Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:98
[Dhul-Qarnayn] said, "This is a mercy from my Lord; but when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it level, and ever is the promise of my Lord true."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discussion of the explanation of the word of Allah the Exalted: قَالَ هَذَا رَحْمَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّي فَإِذَا جَاءَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي جَعَلَهُ دَكَّاءَ وَكَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي حَقًّا (He said: This is a mercy from my Lord; but when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it into rubble, and the promise of my Lord is truth) (verse 98)
Allah the Almighty and Exalted says: When Dhū al-Qarnayn saw that Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj were not able to climb over the top of the barrier he had built, nor could they bore through it, he said: "This which I have built and established as a separation between this people and those who are on the other side of the barrier — is a mercy from my Lord by which He has shown mercy to the people on the other side; He aided me with His mercy on their behalf until I built it and established it, so that by it the threat of this people would be averted from them."
His word (فَإِذَا جَاءَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي جَعَلَهُ دَكَّاءَ) — he says: when the promise of my Lord comes, which He has appointed as the time of the emergence of this people and their breaking out from behind the barrier, then He will make it dakkāʾ — that is to say: He will level it with the ground and flatten it down therein, by analogy with the expression "nāqa dakkāʾ" (a flat-backed she-camel, without a hump). The meaning of the text, however, is: He will make it into a flattened mass, hence one says: dakkāʾ. Qatāda used to say concerning this what Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word (فَإِذَا جَاءَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي جَعَلَهُ دَكَّاءَ): he said: "I do not know whether by it he means the two mountains, or what lies between them."
It is mentioned that this will take place after the killing by ʿĪsā ibn Maryam of the Dajjāl.
Mention of the narration concerning this: Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī related to us, saying: Hushaym ibn Bushayr related to us, saying: al-ʿAwwām informed us, on the authority of Jabala ibn Saḥīm, on the authority of Muʾathir — and he is Ibn ʿAfāra al-ʿAbdī — on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "On the night of the Isrāʾ I met Ibrāhīm, Mūsā, and ʿĪsā, and they conferred about the matter of the Hour and referred the matter to Ibrāhīm; Ibrāhīm said: 'I have no knowledge of it.' They referred the matter to Mūsā; Mūsā said: 'I have no knowledge of it.' They referred the matter to ʿĪsā; ʿĪsā said: 'As for the time of the Hour — none knows it but Allah — but my Lord has informed me about what will take place before that time: He has informed me that the Dajjāl will appear, and that He will send me down against him. He mentioned that he has with him two pieces of reed; when he sees me, Allah destroys him — he melts as lead melts, until stone and tree say: "O Muslim, here is a disbeliever (kāfir), kill him!" Allah then destroys him. The people return to their lands and homelands and are met by Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj who hasten down from every height; everything they come upon they eat, and they pass no water but they drink it dry. The people then return to me and complain to me; I supplicate to Allah against them, and He kills them, until the earth stinks from the stench of their corpses. Then rain descends, sweeps away their bodies, and casts them into the sea. Then the mountains are crumbled until the earth is like a hairless hide. My Lord has informed me that when that is so, the Hour is as near to them as the pregnant woman on the point of giving birth, whose household do not know when she will overtake them — by night or by day.'"
ʿUbayd ibn Ismāʿīl related to us, saying: al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Aṣbaʿ ibn Zayd, on the authority of al-ʿAwwām ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Jabala ibn Saḥīm, on the authority of Muʾathir ibn ʿAfāza, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, who said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ undertook the Isrāʾ, he met Ibrāhīm, Mūsā, and ʿĪsā, may Allah grant them all peace. They conferred about the matter of the Hour. [The narrator] mentioned [something] similar to the narration of Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī via Hushaym, and added to it: Al-ʿAwwām ibn Ḥawshab said: I found confirmation of that in the Word of Allah the Exalted: حَتَّى إِذَا فُتِحَتْ يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ وَهُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ حَدَبٍ يَنْسِلُونَ * وَاقْتَرَبَ الْوَعْدُ الْحَقُّ فَإِذَا هِيَ شَاخِصَةٌ أَبْصَارُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا .
And he said: (فَإِذَا جَاءَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي جَعَلَهُ دَكَّاءَ وَكَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي حَقًّا) — he says: the promise of my Lord which He has made to His creation concerning the destruction of this barrier, and the coming forth of these people and their corruption therein, and whatever else His promise encompasses, is truth — because He does not break His promise and only that will come to pass which He has promised will be.