153 – Al-Qāsim ibn Hāshim Abū Muḥammad related to me; al-Ḥakam ibn Nāfiʿ narrated to us; Ṣafwān ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Khuzaʿī, said:

Dhu’l-Qarnayn once passed by a people who possessed none of the worldly enjoyments other folk delight in. They had already dug their own graves; every morning they would visit them, sweep them clean, and pray over them. They grazed on wild herbs just as cattle graze, and God had granted them a livelihood through the vegetation of the earth.

Dhu’l-Qarnayn sent word to their king: “Respond to the king—Dhu’l-Qarnayn!” The man answered, “I have no need of him.” So Dhu’l-Qarnayn went to him in person and said … When I had delivered the message and arrived, he said, “Look, I have come to you.” The king replied, “If I had needed you, I would have come to you myself.”

Dhu’l-Qarnayn asked, “Why do I see you living in a manner unlike that of any other nation?” They said, “What do you mean?” He replied, “You have no share of worldly goods and have not taken up gold or silver to enjoy them.” They answered, “We have shunned them, for no one is ever given a portion of them without his soul craving more and longing for something finer.”

He said, “And why have you dug graves which you tend and pray over each morning?” They replied, “Whenever we look at them and our hearts incline toward worldly hopes, the sight of our graves restrains us from hoping.”

He went on, “I notice you eat nothing but the plants of the earth. Why do you not keep livestock, milk them, ride them, and benefit from them?” They said, “We dislike turning our stomachs into graves for animals. We have found sufficiency in what grows from the earth: the child of Adam needs only the bare minimum to live, and once food exceeds that limit we find no taste in it—whatever food it may be.”

Then the king of that nation ⦗136⦘ stretched out his hand behind Dhu’l-Qarnayn, took up a skull, and said, “O Dhu’l-Qarnayn, do you know who this was?” “No,” he replied. He said, “This was a king to whom God gave authority over the people of the earth. He oppressed, wronged, and transgressed; when God saw that from him, He cut him off with death, and he became like a stone cast aside until God had fully recorded his deeds in order to recompense him in the Hereafter.”

Next he handed him another skull and said, “O Dhu’l-Qarnayn, do you know who this was?” He answered, “No.” He said, “This was a king whom God appointed after the first. He saw how his predecessor oppressed and wronged the people, so he humbled himself before God, was devout, and ruled his subjects with justice. He therefore became as you see; God has enumerated his deeds so that He may reward him in the Hereafter.”

Then he reached toward Dhu’l-Qarnayn’s own head and said, “This head of yours was once like these two—so consider, O Dhu’l-Qarnayn, what you will do.”

Dhu’l-Qarnayn offered, “Would you like to accompany me? I could take you as a brother, a minister, or a partner in whatever wealth God grants.” He replied, “It would not be fitting for you and me to remain in the same place or to be together.” Dhu’l-Qarnayn asked, “Why not?” He answered, “Because all people are enemies to you but friends to me.” “And why is that?” he asked. “They are hostile toward you because of the dominion and wealth you possess, whereas I find no one who opposes me, for I have renounced all of that; my needs are few and my possessions meager.”

So Dhu’l-Qarnayn turned away from him and departed.