And they ask thee of Zul Qarnain. Say thou: I shall recite unto you of him some mention. 83 Say: "I will cite before you his commemoration." We gave him authority in the land and means of accomplishing every end. 84 So he followed a course. 85 until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring, and he found nearby a people. We said, 'O Dhool Karnain, either thou shalt chastise them, or thou shalt take towards them a way of kindness.' 86 He answered: "As for him who does wrong [unto others] - him shall we, in time, cause to suffer; and thereupon he shall be referred to his Sustainer, and He will cause him to suffer with unnameable suffering. 87 And as for him who believeth and worketh righteously, unto him shall be a goodly hire, and anon we shall speak unto him of our affair something easy. 88 Then he followed a way 89 to the East where he found the sun rising upon a people whom We had exposed to its rays. 90 Even so! and We had a full knowledge of what he had. 91 And once again he chose the right means [to achieve a right end]. 92 Until, when he reached (a tract) between two mountains, he found, beneath them, a people who scarcely understood a word. 93 They said, 'O Dhool Karnain, behold, Gog and Magog are doing corruption in the earth; so shall we assign to thee a tribute, against thy setting up a barrier between us and between them?' 94 He said, "What My Lord has given me is better [than any tribute]. Help me with a force of labourers and I will erect a barrier between you and them: 95 "Bring me blocks of iron." At length, when he had filled up the space between the two steep mountain-sides, He said, "Blow (with your bellows)" Then, when he had made it (red) as fire, he said: "Bring me, that I may pour over it, molten lead." 96 So they [Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog)] were made powerless to scale it or dig through it. 97 Said [the King]: "This is a mercy from my Sustainer! Yet when the time appointed by my Sustainer shall come, He will make this [rampart] level with the ground: and my Sustainer's promise always comes true!" 98 ۞ And on that day we shall let some of them surge against others, and the Trumpet will be blown. Then We shall gather them together in one gathering. 99 On that Day We shall lay Hell bare before those who deny the truth, 100 The ones whose eyes were covered from My remembrance, and who could not bear to hear Truth. 101