And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

Peace be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings.

My Dear and Loyal Brothers from Senirkent, Ibrahim, Sükrü, Hâfiz Bekir, Hâfiz Hüseyin, Hâfiz Receb Efendi!

The atheists have for a long time objected to the three matters you sent with Hâfiz Tevfik.

THE FIRST

According to the explicit meaning of the verse,

Until when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water,¹

he saw the sun setting in a hot, mud spring.

THE SECOND

Where is the barrier of Dhu’l-Qarnayn?

THE THIRD

This is about Jesus (UWP) coming at the end of time and killing the Dajjal.²

The answers to these questions are lengthy, so indicating them briefly, we say this: since the verses of the Qur’an express matters in accordance with the styles of Arabic, in conformity with outward appearances, in a way everyone will understand, they frequently explain things in the form of metaphors, allegories, and comparisons. So to consider the verse, set in a spring of murky water: Dhu’l-Qarnayn saw the sun setting in the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, which appeared like a boiling, muddy spring, or in the fiery, smoking crater of a volcano. That is, in the outward view, the Atlantic appeared to Dhu’l-Qarnayn in the distance as the large pool of a spring surrounded by a swamp which in the intense heat of summer was steaming and vaporizing; he saw the sun’s apparent setting in a part of it. Or he saw the sun, the eye of the skies, being hidden in a new, fiery crater at the summit of a volcano, which was spewing out rocks, earth, and lava.

Yes, the All-Wise Qur’an’s miraculously eloquent expression teaches many matters with this sentence. Firstly, by explaining that Dhu’l-Qarnayn’s journey to the west coincided with the intense heat of summer, the area of a swamp, the time of the setting of the sun, and the time of a volcanic eruption, it alludes to many instructive matters, like the complete conquest of Africa.

It is well-known that the sun’s motion is apparent, indicating the hidden movement of the earth and giving news of it. What it intended is not the actual setting of the sun. Also the spring is a metaphor. From the distance a large sea appears like a small pool. The likening of a sea appearing beyond swamps, and mists and vapours rising from it due to the heat, to a muddy spring, together with word ’ayn, which in Arabic means both spring, and sun, and eye, is most meaningful and apt according to the mysteries of eloquence.3 It appears like that to Dhu’l-Qarnayn because of the distance. So too, coming from the Sublime Throne and commanding the heavenly bodies, the heavenly address of the Qur’an states that the subjugated sun, which performs the duty of a lamp in this guest-house of the Most Merciful One, is hidden in a dominical spring like the Atlantic Ocean, and this is fitting for the elevatedness and greatness of the heavenly address; through its miraculous style it shows the sea to be a hot spring and steaming eye. And that is how is appears to heavenly eyes.

I n S h o r t : Terming the Atlantic Ocean a muddy spring indicates that Dhu’l-Qarnayn saw that huge ocean as a spring due to the distance. But because the Qur’an sees everything from close to, it did not see what Dhu’l-Qarnayn saw, which was a sort of illusion. Indeed, since the Qur’an comes from the heavens and looks to them, it sees the earth sometimes as an arena, sometimes as a palace, sometimes as a cradle, and sometimes as a page. Thus, its calling the vast misty, vaporous Atlantic Ocean a spring shows its great elevatedness.