[208] In the Mir-át-ez-Zemán it is stated that there are various
opinions respecting the age in which this person lived: 1. That he
lived in the first century after the Deluge, and was of the sons of
Japheth, and was born in the land of the Greeks: so said ´Alee; 2.
That he was after Thamood: so said El-Ḥasan; 3. That he was of the
lineage of Esau, the son of Isaac: so said Muḳátil; 4. That he lived
between the times of Moses and Jesus; 5. That he lived between Jesus
and Moḥammad; and 6. That he was of the lineage of Yoonán, son [as
some say] of Noah, in the days of Abraham; and this, adds the author,
is the most correct.—But some suppose him to be the same with
Alexander the Great.—Respecting his surname of ‘Dhu-l-Ḳarneyn,’ the
most obvious signification of which is ‘the two-horned,’ the more
judicious in general are of opinion that he received it because he
made expeditions to the extreme parts of the east and west, and
therefore that it signifies ‘Lord of the two extreme parts of the
earth.’
[209] Who were clothed in the skins of wild beasts, and lived upon
what the sea cast on shore.—S. (B.)
[210] The Arabs call them Yájooj and Májooj, and say they are two
nations or tribes descended from Japheth the son of Noah; or, as
others write, Gog are a tribe of the Turks, and Magog of those of
Geelán, the Geli and Gelæ of Ptolemy and Strabo.—It is said these
barbarous people made their irruptions into the neighbouring countries
in the spring, and destroyed and carried off all the fruits of the
earth; and some pretend they were man-eaters.—S. (B.)
[211] The Eastern authors unanimously agree that he (Ázar) was a
statuary, or carver of idols; and he is represented as the first who
made images of clay, pictures only having been in use before, and
taught that they were to be adored as gods. However, we are told his
employment was a very honourable one, and that he was a great lord and
in high favour with Nimrod, whose son-in-law he was, because he made
his idols for him and was excellent in his art. Some of the Rabbins
say Terah was a priest and chief of the order.—S.
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