لو كان بيدك أن تذهب إلى أيّ مكان في الأرض، وأن تفعل فيه ما تشاء، فماذا كنت ستفعل؟ في قصة اليوم رجلٌ كان يملك ذلك فعلًا: بلغ مغرب الشمس ومشرقها، ثم وقف أمام قوم لا يكادون يفهمون كلامه، فكان أعظم ما فعله معهم.
﴿إِنَّا مَكَّنَّا لَهُ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَآتَيْنَاهُ مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ سَبَبًا﴾ — أي آتاه الله القوّة والعلم والأدوات التي يبلغ بها ما يريد. ولم يخبرنا القرآن من هو، ولا في أيّ زمان كان، ولا أين كانت مملكته؛ أخبرنا بما فعل. وقد سار في الأرض ثلاث مرّات: مرّةً نحو المغرب، ومرّةً نحو المشرق، ومرّةً حتى بلغ موضعًا بين سدّين.
في المغرب وجد قومًا، فخيّره الله فيهم بين أن يعذّب وأن يُحسن، فقال: ﴿أَمَّا مَن ظَلَمَ فَسَوْفَ نُعَذِّبُهُ… وَأَمَّا مَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَهُ جَزَاءً الْحُسْنَىٰ﴾ — عدلٌ مبنيّ على العمل، لا على مزاج الحاكم. ثم مضى إلى المشرق فوجد قومًا ﴿لَّمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُم مِّن دُونِهَا سِتْرًا﴾، فتركهم على حالهم ولم يظلمهم. ثم بلغ موضعًا بين جبلين، ووجد قومًا ﴿لَّا يَكَادُونَ يَفْقَهُونَ قَوْلًا﴾، فشكوا إليه فسادًا في الأرض من يأجوج ومأجوج، وعرضوا عليه مالًا يجمعونه له ليبني بينهم وبينهم سدًّا.
فقال كلمةً هي قلب القصة كلها: ﴿مَا مَكَّنِّي فِيهِ رَبِّي خَيْرٌ فَأَعِينُونِي بِقُوَّةٍ﴾ — أي: ما أعطاني ربي خيرٌ من مالكم، فلا آخذ منكم شيئًا؛ لكن أعينوني بسواعدكم. ملكٌ يملك الأرض، يردّ الأجر، ويطلب من القوم الضعفاء أن يعملوا معه بأيديهم لا أن يتفرّجوا عليه. ثم بنى: زُبَر الحديد بين الجبلين، ثم النار حتى صار الحديد كالنار، ثم النحاس المذاب يُفرَغ فوقه. فصار جدارًا ﴿فَمَا اسْطَاعُوا أَن يَظْهَرُوهُ وَمَا اسْتَطَاعُوا لَهُ نَقْبًا﴾.
ثم وقف أمام هذا البناء العظيم الذي عجز عنه الناس قبله، فماذا قال؟ ﴿هَٰذَا رَحْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّي فَإِذَا جَاءَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي جَعَلَهُ دَكَّاءَ﴾ — أي: هذا ليس مني، بل رحمة من ربي، وسيأتي يوم يجعله مستويًا بالأرض. لم يكتب اسمه عليه، ولم يقل: انظروا ماذا صنعتُ. وبين هذه الكلمة وكلمة قارون — «إنما أوتيته على علم عندي» — يقع الفرق كلّه.
يقول الله تعالى عن هذا السد القوي الذي بناه ذو القرنين: {فَمَا اسْطَاعُوا أَن يَظْهَرُوهُ وَمَا اسْتَطَاعُوا لَهُ نَقْبًا}. (أي لم يستطع الأشرار أن يتسلقوه أو يثقبوه).
القوة نعمةٌ يُسأل عنها صاحبها: أحمى بها ضعيفًا، أم زاد بها نفسه؟
كان يستطيع أن يأخذ مالهم ويبني لهم وحده، فرفض وطلب منهم أن يعملوا معه. لماذا في رأيك؟ وما الفرق بين أن تعطي أحدًا شيئًا وبين أن تعمل معه؟
أعِن اليوم أحدًا في شيء يعمله بيده، واعمل معه ولا تفعله بدلًا منه.
القرآن الكريم، سورة الكهف: 83-98
القصة بنص الآيات. ولم يبيّن القرآن من هو ذو القرنين ولا في أي زمان كان، وما يُذكر في تعيينه أقوال لا يثبت منها شيء.
If you could go anywhere on earth and do whatever you wished there, what would you do? In today's story there was a man who truly could. He reached the setting place of the sun and its rising place — and then stood before a people who could barely understand his speech, and did the greatest thing he ever did.
{Indeed, We established him upon the earth, and We gave him to everything a way} — Allah gave him the power, the knowledge and the means to reach whatever he set out for. The Quran does not tell us who he was, or when he lived, or where his kingdom stood; it tells us what he did. He travelled the earth three times: once westward, once eastward, and once until he reached a place between two barriers.
In the west he found a people, and Allah gave him the choice between punishing and doing good. He said: {As for one who wrongs, we will punish him… But as for one who believes and does righteousness, he will have a reward of the best} — justice built on deeds, not on a ruler's mood. Then he went east and found a people {for whom We had not made against it any shelter}, and left them as they were without wronging them. Then he reached a place between two mountains and found a people {who could hardly understand speech}. They complained to him of corruption in the land from Gog and Magog, and offered to gather him payment to build a barrier between them.
Then he said the sentence the whole story turns on: {That in which my Lord has established me is better, so assist me with strength.} That is: what my Lord has given me is better than your money, so I will take nothing from you — but help me with your own hands. A king who owns the earth refuses the payment, and asks a weak people to work beside him rather than watch him. Then he built: blocks of iron between the two mountains, then fire until the iron glowed, then molten copper poured over it. And it became a wall {so they were unable to pass over it, nor were they able to bore through it}.
Then he stood before this great work that no one before him had managed — and what did he say? {This is a mercy from my Lord; but when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it level.} That is: this is not from me, it is a mercy from my Lord, and a day will come when He levels it with the ground. He did not write his name on it. He did not say, look what I made. Between that sentence and Qarun's — "I was only given it because of knowledge I have" — lies the whole difference.
Strength is a blessing its owner is asked about: did he shield the weak with it, or only enlarge himself?
He could have taken their money and built it himself, and he refused and asked them to work with him. Why do you think that was? And what is the difference between giving someone something and working alongside them?
Help someone today with something they are doing with their own hands — work with them rather than doing it instead of them.
The Quran, Surah Al-Kahf: 83-98
The account is the verses' own words. The Quran does not say who Dhul-Qarnayn was or when he lived, and the attempts to identify him are opinions, none established.