Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary * - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (86) Surah: Al-Kahf
حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ مَغۡرِبَ ٱلشَّمۡسِ وَجَدَهَا تَغۡرُبُ فِي عَيۡنٍ حَمِئَةٖ وَوَجَدَ عِندَهَا قَوۡمٗاۖ قُلۡنَا يَٰذَا ٱلۡقَرۡنَيۡنِ إِمَّآ أَن تُعَذِّبَ وَإِمَّآ أَن تَتَّخِذَ فِيهِمۡ حُسۡنٗا
(86) Until when he reached the setting place of the sun[3921] he found it setting in a turbid fount[3922] and found at it some folks. We said: “O Dhūl Qarnayn! Either you punish or dispense benevolence in their regards![3923]
[3921] That is, the furthest land point that can be reached heading West (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr).
[3922] ʿAyn ḥami’ah translated here as ‘turbid fount’ has two parts. The ʿayn which is one of the most polysemous words of the Arabic language, while originally meaning a spring of abundant water, here exegetes take to mean a sea (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr). As for ḥami’ah it is dark, putrid mud (cf. Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, al-Wāḥidī, al-Basīṭ, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt).
It is agreed among exegetes that this setting is described as he saw it not as it actually happened (cf. al-Qurṭubī, al-Bayḍāwī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
It is quite a recurrent event that one sees the sun setting in the sea (or a lake or behind a hill). This does not mean that the sun left its orbit and came to set in that place. To assume such is quite childish. The Qur’an clearly states that celestial bodies run in designated orbits of their own (Ibn Taymiyyah, Mukhtaṣar al-Fatāwā al-Maṣriyyah: 579, al-Shinqīṭī): “And He is the One Who created the day and the night, the sun and the moon—each gliding in an orbit” (21: 33); “It is not for the sun to catch up with the moon, nor does the night outrun the day. Each is gliding in an orbit ˹of its own˺” (36: 40).
[3923] These were Denying folks. God Almighty gave him a choice to either punish them immediately should they not embrace the Call of Faith, or give them enough time to reconsider after showing them the way of guidance (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Wāḥidī, al-Bayḍāwī, al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar).
[3922] ʿAyn ḥami’ah translated here as ‘turbid fount’ has two parts. The ʿayn which is one of the most polysemous words of the Arabic language, while originally meaning a spring of abundant water, here exegetes take to mean a sea (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr). As for ḥami’ah it is dark, putrid mud (cf. Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, al-Wāḥidī, al-Basīṭ, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt).
It is agreed among exegetes that this setting is described as he saw it not as it actually happened (cf. al-Qurṭubī, al-Bayḍāwī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
It is quite a recurrent event that one sees the sun setting in the sea (or a lake or behind a hill). This does not mean that the sun left its orbit and came to set in that place. To assume such is quite childish. The Qur’an clearly states that celestial bodies run in designated orbits of their own (Ibn Taymiyyah, Mukhtaṣar al-Fatāwā al-Maṣriyyah: 579, al-Shinqīṭī): “And He is the One Who created the day and the night, the sun and the moon—each gliding in an orbit” (21: 33); “It is not for the sun to catch up with the moon, nor does the night outrun the day. Each is gliding in an orbit ˹of its own˺” (36: 40).
[3923] These were Denying folks. God Almighty gave him a choice to either punish them immediately should they not embrace the Call of Faith, or give them enough time to reconsider after showing them the way of guidance (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Wāḥidī, al-Bayḍāwī, al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar).
Arabic explanations of the Qur’an:
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (86) Surah: Al-Kahf
Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an into English - in progress - translated by Dr. Walid Bleihesh Al-Omari.