Al-Kahf • EN-TAFSIR-IBN-ABBAS
﴿ قَالُوا۟ يَٰذَا ٱلْقَرْنَيْنِ إِنَّ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ مُفْسِدُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَهَلْ نَجْعَلُ لَكَ خَرْجًا عَلَىٰٓ أَن تَجْعَلَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُمْ سَدًّۭا ﴾
“They said: "O thou Two-Horned One! Behold, Gog and Magog" are spoiling this land. May we, then, pay unto thee a tribute on the understanding that thou wilt erect a barrier between us and them?"”
(They said) to the interpreter: (O Dhu'l-Qarnayn! Lo! Gog and Magog are spoiling the land) they are destroying our land, they eat our dates, loot our crops and kill our offspring; it is also said that this means: they devour people, for Gog and Magog were two men from the descendent of the children of Yapheth; it is also said that they were called Gog and Magog due to their sheer number. (So may we pay thee tribute) a reward; and it is also said that this means a wage, according to a different reading, (on condition that thou set a barrier between us and them?)