إِنّا مَكَّنّا لَهُ فِي الأَرضِ وَآتَيناهُ مِن كُلِّ شَيءٍ سَبَبًا

Indeed We had granted him power in the land and given him the means to all things.

EXEGESIS

Makkannā (we granted power). The transitive verb makkana means to gives someone power or capability. It is added here to the first person plural pronoun nā, which refers to Allah. Thus, it means: We had granted him the power to rule over the land as he saw fit. It has also been said that tamkīn has the meaning of giving someone a state to be firmly established and unshakeable, to the extent that no one or thing may cause it to be removed.^{‎[1]Mizan, 13/360.}

Sabab (means) is any recourse, remedy, or resource used towards a goal.^{‎[2]Muhit, 7/220.} Thus the meaning of giving him the means to all things is that he was given every kind of means by which he could attain important and otherwise impassable goals, including intellect, faith, power, wisdom, kingdom, wealth, troops, knowledge, technology, and so on.^{‎[3]Mizan, 13/360.} It is said the original meaning of the word sabab is a rope^{‎[4]Rāghib says specifically a rope used to climb palm trees.} as in 22:15, and from there it is utilised for other means.^{‎[5]Raghib, p. 391; Razi, 21/495; Qurtubi, 11/48; Nemuneh, 12/526; Munyah, 17/76.} Any instrument can therefore also be deemed a sabab.^{‎[6]Tibyan, 7/86.}

The expression min kulli shayʾin (from all things) indicates that he could resort to anything he wished for achieving his ends where appropriate. This was a generous boon granted to him by God.

EXPOSITION

This verse gives us the first and only description of Dhū al-Qarnayn, which is about the power, capability, and resources granted to him by God. This is hence the foremost attribute that he is known for. Thus, this affirms what we said earlier in that he was a powerful king. The verses make several mentions of his faith in God and emphasise that he was a believer and a humble one at that, and that he was spoken to by the angels (muḥaddath).

Indeed We had granted him power in the land: Dhū al-Qarnayn was given a vast kingdom with all the power and capabilities that this entails: armies, instruments of war, technology, and so on.^{‎[7]Ibn Kathir, 5/171; Nemuneh, 12/526.} He was a king that overcame foes and defeated other kingdoms, forging a vast empire. As with all things, this happened because God willed it and granted such means to him.

And given him the means to all things: it is said this means he was given knowledge through which he reached his goals.^{‎[8]Tibyan, 7/86; Tabrisi, 6/757; Tabari, 16/8; Thalabi, 6/190; Qurtubi, 11/48; Ibn Kathir, 5/171.} Other specific things have been mentioned too, but there is no need to limit it in this fashion, and it may refer to any means necessary for reaching his objectives, whether that be knowledge, power, faith, determination, technology, tools, wisdom, bodily strength, wealth, effective planning and strategy, as per the very general declaration entailed in all things.^{‎[9]Alusi, 8/352; Mizan, 13/360; Nemuneh, 12/526; Tantawi, 8/570.}

Dhū al-Qarnayn was given greatness in this life and the next. He was a powerful king and nothing stood in his way except that he was given a way to overcome it. In addition to that, he was just, wise, merciful, benevolent, and magnanimous, spreading good wherever he went.^{‎[10]Mizan, 13/378-379.}

There is an important lesson here. Naturally, everything one possesses and achieves is by the leave of God and granted by Him, but even if one wishes to claim that they achieved something because of their wisdom or intelligence, one should realise that their wisdom and intelligence is also a gift from God, and one of the means by which God enabled him to reach those achievements. This ties into the earlier stories of the surah and how all means are subject to the sovereignty of God and nothing is independent of Him. This is why God reminds that even a powerful king such as Dhū al-Qarnayn, who conquered nearly all he came across, had the means to do this given to him by God.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Rāzī argues that Indeed We had granted him power in the land means either power through kingdom or through prophethood, saying the latter is a more complete form of power and therefore that meaning should be preferred.^{‎[11]Razi, 21/495.} This is not a convincing argument though.

