Surah Kahf ayat 98 Tafsir Quran 18:98

﴿قَالَ هَٰذَا رَحْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّي ۖ فَإِذَا جَاءَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي جَعَلَهُ دَكَّاءَ ۖ وَكَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي حَقًّا﴾
[ الكهف: 98]

18:98 [Dhul-Qarnayn] said, "This is a mercy from my Lord; but when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it level, and ever is the promise of my Lord true."

Said he Dhū’l-Qarnayn ‘This namely the barrier the ability to make it is a mercy from my Lord a grace from Him because it prevents them from coming forth. But when the promise of my Lord comes to pass the promise of their coming forth which will be near the time of the Resurrection He will level it pulverised and flattened for my Lord’s promise of their coming forth and of other things is always true’ it will be. God exalted be He says

At the end, Zul-Qarnain said thankfully: This is a mercy graciously vouchsafed by Allah, my Creator, and when Allahs predetermined point of time comes to pass, He shall turn it to dust. The promise of Allah, my Creator, has always been the truth personified

The Barrier restrains Them, but It will be breached when the Hour draws nigh Allah tells us that Ya'juj and Ma'juj could not climb over the barrier or penetrate its lower portion.
Varying forms of the verb are used here in the Arabic text to reflect the difficulty of the action referred to. فَمَا اسْطَـعُواْ أَن يَظْهَرُوهُ وَمَا اسْتَطَـعُواْ لَهُ نَقْبًا ( So they (Ya'juj and Ma'juj ) could not scale it or dig through it.) This indicates that they could not penetrate it or dig through it.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Zaynab bint Jahsh, the wife of the Prophet said, "The Prophet woke from sleep, and he was red in the face.
He said,
«لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَيْلٌ لِلْعَرَبِ مِنْ شَرَ قَدِ اقْتَرَبَ فُتِحَ الْيَوْمَ مِنْ رَدْمِ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ مِثْلُ هَذَا»
( La ilaha illallah! Woe to the Arabs from the evil that has approached (them ).
Today a hole has been opened in the barrier of Ya'juj and Ma'juj like this.) and he made a circle with his index finger and thumb.
I Zaynab said, `O Messenger of Allah, will we be destroyed even though there will be righteous people among us' He said:
«نَعَمْ إِذَا كَثُرَ الْخَبَث»
( Yes, if evil increases. )" This is a Sahih Hadith, both Al-Bukhari and Muslim recorded it. قَالَ هَـذَا رَحْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّى ( (Dhul-Qarnayn ) said: "This is a mercy from my Lord...") meaning, after it was built by Dhul-Qarnayn. قَالَ هَـذَا رَحْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّى ( He said: This is a mercy from my Lord ) for the people, when he placed a barrier between them and Ya'juj and Ma'juj, to stop them from spreading evil and corruption on earth. فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ رَبِّى ( but when the promise of my Lord comes ) means, when the true promise comes جَعَلَهُ دَكَّآءَ ( He shall Dakka' it down to the ground. ) means, will make it flat.
The Arabs use Dakka' to describe a female camel whose back is flat and has no hump.
And Allah says: فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّى رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا ( So when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He made it Dakkan ) 7:143 meaning, level to the ground. وَكَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّى حَقّاً ( And the promise of my Lord is ever true. ) means, it will come to pass without a doubt. وَتَرَكْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ ( We shall leave some of them ) meaning mankind, on that day, the day when the barrier will be breached and these people ( Ya'juj and Ma'juj ) will come out surging over mankind to destroy their wealth and property. وَتَرَكْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَمُوجُ فِى بَعْضٍ ( We shall leave some of them to surge like waves on one another; ) As-Suddi said: "That is when they emerge upon the people." All of this will happen before the Day of Resurrection and after the Dajjal, as we will explain when discussing the Ayat: حَتَّى إِذَا فُتِحَتْ يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ وَهُمْ مِّن كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنسِلُونَ وَاقْتَرَبَ الْوَعْدُ الْحَقُّ ( Until, when Ya'juj and Ma'juj are let loose, and they swoop down from every Hadab.
And the true promise shall draw near... ) 21:96-97 وَنُفِخَ فِى الصُّورِ ( and As-Sur will be blown. ) As-Sur, as explained in the Hadith, is a horn that is blown into.
The one who will blow into it is ( the angel ) Israfil, peace be upon him, as has been explained in the Hadith quoted at length above, and there are many Hadiths on this topic.
According to a Hadith narrated from `Atiyah from Ibn `Abbas and Abu Sa`id, and attributed to the Prophet ,
«كَيْفَ أَنْعَمُ وَصَاحِبُ الْقَرْنِ قَدِ الْتَقَمَ الْقَرْنَ وَحَنَى جَبْهَتَهُ وَاسْتَمَعَ مَتَى يُؤْمَرُ؟»
( How can I relax when the one with the Horn has put the Horn in his mouth and has knelt down, listening out for the command to be given to him ) They said, "What should we say" He said:
«قُولُوا: حَسْبُنَا اللهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ عَلَى اللهِ تَوَكَّلْنَا»
( Say: "Allah is Sufficient for us and the best Disposer of affairs, in Allah have we put our trust." ) فَجَمَعْنَـهُمْ جَمْعاً ( and We shall collect them (the creatures ) all together.) means, `We shall bring them all together for Reckoning.' قُلْ إِنَّ الاٌّوَّلِينَ وَالاٌّخِرِينَ - لَمَجْمُوعُونَ إِلَى مِيقَـتِ يَوْمٍ مَّعْلُومٍ ( Say: "(Yes ) verily, those of old, and those of later times.
All will surely be gathered together for appointed meeting of a known Day.) 56:49-50 وَحَشَرْنَـهُمْ فَلَمْ نُغَادِرْ مِنْهُمْ أَحَداً ( and we shall gather them all together so as to leave not one of them behind. ) 18:47

