Various Islamic legends about Alexander
(from http://www.iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/sylvi ... dsAsia.htm, compiler unknown, possibly James Holmes )
A tale of Alexander the Great: near what is now Galata (a suburb of Constantinople) Alexander chained down a number of magicians and witches from the land of Gog and Magog, by piling mountains upon them. He ordered them to go to sea in brazen ships during the forty winter days, and to guard the waters surrounding the city of Constantinople. But these magicians carved a passage right through the mountains encircling the Black Sea, opening a mouth between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and creating the Bosphorus--and the rush of the waters flooding into the strait drowned them then and there. (From Evliya Celebi, a historian of ancient Istanbul.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Alexander legend, from Arabic sources: during his visit to the Foetid Sea at the uttermost ends of the Earth, Alexander built a tower with a pillar or stele upon which he carved a figure of himself wearing two horns upon his head, and holding a key (or trident?) in his right hand. Above his hand was engraved an inscription in Greek, saying, "Let whosoever cometh to this place with the intention of sailing over this sea know that I have locked it up, and behold the key is in my hand."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legend of Alexander and the Dragon: Alexander and his army, marching across the ends of the earth, reached a lofty mountain but were warned by its dwellers: "O king, march no further, for on his mountain dwells a mighty god in the form of an immense serpent, which prevents anyone from going in to him." The dragon lived in a mountain overlooking the river. After the destruction of the monster, Alexander marched on to another mountain and another river. He was warned by the dwellers in that land not to approach the mountain "for there are mighty gods therein." He climbed the mountain, and discovered it to be made of crystal, and it shone with the brightness of silver; and there were many springs and cascades and rivulets of water on that mountain. He then founded a city upon the peak, calling it the 'Second Masqama' (Alexandria, Queen of the Mountain) at the uttermost end of the earth. Over its gate he set a large pillar, from the top of which the Ocean could be seen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Account of the adventures of Uqba b. Nafi by the Arab historian Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam (a story strangely reminiscent of the Alexander Romances): the hero marches through the Fazzan, repeating the question to all the peoples he meets: "Does anyone live beyond you?" He halts at the Horse's Fount, where his dying companions are revived by his mare's discovery of hidden water in the sand ... in dire need of food and drink, an angel provides him with clusters of grapes to nourish his soldiers and their beasts. (There is also an echo of a Hercules legend: Hercules, thirsty after his labor to fetch the apples of the Hesperides guarded by the serpent-dragon Ladon, stamps his foot and causes a spring of water to gush forth. This same water later saved the lives of the Argonauts when they were cast on to the Libyan desert!) Finally, Uqba b. Nafi is seen driving his mare into the sea in the uttermost west, seeking yet remoter lands unconverted to Islam, that he might discover them and conquer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alexander "the two-horned conqueror" in Asia, discovered among the Huns that some of them had blue eyes, and their women had one breast apiece. Also among these peoples, who included Gog and Magog and who were imprisoned by Alexander beyond his great Gate, were dog-men and others. There were also Amazons or Martas, who had one breast like a man's and the other like a woman's; they lived on an island in a sea or river called Meznikos, where there was only one crossing-place. Their husbands lived on the other side of the water; once a year the couples met, and conceived their offspring.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A 'two-horned' king who reached the Wadi 'l-Raml, 'the sandy river of the Sabbath'--the river in the furthest reaches of the desert, which ceased flowing only on Saturday--and, on that day, sent his commander to cross it with his companions. They never returned. As a record of this tragedy, the king had a statue set up on a rock, inscribed with the warning: "I am the king of Himyar, Yasir Yan'am al-Ya'fari; there is no way beyond the limit which I have attained. All who cross it, perish." (This same Yasir Yan'am was the husband of Balqis or Balkis, the Queen of Sheba, who herself was the sister of Shams, the Sun; her father was al-Hadhad, her mother was a jinn whom her father rescued when once she took the form of a gazelle.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In another version of the same legend, beyond the river of sand is the copper city with its cupola of lead, called the city of the baht stone which drew men like a magnet--but those who dared enter this treasure-city were bewitched by the baht stone, and laughed madly as they hurled themselves off the city walls to their dooms. The two-horned one sends his wise commander across the river of sand, telling him to return after a week spent on the other side.
In a myth of Dionysus or Hercules, the latter is overcome by thirst crossing the desert; he invokes his father Zeus-Amon, who sends a ram who paws a water-hole in the sands. Alexander crossing the desert to the Siwa oasis is also lost, bereft of water; a divine rain-shower intervenes, after which the expedition is guided to its destination by two crows or a pair of serpents. Likewise in Arabic fables, it is a ram which guides the heroes to the hidden Saharan treasure-cities; these cities are perhaps echoes of the hidden city of Dionysus which no man could find twice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tale told to Freya Stark in a garden in Hamadan, by the Mirza who was teaching her Persian (this tale is familiar across the East): men spoke, one day, in King Alexander's hall, and recounted the legend of the wells of life in the Lands of Darkness; and the King asked all where they lay. None could say, no one at all, till a stripling named Elias (a newcomer at Alexander's court) stood up and spoke of those waters, white as milk and sweet as honey, that rise through six hundred and sixty springs out of the darknesses of the utter west. Whoever washes there and drinks will never die.
Alexander thought of the vastness of the world and the vast territories there yet unconquered, unexplored; he knew he wished to drink of the water of life. Thus he prepared for one more journey. He asked what he should ride and Khizr Elias bade him mount a virgin mare, for their eyes are made of light (and in truth, said the Mirza to Freya, I have noticed that a mare which has never foaled sees better than any other) and both Alexander and Elias took along a salted fish, to test the miracle of the waters when they reached their goal.
Now when they came to the western darkness, Elias wore a jewel; by its glow he saw on every side the milk-white wells of water, and threw his salt fish in, and it swam away alive; and Elias washed and drank and lives for ever. But Alexander of the Two Horns missed the path and wandered, until he came out by another road, and lived out his days and died like other mortal men. Unto God we return; Allah foresees all. (From Freya Stark, Alexander's Travels)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alexander the Great said, "If there were five men like me, the world would know no trouble." But his friend said, "If there were just two people whose hearts were as one, they would do with the world as they liked." (From Freya Stark, Beyond Euphrates)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From lake Issuk-kul in the Tien Shan or Alexander mountains, a legend of the Ossounes: once they were ruled by a good and wealthy king. This fortunate king dwelt in a splendid palace, and his hospitality and charity were proverbial; the only strange thing was, he demanded a new barber every single day! Every morning yesterday's barber was executed, and a new one summoned; at last there was only a single barber left in the whole kingdom. This one had to be spared, for he had no replacement. But he was wracked by torments, and eventually fled, going for advice to a hermit in the mountains. He told the hermit he was tortured by a secret he could never reveal ... The hermit pondered, and advised him to whisper the secret down a well, late at night, shutting the well-cover carefully afterward. This the barber did. He went to the city well, and cried into it three times over: "Our king has ass's ears!" after which he fled into the night--but he forgot to shut the well. Then the water in the well rose and rose and drowned the splendid palace and flooded the whole kingdom. And now the king's country has become the great lake, Issuk Kul, known the world over!
Note: other legends of Issuk-kul claim that as many as four drowned cities lie beneath the waters of the lake, which never freeze over no matter how harsh the winter is. (From Turkestan Solo, by Ella Maillart)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from http://www.iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/sylvi ... dsAsia.htm