Abstract:
This article emanates from a manuscript found in Timbuktu and digitised. The digitised
version was subsequently translated by a team of translators and published as a book: Qissat
Dhul Qarnayn [Tale of the two-horned one]. The most important question raised in reading this
manuscript was the identity of Dhul Qarnayn. Subsequently to this manuscript being
published as a book, a book written by Muḥammad Rāghib al-Ṭabbākh in 1949 in Arabic was
examined, and it detailed a comprehensive scholarly study of the different views among
scholars at that time about Dhul Qarnayn and Alexander the Great. This article reflects on the
views of Muḥammad Rāghib al-Ṭabbākh in his book together with the manuscript found in
Timbuktu and brings together views that attempt to establish and understand who Dhul
Qarnayn is or was and his adventures.
INTRADISCIPLINARY AND/OR INTERDISCIPLINARY IMPLICATIONS : The article elaborates on a topic that
has been discussed by historians and theologians of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths. It
forms part of the discussion on apocalyptic literature. Within the Islamic context, it is often
discussed among scholars dealing with the exegesis of the Qur’an and the Hadith. Some Sufi
scholars tend to discuss it as well. It has intrigued some archaeologists. It highlights some
civilisational issues at the time.