(18:98) Zul-Qarnain said, "This is a mercy from my Lord; but when the time of my Lord's promise shall come, He will level it to dust *71 and the promise of my Lord is true. " *72

[Dhul-Qarnayn] said, "This is a mercy from meaning

*71) That is, " Though I have built a very strong iron-wall, as far as it was possible for me, it is not ever-lasting, for it will last only as long as Allah wills, and will fall down to pieces when the time of my Lord's promise shall come.
Then no power in the world shall be able to keep it safe and secure. "
As regards the time of Allah's promise, it has two meanings: ( 1 ) It may mean the time of the destruction of the wall, and ( 2 ) it may also mean the time of the death and destruction of everything destined by Allah at the end of the world i.e., the Hour of Resurrection.

Some people have entertained the misunderstanding that the wall attributed here to Zul-Qarnain refers to the famous Wall of China, whereas this wall was built between Derbent and Dar'yal, two cities of Daghestan in the Caucasus, the land that lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian.
There are high mountains between the Black Sea and Dar'yal having deep gorges which cannot allow large armies to pass through them.
Between Derbent and Dar'yal, however, there are no such mountains and the passes also are wide and passable.
In ancient times savage hordes from the north invaded and ravaged southern lands through these passes and the Persian rulers who were scared of them had to build a strong wall, 50 miles long, 29 feet high and 10 feet wide, for fortification purposes, ruins of which can still be seen.
Though it has not yet been established historically who built this wall in the beginning, the Muslim historians and geographers assign it to ZulQarnain because its remains correspond with the description of it given in the Qur'an.
Ibn Jarir Tabari and Ibn Kathir have recorded the event, and Yaqut has mentioned it in his Mu jam-ul-Buldan that when after the conquest of Azerbaijan, Hadrat `Umar sent Suraqah bin `Amr, in 22 A.H.
on an expedition to Derbent, the latter appointed `Abdur Rehman bin Rabi`ah as the chief of his vanguard.
When 'Abdur Rehman entered Armenia, the ruler Shehrbraz surrendered without fighting.
Then when `Abdur Rehman wanted to advance towards Derbent, Shehrbraz informed him that he had already gathered full information about the wall built by Zul-Qarnain, through a man, who could supply all the necessary details and then the man was actually presented before `Abdur Rehman.
( Tabari, Vol.
III, pp.
235-239; AI-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, Vol.
VII, pp.
122-125, and Mu jam-ul-Buldan, under Bab-ul-Abwab: Derbent ).

