They are sealed away behind a mighty wall by a legendary king, Dhul al-Qarnayn who is frequently linked to Alexander the Great and occasionally Cyrus the Great, though neither are exact matches
In Islamic eschatology, the world will be flooded by a mighty invasion in the end of days.
The great army of the monstrous Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog) will rampage throughout the earth.
A thread-
They are sealed away behind a mighty wall by a legendary king, Dhul al-Qarnayn who is frequently linked to Alexander the Great and occasionally Cyrus the Great, though neither are exact matches
Thus sealed away, the world is safe from Yajuj and Majuj, that is, until the end of days.
When they stand in formation their army stretches from Syria to ends of Persia.
They will swarm the Earth, until it becomes difficult to find food and water. Then Isa (Jesus) who had returned, will ask God to intervene.
The mightiest army will by laid low by the tiniest bugs.
They are frequently treated as monstrous humans. A tradition from ibn Abbas deems them as inhuman, different from human and jinn both.
Written descriptions say they are covered in great ears.
The wall holding them back is generally associated with places like Armenia, or Ibn Battuta may have linked it to the Great Wall of China.
He quickly dispatched an emissary to ensure the wall was still intact.
Artistic rendering of the building of the wall show jinn and human working together to build it—a reminder of how great the threat of Yajuj and Majuj was for human and jinn alike.
They postulated the world would come to an end and the armies of the Yajuj and Majuj unleashed when all the planets aligned in Pisces.
It also provides an important insight into medieval imagination of geography, conceptions of the other, and the boundaries of empire
More from Religion
I want to talk about the key textual elements you might find in an Islamic manuscript. I'll focus on this manuscript, roughly 18th century, of an Arabic history of the rulers of Egypt called Nuzhat al-nāẓirīn, by Marʻī al-Karmī (d. 1623/4).
Budeiry Library (Jerusalem) MS 593 -jm
These texts have many elements designed to help the reader understand what they're saying, and choices by the scribe who copied the manuscript often help as well. Let's see what's here. -jm
First, almost every Islamic text begins with the invocation "in the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful." The wording is never changed, and it's always in Arabic, no matter what language the text is, although you might add phrases like "and we ask God for help." -jm
Christians were able to do more experimentation with their invocations, as you can see from the examples here. https://t.co/wEPWRitCWA -jm
After the invocation (basmalah), you might have what this text has, which is an introduction of the author in the form "the poor slave of God [so-and-so] said..." often followed by a quick prayer for the author. -jm
Budeiry Library (Jerusalem) MS 593 -jm
These texts have many elements designed to help the reader understand what they're saying, and choices by the scribe who copied the manuscript often help as well. Let's see what's here. -jm
First, almost every Islamic text begins with the invocation "in the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful." The wording is never changed, and it's always in Arabic, no matter what language the text is, although you might add phrases like "and we ask God for help." -jm
Christians were able to do more experimentation with their invocations, as you can see from the examples here. https://t.co/wEPWRitCWA -jm
These little prayers are fun pic.twitter.com/hJYk2M01bO
— Josh Mugler (@J_mugs) February 16, 2019
After the invocation (basmalah), you might have what this text has, which is an introduction of the author in the form "the poor slave of God [so-and-so] said..." often followed by a quick prayer for the author. -jm
As the Fall of man was a consequence of the pursuit of our own good, this quest intrinsically contains the possibility of our return to The Good. The route back to The Good was only revealed by The Way [Jn. 14:6], so we might say that Christ incarnates to complete the Circle.
Each thing is moved by, implicitly converted or turned back to, its own good by its cause of procession - which is principally God.
"Via est nobis tendendi in Deum." - St. Thomas Aquinas, which is to say that:
Christ, who as a man, is the way of our tending (back) into God.
Ezekiel 10:6 | When the LORD commanded the man in linen, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel.
"So I saw the glorious wheel move." - Dante, Paradiso 10.145
As Scripture and Dante see God's providence in circles, so did Boethius and Platonists more
Aquinas with, "Eadem est via qua descenditur et ascenditur." [SCG 4.1.3], brings back Heraclitus to the medievals, "The way up and the way down is the same." [Diels, B60]
The way up and the way down are the same.
Each thing is moved by, implicitly converted or turned back to, its own good by its cause of procession - which is principally God.
"Via est nobis tendendi in Deum." - St. Thomas Aquinas, which is to say that:
Christ, who as a man, is the way of our tending (back) into God.
Ezekiel 10:6 | When the LORD commanded the man in linen, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel.
"So I saw the glorious wheel move." - Dante, Paradiso 10.145
As Scripture and Dante see God's providence in circles, so did Boethius and Platonists more
Imagine a set of concentric circles. The inmost one comes closest to the simplicity of the centre, while forming itself a kind of centre around which revolve those which are set outside it. The circle furthest out rotates through a wider orbit.
— \u300e\U0001d622\U0001d633\U0001d633\U0001d636\U0001d634\u300f (@arrus_kacchi) December 26, 2020
Aquinas with, "Eadem est via qua descenditur et ascenditur." [SCG 4.1.3], brings back Heraclitus to the medievals, "The way up and the way down is the same." [Diels, B60]
The way up and the way down are the same.
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1/“What would need to be true for you to….X”
Why is this the most powerful question you can ask when attempting to reach an agreement with another human being or organization?
A thread, co-written by @deanmbrody:
2/ First, “X” could be lots of things. Examples: What would need to be true for you to
- “Feel it's in our best interest for me to be CMO"
- “Feel that we’re in a good place as a company”
- “Feel that we’re on the same page”
- “Feel that we both got what we wanted from this deal
3/ Normally, we aren’t that direct. Example from startup/VC land:
Founders leave VC meetings thinking that every VC will invest, but they rarely do.
Worse over, the founders don’t know what they need to do in order to be fundable.
4/ So why should you ask the magic Q?
To get clarity.
You want to know where you stand, and what it takes to get what you want in a way that also gets them what they want.
It also holds them (mentally) accountable once the thing they need becomes true.
5/ Staying in the context of soliciting investors, the question is “what would need to be true for you to want to invest (or partner with us on this journey, etc)?”
Multiple responses to this question are likely to deliver a positive result.
Why is this the most powerful question you can ask when attempting to reach an agreement with another human being or organization?
A thread, co-written by @deanmbrody:
Next level tactic when closing a sale, candidate, or investment:
— Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg) February 27, 2018
Ask: \u201cWhat needs to be true for you to be all in?\u201d
You'll usually get an explicit answer that you might not get otherwise. It also holds them accountable once the thing they need becomes true.
2/ First, “X” could be lots of things. Examples: What would need to be true for you to
- “Feel it's in our best interest for me to be CMO"
- “Feel that we’re in a good place as a company”
- “Feel that we’re on the same page”
- “Feel that we both got what we wanted from this deal
3/ Normally, we aren’t that direct. Example from startup/VC land:
Founders leave VC meetings thinking that every VC will invest, but they rarely do.
Worse over, the founders don’t know what they need to do in order to be fundable.
4/ So why should you ask the magic Q?
To get clarity.
You want to know where you stand, and what it takes to get what you want in a way that also gets them what they want.
It also holds them (mentally) accountable once the thing they need becomes true.
5/ Staying in the context of soliciting investors, the question is “what would need to be true for you to want to invest (or partner with us on this journey, etc)?”
Multiple responses to this question are likely to deliver a positive result.