Allah gave Dhul-Qarnayn power on the earth and the means to every end. He travelled west until he reached the setting of the sun, where he found it setting in a spring of dark mud. His rule for the people there was this: whoever does wrong will be punished; whoever believes and does good will have the best reward.
Then he went east, to a people for whom there was no shelter from the sun.
Between two mountains
Then he reached a place between two mountains, where the people could hardly understand speech. They complained: Ya'juj and Ma'juj spread corruption in the land; shall we pay you tribute to build a barrier between us and them?
He said: what my Lord has given me is better; just help me with labour. Sheets of iron were brought to fill the gap between the mountains, heated red in the fire, and molten copper was poured over them. Ya'juj and Ma'juj could neither climb it nor pierce it.
Having finished so great a work, he did not boast; he said: