حَتَّىٰٓ Until ḥattā when idhā he reached balagha (the) setting place maghriba (of) the sun l-shamsi he found it wajadahā setting taghrubu in fī a spring ʿaynin (of) dark mud ḥami-atin and he found wawajada near it ʿindahā a community qawman We said qul'nā O Dhul-qarnain yādhā O Dhul-qarnain l-qarnayni Either immā [that] an you punish tuʿadhiba or wa-immā [that] an you take tattakhidha [in] them fīhim (with) goodness ḥus'nan
Until, when he reached the setting of the sun [i.e., the west], he found it [as if] setting in a body of dark water,1 and he found near it a people. We [i.e., Allāh] said, "O Dhul-Qarnayn, either you punish [them] or else adopt among them [a way of] goodness."