It was also said: from everything kings employ in conquering cities and waging war against enemies.

“...a means.” That is, knowledge by which he could attain whatever he wished and travel through the regions of the earth. A means is that which connects one thing to another.

Al-Hasan said: “Provision enabling him to reach wherever he wished.” It was also said: “We brought the regions of the earth near to him.” (1)

“So he followed a means, until, when he reached the place where the sun sets, he found it setting in a spring of dark mud, and found near it a people. We said, ‘O Dhu al-Qarnayn, either punish them or treat them with kindness.’” (85–86)

“So he followed a means” means: he proceeded and journeyed. The reciters of the Hijaz and Basra read it, as well as “then he followed,” with the initial alif joined and the consonant doubled; while the others read it with the alif pronounced separately and the ta' in the jussive form. It has been said that both readings have the same meaning.

The correct view, however, is that there is a distinction between them. Whoever pronounces the alif separately gives it the meaning: he caught up with and reached; whereas whoever reads it with doubling gives it the meaning: he journeyed. One says: “I continued following behind him until I caught up with him,” meaning: “I continued walking behind him until I reached him.”

His saying, “a means,” means: a road. Ibn Abbas said: “A stopping-place.”

“Until, when he reached the place where the sun sets, he found it setting in a spring of dark mud.” Abu Ja'far, Abu Amir, Hamzah, al-Kisa'i, and Abu Bakr recited it as “a hot spring,” with an alif and without a hamzah, meaning: hot. The others recited it as “a spring of dark mud,” with a hamzah and without an alif, meaning: a spring containing dark mud, which is black clay.

Mu'awiyah asked Ka'b: “How do you find the setting of the sun described in the Torah?” He replied: “We find in the Torah that it sets in water and mud.”

Al-Qutaybi said: It is possible that the meaning of His saying, “in a spring of dark mud,” is that there was a spring of dark mud beside it, or that this was how it appeared to the eye.

“And he found near it a people,” meaning: he found a nation near the spring. Ibn Jurayj said: “It was a city with twelve thousand gates. Were it not for the clamour of its inhabitants, the crashing sound of the sun as it set would have been heard.” (2)

“We said, ‘O Dhu al-Qarnayn.’” Those who claim that he was a prophet cite this as evidence, since Allah, exalted is He, addressed him. The sounder view is that he was not a prophet; rather, what is meant is inspiration. (3)