Allah says of Dhul-Qamayn:

iThen he folloiued (another) xoay} meaning, he traveled from the east of the earth until he reached a place between the two mountains which were next to one another with a valley in between, from which Ya’juj and Ma’juj (God and Magog) will emerge into the land of the Turks and spread mischief there, destroying crops and people. Ya’jQj and Ma’juj are among he progeny of Adam, peace be upon him, as was recorded in :he Two Sahlhs;

Similarly, Dhul-Qarnayn said: “What I have is better than what you want to give me, but help me with strength,’ i.e., with your labor and construction equipment,

4 / u;i// crecf betiveen you and them a barrier. Give me Zubar of iron,}

Zubar is the plural of Zubrah, which means pieces or chunks of something. This was the view of Ibn ‘Abbas, Mujahid and Qatadah. 111 These pieces were like bricks or blocks, and it was said that each block weighed one Damascene Qintaj J21 or

4 then, when he had filled up the gap between the tioo mountain-cliffs ,}

means, he put the blocks on top of one another, starting at the bottom, until he reached the tops of the mountains, fili ng the width and height of the gap. The scholars differed about the precise width and height.

4he said: "Blozv;"} means, he lit a fire until the whole thing was burning hot.

4he said: "Bring me Qitran to pour over them."}

Ibn ‘Abbas, Mujahid, ‘Ikrimah, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah and As- Suddi said it was copper. Some of them added that it was molten. 131 This is similar to the Ayah:

4And We caused a fount of Qitran to flow for him} [34:12].

So it resembled a striped cloak.