حَتّىٰ إِذا بَلَغَ بَينَ السَّدَّينِ وَجَدَ مِن دونِهِما قَومًا لا يَكادونَ يَفقَهونَ قَولًا

When he reached [the place] between the two barriers, he found between them a people who could hardly understand a word.

EXEGESIS

Saddayn (two barriers): a sadd can be any type of barrier between two things which obstructs, not letting things getting through.^{‎[1]See for example Tibyan, 7/90; Tabari, 16/13; Zamakhshari, 2/746; Baghawi, 3/214; Alusi, 8/358; Mizan, 13/363; Nemuneh, 12/533.} It is apparently agreed upon by the exegetes that here it is used to mean two mountains.^{‎[2]Tabrisi, 6/762.}

Min dūnihimā (between them): min usually has the meaning of ‘from’ or ‘of’. Dūn has varied meanings that entail things such as closeness and being lower.^{‎[3]Tahqiq, 3/285.} The suffix himā is a dual, referring to the two mountains.

Because of this, the expression has in addition to the above been translated as ‘in front of them’,^{‎[4]Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran.} ‘beside them’,^{‎[5]Fadel Soleiman, Bridge’s Translation; Saheeh International; Muhammad Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an.} ‘before them’,^{‎[6]Muhammad Muhsin Khan, The Noble Qur’an.} ‘on their hither side’,^{‎[7]Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran.} ‘on their nearer side’,^{‎[8]Thomas Ballantyne Irving, The Qur’an.} ‘beyond them’,^{‎[9]Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur’an (Rowwad Translation Center).} ‘by them’,^{‎[10]Taqi Usmani, The Noble Quran.} ‘close to them’,^{‎[11]Mohammad Mahmoud Ghali, Towards Understanding the Ever-Glorious Quran.} and ‘beneath them’.^{‎[12]Abdullah Yusufali, The Holy Qurʾān.} Here it means somewhere close by.^{‎[13]Mizan, 13/363.}

EXPOSITION

We are now given the third and final glimpse at one of Dhū al-Qarnayn’s journeys. This journey took him to a mountainous region where he reached a mountain pass and another isolated nation.

When he reached [the place] between the two barriers: the mountains are here called barriers because they blocked travel and allowed people to only pass through a narrow crevice between them. This time we are not told the direction in which he travelled, although as we shall see he probably travelled to the north.

He found between them a people who could hardly understand a word: this should not be understood as the people somehow being impaired, or that they did not have a language, but rather that they were relatively isolated from the bigger civilisations and likely only spoke their own native tongue and did not understand other languages.^{‎[14]Tabrisi, 6/762; Razi, 21/498.} Another probability is that their own language was very unique and did not bear much similarity to other languages,^{‎[15]Alusi, 8/359; Tantawi 8/573.} which would have further hindered communication efforts. The expression hardly means that they could only be communicated with after much difficulty.^{‎[16]Razi, 21/498.}

Definitely the army of Dhū al-Qarnayn included an extensive entourage of linguistic and cultural interpreters, which were indispensable to him in his extensive conquests. It seems with this nation though they had extreme difficulty in communication, only achieving that through more rudimentary means, such as signing and expressions, and other such things.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Thaʿlabī relates that some have said that could hardly understand a word means they could hardly differentiate between right and wrong, or guidance and misguidance.^{‎[17]Thalabi, 6/193. This is the opinion adopted in Qaraati, 5/223.} Shaʿrāwī has said they were completely unable to speak, only talking through signs.^{‎[18]Sharawi, p. 8988.} Makārim Shīrāzī similarly considers them to have had a very limited lingual development, by which he means they were in possession of a very rudimentary language.^{‎[19]Nemuneh, 12/533.} This is possible and not in contradiction with what was said earlier. Tabatabai considers it to mean that they were simple-minded people.^{‎[20]Mizan, 13/363. See also Fadlallah, 14/389.} The first seems unlikely, as it is a rather farfetched meaning for word in this context. The second is not an obvious meaning of being unable to understand a word, rather if they were somehow mute, communicating only through sign language, the verse should then say ‘speak a word’. The other opinions are quite close to what we mentioned in the Exposition.

[1] See for example Tibyan, 7/90; Tabari, 16/13; Zamakhshari, 2/746; Baghawi, 3/214; Alusi, 8/358; Mizan, 13/363; Nemuneh, 12/533.
[2] Tabrisi, 6/762.
[3] Tahqiq, 3/285.
[4] Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran.
[5] Fadel Soleiman, Bridge’s Translation; Saheeh International; Muhammad Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an.
[6] Muhammad Muhsin Khan, The Noble Qur’an.
[7] Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran.
[8] Thomas Ballantyne Irving, The Qur’an.
[9] Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur’an (Rowwad Translation Center).
[10] Taqi Usmani, The Noble Quran.
[11] Mohammad Mahmoud Ghali, Towards Understanding the Ever-Glorious Quran.
[12] Abdullah Yusufali, The Holy Qurʾān.
[13] Mizan, 13/363.
[14] Tabrisi, 6/762; Razi, 21/498.
[15] Alusi, 8/359; Tantawi 8/573.
[16] Razi, 21/498.
[17] Thalabi, 6/193. This is the opinion adopted in Qaraati, 5/223.
[18] Sharawi, p. 8988.
[19] Nemuneh, 12/533.
[20] Mizan, 13/363. See also Fadlallah, 14/389.