The Wall of Iron

Their bodies, skin, hair—in short, everything about them—was completely intact. That is, they were exactly as they had been when they fell asleep. No kind of change had occurred in them.

They began talking among themselves:

“Why, brothers, how long do you think we have been asleep?”

One of them replied:

“One day, or even less.”

He said this because they had fallen asleep in the morning and when they awoke, it was evening. Therefore, they thought that they had slept for one day or less.

Then another of them ended the discussion by saying:

“Allah knows best how long we have actually been asleep.”

Now they began to feel extremely hungry and thirsty.

They thought that they should get some food from the market.

They had money with them. Some of it they had already spent in the way of Allah, while some still remained with them.

One of them said:

“One of us should take some money and go to the market and bring back some pure and good food.

While going and returning, he should be careful that no one notices him.

He should also be cautious while making the purchase and should not come to anyone’s attention.

If they find out about us, we will be in serious trouble.

The men of Daqyanus must still be searching for us.”

Accordingly, one of them came out of the cave.

Everything looked completely different to him.

He had no idea that they had slept for three hundred and nine years.

He saw that nothing was as it had been before.

He did not recognize a single person in the city.

He was astonished, confused, and moved forward in fear.

His mind was reeling.

He kept thinking:

“Just yesterday evening we left this city. What has suddenly happened?”

When he became even more troubled, he decided in his heart:

“I must buy the provisions as quickly as possible and return to my companions.”

Eventually, he reached a shop.

He gave the shopkeeper his money and asked for food and drink.

The shopkeeper was astonished when he saw the coin.

He showed it to the shopkeeper next door and said:

“Brother, take a look at this! What period does this coin belong to?”

He handed the coin to the other man.

In this way, the coin passed through several hands.

Several people gathered there.

Eventually, they asked him:

“Where did you get this coin? Which country are you from?”

He replied:

“I am from this very city. I left here only yesterday evening. The king here is Daqyanus.”

Everyone laughed when they heard this and said:

“This must be a madman. Seize him and take him to the king.”

Eventually, he was brought before the king.

They questioned him there.

He told them the entire story.

The king and everyone else were astonished after hearing his account.

Finally, they said:

“All right. Take us to your companions. Show us that cave as well.”

So everyone set out with him toward the cave.

They met the young men and told them that three centuries had passed since the kingdom of Daqyanus had ended, and that the rule of the righteous servants of Allah now prevailed there.

In any case, these young men spent the remainder of their lives in that cave and passed away there.

Later, people built a mosque on the top of the mountain in their honor.

There is also another narration that when the first young man who had gone to the city approached the cave with the people, he said:

“You all wait here. I will go and inform them.”

He then separated from them and entered the cave.

At the same time, Allah Almighty caused them to fall asleep once again.

The king and his companions continued searching for him.

But they could neither find him nor see the cave.

Allah Almighty concealed the cave and all of them from their sight.

People continued to speculate about their number.

Some said that there were seven of them and their dog was the eighth.

Others said that there were nine and their dog was the tenth.

In any case, Allah alone knows their exact number.

Allah Almighty said to His Prophet ﷺ:

“Do not engage in excessive discussion about them, and do not ask anyone concerning them.”

(The reason is that people make claims about them based on their own assumptions, while they possess no sound evidence.)

The second question of the polytheists was:

“Who was Dhul-Qarnayn?”

The following details are found concerning Dhul-Qarnayn:

“Dhul-Qarnayn was a righteous, God-fearing, and powerful king.

He undertook three major expeditions.

During the first expedition, he reached a place where the sun appeared to set.

There he found a people concerning whom Allah had given him authority: he could either punish them or treat them well.

Dhul-Qarnayn said:

‘As for whoever is unjust, we will punish him, and after his death Allah Almighty will also punish him. But the believing servants will receive a good reward.’”

During the second expedition, he reached a place where the sun appeared to rise.

There he found people whose dwellings had no roofs or other coverings.

During the third expedition, he reached a place between two mountain passes.

The people there could hardly understand his speech.

Through gestures or through an interpreter, they complained to him about the destruction caused by Ya’juj and Ma’juj and requested that he build a barrier between them and Ya’juj and Ma’juj.

Dhul-Qarnayn had sheets of iron brought.

He then constructed a wall from them.

Molten copper was poured into it.

After completing this work, Dhul-Qarnayn said:

‘This is a favor from Allah that I have been able to accomplish such a great task.’

Near the time of the Day of Judgment, Ya’juj and Ma’juj will succeed in breaking through this wall.

Various explanations concerning Dhul-Qarnayn are found in the books.

“Qarn” is said to mean two directions or sides.

Dhul-Qarnayn reached the two ends of the world, and therefore he was called Dhul-Qarnayn.

Some have taken “Qarn” to mean a horn, making the meaning “the one with two horns.”

His name was Alexander.

However, he was not the Alexander of Greece who is known as Alexander the Great.

The Greek Alexander was a disbeliever, whereas this Alexander was a Muslim and a friend of Allah.

As for the third question, concerning the soul, Allah Almighty said:

“These people ask you about the soul. Say: ‘The soul exists by the command of my Lord.’”

That is, the reality of the soul is known only to Allah. No one besides Him knows its true reality.

The same statement was also recorded in the books of the Jews concerning the soul: the soul exists by the command of Allah, and its knowledge belongs to Allah alone. He has not given this knowledge to anyone besides Himself.

The Jews had already told the polytheists:

“If he gives you detailed information about the soul, understand that he is not a Prophet.

But if he simply says that the soul exists by the command of Allah, then understand that he is a true Prophet.”

The Prophet ﷺ gave exactly this answer.

While we are on the subject, let us also hear an incident.

When the Muslims conquered India, a scholar of the Hindu religion came to debate with Muslim scholars.

He demanded:

“Send any scholar to debate with me.”

The people pointed toward Imam Rukn al-Din.