In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
Peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
My Dear and Loyal Brothers from Senirkent, İbrahim, Şükrü, Hâfız Bekir, Hâfız Hüseyin, Hâfız Receb Efendi!
The atheists have for a long time objected to the three matters you sent with Hâfız 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, he saw the sun setting in a hot muddy 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.
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 apparent meanings, 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 on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, which appeared to be a boiling, muddy spring, or in the fiery, smoking crater of a volcano. That is, evidently the Atlantic Ocean 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, it explains that Dhu’l-Qarnayn’s journey to the west coincided with the intense heat of summer, the area of a swamp, sunset, and the time of a volcanic eruption, and so alludes to many instructive matters, such as 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 intends is not the actual setting of the sun. Also the spring is a metaphor. From the distance a large sea appears to be a small pool. It is most meaningful and apt according to the veiled meanings of eloquence to liken – with the word ‘ayn, which in Arabic means both spring, and sun, and eye – a sea appearing beyond swamps with mists and vapours rising from it due to the heat to a muddy spring.
It appeared like that to Dhu’l‑Qarnayn because of the distance. So too, the Qur’an comes from the sublime throne and commands the heavenly bodies, so its heavenly address stating that the subjugated sun, which performs the duty of a lamp in this guesthouse of the Most Merciful One, is hidden in a dominical spring like the Atlantic Ocean, is fitting for its loftiness and sublimity; with its miraculous style it shows the sea to be a hot spring and steaming eye. And that is how is appears to heavenly eyes.
In Short: The use of the term “a muddy spring” for the Atlantic Ocean 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 sometimes sees the earth as an arena, sometimes as a palace, sometimes as a cradle, and sometimes as a page. So its calling the vast misty, vaporous Atlantic Ocean a spring shows its lofty sublimity.