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qālū yā-dhā l-qarnayni ʾinna yaʾjūja wa-maʾjūja mufsidūna fī l-ʾarḍi fa-hal najʿalu laka kharjan ʿalā ʾan tajʿala baynanā wa-baynahum saddan
They said, ‘O Dhul Qarnayn! Indeed Gog and Magog are causing disaster in this land. Shall we pay you a tribute on condition that you build a barrier between them and us?’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Kahf – Verse 94
94. “They said: ‘O’ Zul-Qarnayn! Verily Gog and Magog make mischief in the earth, so may we assign to you a tribute so that you set up a barrier between us and between them?’”
The Arabic word /xiraj/ means ‘the thing which come out of the earth’, and /xarj/ is applied for ‘what comes out of the wealth’. The commentators and historians, attaching to the existing relationships, say that the objective meaning of Gog and Magog is the very tribes of Mogul and TaTar.8 An Islamic tradition, narrated from Amir-ul-Mu’Mineen Ali (as), denotes that he said Zul-Qarnayn found a people who told him:
“The Gog and Magog tribe are behind this mountain. They attack at the season of harvest and plunder all the corns and fruits or destroy them. Shall we assign a yearly tribute in order that you might erect a barrier?” 9
This communication of theirs with Zul-Qarnayn might be done through some signs, nods, winks or any other mute sign, because, at least, they did not understand the language of Zul-Qarnayn. The verse says:
Footnotes