Using power for good; protecting the vulnerable
Tonight we begin the last ten nights of Ramadan, the nights of freedom from the Fire. These are the most precious nights of the entire month, and we begin with a story about a traveler unlike any other, a man who journeyed to the ends of the earth and used his extraordinary power not for himself, but for others. This is the story of Dhul Qarnayn, the Two-Horned One.
The Quran introduces Dhul Qarnayn with a question. People asked the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) about him, and Allah answered: "Indeed, We established him upon the earth, and We gave him from everything a way." In other words, Allah gave this man the resources, the knowledge, and the ability to travel anywhere on earth and accomplish anything he set his mind to. He was a ruler whose power stretched from east to west.
But who was Dhul Qarnayn? Scholars have debated this for centuries. Some say he was a righteous king, perhaps Alexander or Cyrus the Great. Others say he was a prophet. What the Quran makes clear is that he was a man given great power by Allah, and he used that power justly. His identity matters less than his example.
Dhul Qarnayn set out on three great journeys, each one taking him to the edge of the known world.
On his first journey, he traveled west until he reached the setting place of the sun. The Quran describes it poetically: he found the sun setting "in a spring of dark mud." This was likely the edge of a vast ocean or dark waters where, from his vantage point, the sun appeared to sink into the earth. There he found a people, and Allah gave him a choice: "O Dhul Qarnayn, either you punish them or treat them with goodness."
This is a remarkable moment. Here was a man with absolute power over a conquered people, and instead of simply imposing his will, he chose justice. He said: "As for one who wrongs others, we will punish him. Then he will be returned to his Lord, and He will punish him with a terrible punishment. But as for one who believes and does righteousness, he will have a reward of paradise, and we will speak to him from our command with ease."
He established a system: those who did wrong would face justice, but those who were good would be rewarded and treated with kindness. He did not rule through fear alone. He ruled through fairness.
On his second journey, he traveled east until he reached the rising place of the sun. There he found a people who had no shelter from the sun at all, living in open land with nothing to shade them. The Quran says: "We had encompassed what was with him in knowledge." Allah knew this leader's heart, and it was good.
Then came the third journey, the one the Quran tells in the most detail, because it contains the greatest lesson.
Dhul Qarnayn traveled until he reached a place between two mountains. There he found a people who could barely understand speech, a people isolated and vulnerable. They came to him with desperation in their eyes and said: "O Dhul Qarnayn, indeed Gog and Magog are causing great corruption in the land. May we assign you a payment so that you might make between us and them a barrier?"
Gog and Magog, Ya'juj and Ma'juj, were described as fierce, destructive forces that would sweep through the land, destroying everything in their path. These vulnerable people lived in constant terror, unable to defend themselves against the raids that came through the mountain pass.
Now, Dhul Qarnayn had every reason to take their money and build a simple wall. Or he could have ignored their plea entirely; these were not his people, not his problem. But his response reveals the heart of a truly just leader.
He said: "What my Lord has established me in is better than your payment." He did not need their money. What Allah had given him was more than enough. But then he added something crucial: "So aid me with strength, and I will make between you and them a dam."
He did not simply give them charity. He asked them to contribute their labor, their effort. He would lead the project and provide the expertise, but they would work alongside him. This is the mark of a wise leader: he empowers people rather than making them dependent.
And so the great construction began. "Bring me sheets of iron," he commanded. The people brought iron, and he piled it between the two mountain cliffs, higher and higher, until the gap was filled. Then he said, "Blow," and they used bellows to heat the iron until it glowed red-hot. Then he poured molten copper over the iron, fusing it into a barrier so strong that Gog and Magog could neither scale it nor dig through it.
The wall was complete. The pass between the mountains was sealed. The vulnerable people were safe.
But Dhul Qarnayn did not celebrate with pride. He did not carve his name into the wall or demand that the people build statues in his honor. Instead, he looked at this magnificent structure, this feat of engineering that had required the strength of an army and the resources of a kingdom, and he said something extraordinary:
"This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it level with the ground. And the promise of my Lord is ever true."
Even as he looked at the greatest accomplishment of his life, he acknowledged that it was temporary. Allah alone is permanent. Every wall, every kingdom, every structure built by human hands will one day return to dust. Only Allah's promise endures forever.
This is perhaps the most powerful lesson of Dhul Qarnayn's story. He had more power than almost any person in history. He had traveled from west to east, conquered lands, built the mightiest wall the world had ever seen. And yet he knew, with absolute certainty, that he was just a servant of Allah, and that everything he had built was a mercy from Allah, not from himself.
In the Shia tradition, Dhul Qarnayn's model of just governance resonates deeply. Imam Ali (AS), when he became the leader of the Muslim community, said: "Your affairs shall not be right unless your leaders are right, and your leaders shall not be right unless they are just." Ali (AS) lived this principle. Despite being the most powerful man in the Muslim world, he patched his own clothes, ate simple food, and spent his nights distributing bread to the poor in the dark so no one would know it was the Caliph feeding them.
The Shia tradition also connects Dhul Qarnayn's legacy to the promise of Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his appearance), the awaited leader who will one day fill the earth with justice as it is filled with injustice. Like Dhul Qarnayn, the Mahdi will be a leader who uses power only for the protection of the vulnerable and the establishment of fairness.
The lesson for us is simpler but no less important: whatever power Allah gives you, whether it is physical strength, intelligence, wealth, popularity, or simply the ability to make someone's day a little better, use it for others. The measure of a good person is not how much power they have, but how they use it. And always remember that every ability, every success, every wall you build, is a mercy from your Lord.
"Qala hadha rahmatun min Rabbi, fa idha ja'a wa'du Rabbi ja'alahu dakka'a, wa kana wa'du Rabbi haqqa" "He said, 'This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it level with the ground. And the promise of my Lord is ever true.'" -- Al-Kahf (18:98)