Koran 18:83-99

18:83 And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about Dhul-Qarnayn.

Say, “I will recite to you about him a report.”

84 Indeed We established him upon the earth, and We gave him to everything a way.

85 So he followed a way 86 Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it [as if] setting in a spring of dark mud, and he found near it a people.

Allah said, “O Dhul-Qarnayn, either you punish [them] or else adopt among them [a way of] goodness.”

87 He said, “As for one who wrongs, we will punish him. Then he will be returned to his Lord, and He will punish him with a terrible punishment. 88 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.”

89 Then he followed a way 90 Until, when he came to the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had not made against it any shield. 91 Thus. And We had encompassed [all] that he had in knowledge.

92 Then he followed a way 93 Until, when he reached [a pass] between two mountains, he found beside them a people who could hardly understand [his] speech.

94 They said, “O Dhul-Qarnayn, indeed Gog and Magog are [great] corrupters in the land. So may we assign for you an expenditure that you might make between us and them a barrier?”

95 He said, “That in which my Lord has established me is better [than what you offer], but assist me with strength; I will make between you and them a dam. 96 Bring me sheets of iron” –

until, when he had leveled [them] between the two mountain walls, he said, “Blow [with bellows],”

until when he had made it [like] fire, he said, “Bring me, that I may pour over it molten copper.”

97 So Gog and Magog were unable to pass over it, nor were they able [to effect] in it any penetration.

98 [Dhul-Qarnayn] said, “This is a mercy from my Lord; but when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it level, and ever is the promise of my Lord true.”

99 And We will leave them that day surging over each other, and [then] the Horn will be blown, and We will assemble them in [one] assembly.

Koran 18:83-99

What’s the context of this passage? The scholars of Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 18:83, have this:

…the disbelievers of Makkah sent word to the People of the Book (Jews) and asked them for some information with which they could test the Prophet. They (the People of the Book) said, “Ask him about a man who traveled extensively throughout the earth, and about some young men who nobody knows what they did, and about the Ruh (the soul)”, then Surat Al-Kahf was revealed…

Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 18:83-99

As you can see, Muhammad himself agrees with the scholars of Tafsir:

And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about Dhul-Qarnayn.

Say, “I will recite to you about him a report.”

Koran 18:83

Thus, this verse alone contradicts the notion of a static Qur’an created before the creation of the Heavens and Earth, showing that Muhammad is responding after being asked questions. A real prophet would have recited this before being asked and predicted what the messenger to the “people of the book” would have returned with. A real prophet would have been so obvious that the Quraysh would be celebrating his arrival, not threatening to stone him.

For more about this distorted and incoherent story, see: He of the Two Horns.

The best replacement for this passage is: “”, the empty sentence.