Two hundred years later, the Abbasid Caliph Wathiq ( 227-233 A.H. ) despatched a party of 50 men under Sallam-ul-Tarjuman to study the wall of ZulQarnain, whose observations have been recorded in great detail by Yaqut in Mu jam-ul-Buldan and by Ibn Kathir in AI-Bidayah.
They write that this expedition reached Samarrah from where they reached Tiflis ( the present Tbilisi ) and then through As-Sarir and Al-Lan, they reached Filanshah, from where they entered the Caspian territory.
From there they arrived at Derbent and saw the wall.
( AIBidayah Vol.
II, p.
111, Vol.
VII, pp.
122-125; Mu jam-ul-Buldan: under Bab-ulAbwab ).
This clearly shows that even up till the third century of Hijrah the Muslim scholars regarded this wall of the Caucasus as the wall of Zul-Qarnain.

Yaqut in his Mu jam-ul-Buldan has further confirmed the same view at a number of places.
For instance, under Khazar ( Caspian ) he writes:
" This territory belongs to the Turks, which adjoins the Wall of ZulQarnain just behind Bab-ul-Abwab, which is also called Derbent. " In the same connection, he records a report by Ahmad bin Fadlan, the ambassador of Caliph Al-Muqtadar-billah, who has given a full description of the Caspian land, saying that Caspian is the name of a country whose capital is Itil ( near the present Astrakhan ) right through which flows River Itil, which joins the Caspian front Russia and Bulghar.

Regarding Bab-ul-Abwab he says that this city is called both Al-Bab and Derbent, which is a highly difficult passage for the people coming from the northern lands towards the south.
Once this territory was a part of the kingdom of Nausherwan, and the Persian rulers paid particular attention to strengthening their frontiers on that side.

*72) Here the story of Zul-Qarnain comes to an end.
Though this story has been related in answer to the questions put by the disbelievers of Makkah as a test along with the stories of the " Sleepers of the Cave " and " Moses and Khidr ", the Qur'an has utilized this story, too, for its own aim and object, as if to say, " ZulQarnain, about whose glory you have heard from the people of the Book, was not merely a conqueror, but also a believer of the doctrines of Tauhid and the lifeafter-death and acted upon the principles of justice and generosity.
He was not a mean person like you who have been puffed up by the possession of petty estates, and give yourselves airs of superiority. "
 

