Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2005)

You may either punish them,
or treat them with kindness.’
87 He said, ‘As for him who is a wrongdoer,
we will punish him.
Then he shall be returned to his Lord
and He will punish him with a dire punishment.
88 But as for him who has faith and acts righteously,
he shall have the best reward,
and we will speak to him gently of our command.’
89 Then he followed a means.
90 When he reached the place where the sun rises,
he found it rising on a people
for whom We had not provided any shield against it.
91 So it was,
and We comprehended whatever pertained to him.
92 Then he followed a means.
93 When he reached [the place] between the two barriers,
he found between them a people
who could hardly understand a word.
94 They said, ‘O Dhul Qarnayn!
Indeed Gog and Magog
are causing corruption in the land.
Shall we pay you a tribute
on condition that you build
a barrier between them and us?’
95 He said,
‘What my Lord has furnished me is better.
Yet help me with some power,
and I will make a bulwark between you and them.
96 Bring me pieces of iron!’