Ibn Kathīr relates that Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān confronted Kaʿb al-Aḥbār because the latter was claiming that Dhū al-Qarnayn used to ride his steed to Pleiades. Kaʿb reportedly quoted this verse as justification for his claim.^{‎[12]Ibn Kathir, 5/171. Ibn Kathīr sides with Muʿāwiyah on this issue, criticising the claim as incorrect.} This is an example of the fantastic tales that were attributed to Dhū al-Qarnayn and how they made their ways into commentaries.

Some examples of specific power mentioned by some exegetes:

1. God made travelling easy for him, so that he could reach all the places he wished.^{‎[13]Tabrisi, 6/757; Baghawi, 3/212.}
2. Gave him power,^{‎[14]Tibyan, 7/86.} or the capability and opportunity to do what is in the interests of people.^{‎[15]Tabrisi, 6/756.}
3. God granted him rule over all the earth.^{‎[16]Muhit, 7/219.}

Some examples of the specific means mentioned by some exegetes:

1. Power to overcome other kings and carry out great conquests.^{‎[17]Tibyan, 7/86.}
2. A path, like in the verse, Build me a tower so that I may reach the routes (asbāb) – the routes of the heavens (40:36-37).^{‎[18]Tabrisi, 6/757.} That is, if he wished to reach a certain destination, he would find the means to do so.^{‎[19]Zamakhshari, 2/743.}
3. The ends of the earth were made easily accessible to him, like the winds for Prophet Solomon (a).^{‎[20]Thalabi, 6/190.}

While some of these are problematic, others are not and are included in what we mentioned earlier.

Some orientalist scholars have taken sabab quite literally to mean rope. They claim that the story of Dhū al-Qarnayn is based on the Alexander Romance and that Alexander entered a land where there was no sunshine, and there he used strings to calculate geometrically which way he was supposed to go and what time of day it was.^{‎[21]See for example Israel Friedlander, Die Chadhirlegende und der Alexanderroman (Berlin: Druck und Verlag von B. G. Teubner, 1913), p. 9.} Such interpretations are based on the mistaken notion that the Quranic account is constructed on the Alexander Romance. We previously discussed the problematic nature of such claims.^{‎[22]See the commentary on verse 61.} Furthermore, a literal understanding of sabab makes little sense here, even if we were to accept such fables as fact. Alexander navigating with pieces of rope does not fit with the statement ‘and we gave him the ropes to all things’, which is in and of itself quite a meaningless statement.

[1] Mizan, 13/360.
[2] Muhit, 7/220.
[3] Mizan, 13/360.
[4] Rāghib says specifically a rope used to climb palm trees.
[5] Raghib, p. 391; Razi, 21/495; Qurtubi, 11/48; Nemuneh, 12/526; Munyah, 17/76.
[6] Tibyan, 7/86.
[7] Ibn Kathir, 5/171; Nemuneh, 12/526.
[8] Tibyan, 7/86; Tabrisi, 6/757; Tabari, 16/8; Thalabi, 6/190; Qurtubi, 11/48; Ibn Kathir, 5/171.
[9] Alusi, 8/352; Mizan, 13/360; Nemuneh, 12/526; Tantawi, 8/570.
[10] Mizan, 13/378-379.
[11] Razi, 21/495.
[12] Ibn Kathir, 5/171. Ibn Kathīr sides with Muʿāwiyah on this issue, criticising the claim as incorrect.
[13] Tabrisi, 6/757; Baghawi, 3/212.
[14] Tibyan, 7/86.
[15] Tabrisi, 6/756.
[16] Muhit, 7/219.
[17] Tibyan, 7/86.
[18] Tabrisi, 6/757.
[19] Zamakhshari, 2/743.
[20] Thalabi, 6/190.
[21] See for example Israel Friedlander, Die Chadhirlegende und der Alexanderroman (Berlin: Druck und Verlag von B. G. Teubner, 1913), p. 9.
[22] See the commentary on verse 61.