he perished; then he remained for a time, then God Almighty sent him again, and he called them to God, and they struck him on his other horn, so he perished; so those are his two horns. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib ؓ said this in one narration. From ʿAmr b. Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, that he said: He called a tyrannical king to God, and he struck him on his horn and broke it and crushed it; then he called him again and smashed his second horn and broke it; so he was named Dhū al-Qarnayn. The second: that he was named Dhū al-Qarnayn because he traveled to the setting of the sun and to its rising. Abū Ṣāliḥ narrated it from Ibn ʿAbbās. From Ḥabīb b. Jādim, he said: A man said to ʿAlī ؓ: How did Dhū al-Qarnayn reach the east and the west? ʿAlī said: The clouds were made subservient to him, the means were extended for him, and the light was spread out for him. In another narration from ʿAlī ؓ that he said: He was a righteous servant who was sincere to God and obeyed Him, so He made the clouds subservient to him and carried him upon them, and spread out the light. The third: because the two sides of his head were of copper. The fourth: because he saw in a dream as if he stretched from the sky to the earth, and he took hold of the two horns of the sun; so he related that to his people, and he was named Dhū al-Qarnayn. The fifth: because he ruled Persia and Byzantium. The sixth: because on his head there was something like two horns. These four sayings were narrated from Wahb b. Munabbih. The seventh: because he had two locks of hair. Al-Ḥasan said it. Abū Bakr b. al-Anbārī said: The Arabs call the two braids of hair ghadīratān and ḍafīratān and qarnān. Those who say he was named that because he ruled Persia and Byzantium say: because they are elevated on two sides of the earth, so they called them two horns. The eighth: because he was noble on both sides, from a household of honor. The ninth: because two generations of people passed away during his lifetime while he was alive. The tenth: because he traversed darkness and light. Abū Isḥāq al-Thaʿlabī mentioned these [four] sayings. Mujāhid said: Four ruled the earth, two believers and two disbelievers. The two believers: Sulaymān b. Dāwūd and Dhū al-Qarnayn; and the two disbelievers: Nimrūd and Bukht Naṣṣar. Abū al-Ḥusayn Aḥmad b. Jaʿfar said: They claimed that Dhū al-Qarnayn was one of the great kings of the earth, except that God gave him along with that monotheism, obedience, and the doing of good, and extended for him the means, and aided him against his enemies, and opened cities and fortresses, and overcame men, and lived a long life, in which he reached the easts and the wests, and built the barrier between the people and Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj; and that was a mercy for the believers, and a strong protection from the affliction which they had no power to bear.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.