Ka‘b said: “They are an exceptional offshoot among Adam’s descendants. One day Adam had a wet dream, and his semen mingled with the soil; from that fluid Allah created Gog and Magog. Thus, they are connected to us through the father, not the mother.” (1)

Wahb ibn Munabbih related that Dhul-Qarnayn was a man of the Romans, born to an old woman. When he reached maturity, he was a righteous servant. Allah said to him: “I am sending you to nations whose languages differ. Among them are two nations with the length of the earth between them: one at the setting of the sun, called Nasik, and the other at its rising, called Mansak. There are also two nations with the breadth of the earth between them: one in the right-hand region, called Hawil, and the other in the left-hand region of the earth, called Tawil. There are other nations in the middle of the earth, among them the jinn, humankind, Gog, and Magog.”

Dhul-Qarnayn said, “With what force can I overcome them? With what host can I match their numbers? In what language can I address them?” Allah said: “I shall enable you to travel throughout the earth, make your tongue fluent, and strengthen your arm, so let nothing alarm you. I shall invest you with awe, so let nothing frighten you. I shall subject light and darkness to you and make them two of your forces: light will guide you from before, and darkness will protect you from behind.”

He then set out until he reached the setting of the sun, where he found multitudes and numbers that none but Allah could count. He subdued them by means of darkness, until he had gathered them in one place. Then he called them to Allah and to His worship. Some of them believed, while others turned away. So he turned to those who had turned away and brought darkness upon them; it entered their bellies and their homes, whereupon they accepted his call. He recruited a great army from among the people of the West and set out leading them, while darkness drove them onward, until he reached Hawil. There he did to them as he had done to Nasik.

He then continued until he came to Mansak, at the rising of the sun. There he acted as he had done in the two nations before it, and recruited troops from among its people. Then he took the left-hand side of the earth and came to Tawil, where he did as he had done in the lands before it. He then turned to the nations in the middle of the earth. When he approached the region adjoining the farthest reaches of the Turks toward the east, a righteous people from among humankind said to him: “O Dhul-Qarnayn, between these two mountains are creatures resembling beasts. They prey upon livestock and wild animals; [they have fangs and molars] (2) like predatory beasts. They eat snakes, scorpions, and every living creature created on earth. No created beings multiply as they do, and there is no doubt that they will fill the earth, overwhelm us, and spread corruption throughout it. Shall we assign you a payment on condition that you build a barrier between us and them?”

He said, “That with which my Lord has established me is better. Bring me rocks, iron, and copper, so that I may ascertain their condition.”

He then set out until he reached the middle of their land and found them all of one size: each one was half the height of a man of average build among us. They had claws like the fingernails on our hands, and fangs and molars like those of predatory beasts. They also had fringes of hair upon their