seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Quran 18:83. And they ask you about Zul-Qarnain. Say, “I will tell you something about him.”
84. We established him on earth, and gave him all kinds of means.
85. He pursued a certain course.
86. Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it setting in a murky spring, and found a people in its vicinity. We said, “O Zul-Qarnain, you may either inflict a penalty, or else treat them kindly.”
87. He said, “As for him who does wrong, we will penalize him, then he will be returned to his Lord, and He will punish him with an unheard-of torment.
88. “But as for him who believes and acts righteously, he will have the finest reward, and We will speak to him of Our command with ease.”
89. Then he pursued a course.
The commentary is so long... I had to split it up!
The word qarn means a horn, as also a generation or a century, and Dhu-lqarnain therefore literally means the two-horned one, or one belonging to two generations or two centuries. The reference here seems to be to the two-horned ram of Daniel’s vision (Dan. 8:3), which he interpreted as the Kingdoms of Media and Persia, which were combined into a single kingdom under one ruler, Cyrus, who is erroneously called Darius in the Bible. The reference in Daniel’s vision is, however, not to Cyrus but to Darius I Hystaspes (521-485 B.C.), “who allowed the Jews to rebuild their temple, and is referred to in Ezra 4:5, 24; 5:5; 6:1; Hag. 1:1; 2:10; Zech. 1:7, and probably in Neh. 12:22. His liberality towards the Jews is in complete accord with what we know otherwise of his general policy in religious matters towards the subject nations” (En. Bib. “Darius”).
That “the two-horned ram” of Daniel’s vision is the king of Media and Persia is made plain in Daniel’s book, where the interpretation of the dream is given in the following words: “The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the Kings of Media and Persia” (Dan. 8:20). The reference in the Qur’ån in the history of Dhu-l-qarnain is to Darius I: “Darius was the organizer of the Persian Empire. His conquests served to round off the boundaries of his realm in Armenia, the Caucasus, and India, and along the Turanian steppes and the highlands of Central Asia” (Jewish En., “Darius I”). The following remarks in the En. Br. strengthen this view: “Darius in his inscriptions appears as a fervent believer in the true religion of Zoroaster. But he was also a great statesman and organizer. The time of conquests had come to an end; the wars which Darius undertook, like those of Augustus, only served the purpose of gaining strong natural frontiers for the empire and keeping down the barbarous tribes on its borders. Thus Darius subjugated the wild nations of the Pontic and Armenian mountains, and extended the Persian dominion to the Caucasus; for the same reason he fought against the Sacae and other Turanian tribes”. The references in this quotation to Darius being a fervent believer in the true religion of Zoroaster, to his subduing the barbarous tribes on the borders, to his gaining strong natural frontiers for the empire, and to his fighting against the Sacae clearly point him out as the Dhu-l-qarnain of the Qur’ån.
86a. Maghrib al-shams, or the setting-place of the sun, signifies the western-most point of his empire, because going towards the west he could not go beyond it.
The words in Arabic are ‘ain-in ƒami’at-in, which literally mean a black sea, ‘ain meaning an abundance of water, or a place in which water remains and collects, and ƒamiat means black mud (T, LL). The place referred to is no other than the Black Sea, as, Armenia being within the Kingdom of Persia, the Black Sea formed the northwestern boundary of the empire.
Being a true follower of Zoroaster, the well-known Persian prophet, Darius seems to have invited these tribes to his religion.
Well... turns out this Zoroaster guy was an Iranian prophet! He was a fake though... apparently. This is from Got Questions.....
Zoroastrianism is based on the teachings of Zoroaster, a 6th-century BC Iranian prophet and philosopher. Zoroastrianism is almost identical with Mazdaism (the worship of Ahura Mazda, the supreme deity exalted by Zoroaster). Zoroastrianism survives today in isolated areas of the Middle East, primarily Iran, but more prosperously in India, where the descendants of Zoroastrian Persian immigrants are known as Parsis, or Parsees. In India the religion is called Parsiism. As with all false religions, Zoroastrianism is incompatible with Christianity.
The prophet Zoroaster supposedly received what he recorded in the Avesta from a vision of Vohu Manah (moral enlightenment, possibly an angel of sorts) while drawing water from the Daiti River. Zoroaster is the sole author. This method of “enlightenment” is similar to that claimed by the prophet Mohammed of Islam, who received a vision from the angel Gabriel. His message was passed down for about three centuries by word of mouth before being recorded by scribes in the Qu'ran. Still, the source is only one man, and a person should question the accuracy of the recitations over a long period such as that.
So... apparently... live a good life.... follow all the rules and you can go to heaven.... that's what I am reading.... right?That yard sale I talked about had a second day.... oh we didn't do too well.... we were up against church and football. I gave a second doll away to the granddaughter of one of my neighbors. That doll was the prototype of my American Indian dolls. Anyway.... I did right and earned "good karma" according to another neighbor.
In these verses I am reminded of "good karma". When I was in my late 20's there was a lot of talk about "karma". There were also a lot of men sporting bald heads and weird robe like clothes hanging out at the airports. I didn't see them much at the mall [where I worked at the time] but I hear they met everyone who got on a plane or off a plane... particularly in California. Remember them? Not the same religion... at all.... but they set the time frame.
So I figured I better look up this guy named Zoroaster.... and this is what I learned....
According to Zoroastrian tradition, Zoroaster had a divine vision of a supreme being while partaking in a pagan purification rite at age 30. Zoroaster began teaching followers to worship a single god called Ahura Mazda.
We haven't gotten to the Zul-Qarnain yet..... that's a unique character..... but we are in the right part of the world, according to Daniel.... we're in Persia... in the Middle East.... and I did start reading this book to find out why what is going on in the Middle East is important.There was apparently a void in our Western Religion and this Zul-Qarnain is an Eastern Religion.
This is just part 1..... the commentary had to be split.
