Sallam the Interpreter's mission to the barrier of Gog and Magog

بعثة سلام الترجمان إلى سد يأجوج ومأجوج

c. 842 CE · c. 227 AH† †

† Hijri date derived by computation from the Gregorian/Julian date; it may differ from the transmitted date by a day or two.

Al-Wathiq dreamt that Dhu'l-Qarnayn's barrier had loosened, and found none fit to inspect it save Sallam the Interpreter of thirty tongues: equipped with fifty men, five thousand dinars, two hundred mules and cold-weather gear, he passed by letters of introduction from the governor of Armenia to the lord of Sarir, the Alan king, Filan Shah and the Khazar Tarkhan, then crossed the black stinking land and the cities ruined by Gog and Magog to the forts near the mountain cleft — seeing the iron gate with leaves fifty by seventy-five cubits, a lock two men cannot embrace, a twelve-toothed key, and the ritual of knocking on it each Monday and Thursday so those beyond know guards remain; he dictated the whole report to Ibn Khurdadhbih ¹.