The Barrier restrains Them, but It will be breached when the Hour draws nigh Allah tells us that Ya'juj and Ma'juj could not climb over the barrier or penetrate its lower portion.
Varying forms of the verb are used here in the Arabic text to reflect the difficulty of the action referred to. فَمَا اسْطَـعُواْ أَن يَظْهَرُوهُ وَمَا اسْتَطَـعُواْ لَهُ نَقْبًا ( So they (Ya'juj and Ma'juj ) could not scale it or dig through it.) This indicates that they could not penetrate it or dig through it.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Zaynab bint Jahsh, the wife of the Prophet said, "The Prophet woke from sleep, and he was red in the face.
He said, «لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَيْلٌ لِلْعَرَبِ مِنْ شَرَ قَدِ اقْتَرَبَ فُتِحَ الْيَوْمَ مِنْ رَدْمِ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ مِثْلُ هَذَا» ( La ilaha illallah! Woe to the Arabs from the evil that has approached (them ).
Today a hole has been opened in the barrier of Ya'juj and Ma'juj like this.) and he made a circle with his index finger and thumb.
I Zaynab said, `O Messenger of Allah, will we be destroyed even though there will be righteous people among us' He said: «نَعَمْ إِذَا كَثُرَ الْخَبَث» ( Yes, if evil increases. )" This is a Sahih Hadith, both Al-Bukhari and Muslim recorded it. قَالَ هَـذَا رَحْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّى ( (Dhul-Qarnayn ) said: "This is a mercy from my Lord...") meaning, after it was built by Dhul-Qarnayn. قَالَ هَـذَا رَحْمَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّى ( He said: This is a mercy from my Lord ) for the people, when he placed a barrier between them and Ya'juj and Ma'juj, to stop them from spreading evil and corruption on earth. فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ رَبِّى ( but when the promise of my Lord comes ) means, when the true promise comes جَعَلَهُ دَكَّآءَ ( He shall Dakka' it down to the ground. ) means, will make it flat.
The Arabs use Dakka' to describe a female camel whose back is flat and has no hump.
And Allah says: فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّى رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا ( So when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He made it Dakkan ) 7:143 meaning, level to the ground. وَكَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّى حَقّاً ( And the promise of my Lord is ever true. ) means, it will come to pass without a doubt. وَتَرَكْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ ( We shall leave some of them ) meaning mankind, on that day, the day when the barrier will be breached and these people ( Ya'juj and Ma'juj ) will come out surging over mankind to destroy their wealth and property. وَتَرَكْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَمُوجُ فِى بَعْضٍ ( We shall leave some of them to surge like waves on one another; ) As-Suddi said: "That is when they emerge upon the people." All of this will happen before the Day of Resurrection and after the Dajjal, as we will explain when discussing the Ayat: حَتَّى إِذَا فُتِحَتْ يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ وَهُمْ مِّن كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنسِلُونَ وَاقْتَرَبَ الْوَعْدُ الْحَقُّ ( Until, when Ya'juj and Ma'juj are let loose, and they swoop down from every Hadab.
And the true promise shall draw near... ) 21:96-97 وَنُفِخَ فِى الصُّورِ ( and As-Sur will be blown. ) As-Sur, as explained in the Hadith, is a horn that is blown into.
The one who will blow into it is ( the angel ) Israfil, peace be upon him, as has been explained in the Hadith quoted at length above, and there are many Hadiths on this topic.
According to a Hadith narrated from `Atiyah from Ibn `Abbas and Abu Sa`id, and attributed to the Prophet , «كَيْفَ أَنْعَمُ وَصَاحِبُ الْقَرْنِ قَدِ الْتَقَمَ الْقَرْنَ وَحَنَى جَبْهَتَهُ وَاسْتَمَعَ مَتَى يُؤْمَرُ؟» ( How can I relax when the one with the Horn has put the Horn in his mouth and has knelt down, listening out for the command to be given to him ) They said, "What should we say" He said: «قُولُوا: حَسْبُنَا اللهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ عَلَى اللهِ تَوَكَّلْنَا» ( Say: "Allah is Sufficient for us and the best Disposer of affairs, in Allah have we put our trust." ) فَجَمَعْنَـهُمْ جَمْعاً ( and We shall collect them (the creatures ) all together.) means, `We shall bring them all together for Reckoning.' قُلْ إِنَّ الاٌّوَّلِينَ وَالاٌّخِرِينَ - لَمَجْمُوعُونَ إِلَى مِيقَـتِ يَوْمٍ مَّعْلُومٍ ( Say: "(Yes ) verily, those of old, and those of later times.
All will surely be gathered together for appointed meeting of a known Day.) 56:49-50 وَحَشَرْنَـهُمْ فَلَمْ نُغَادِرْ مِنْهُمْ أَحَداً ( and we shall gather them all together so as to leave not one of them behind. ) 18:47

( He said: This ) wall ( is a mercy from my Lord ) to you; ( but when the promise of my Lord cometh to pass ) and Gog and Magog break free, ( He will lay it low ) He will break it, ( for the promise of my Lord ) that they will break free ( is true ) and this will surely take place.

Dhul-Qarnain) said: "This is a mercy from my Lord, but when the Promise of my Lord comes, He shall level it down to the ground. And the Promise of my Lord is ever true."

Page 304 English transliteration