ABSTRACT
Alexander, or rather the Koranic Dulcarnain, with his army reaches the region of darkness that lies before the Fountain of Life, and, beyond this region, he beholds a palace rising to an enormous height. Advancing to the gate, he speaks to the youthful guardian, who hands him an object like a stone, saying, U If this be satisfied, thou also wilt be satisfied; if it be hungry, then wilt thou be-hungry too." Alexander returns to his companions with the stone and summons the wise men to discuss the riddle. They test the stone in the balance with first one, then two, and finally a thousand similar stones, and find to their amazement that it outweighs them all. Khidr, a counsellor of Alexander's, upon seeing that all the sages are unable to solve the riddle, thereupon intervenes and places on one of the scales an ordinary stone and, on the other, the miraculous stone covered with a handful of dust; and, to the amazement of all, the scales now balance. To Alexander, Khidr then 'explains the riddle as follows: U God has granted thee the utmost power achievable by man, yet thou art not satisfied. For man is never satisfied until dust cover him and the earth fill his belly." According to another, longer, version, Khidr ends his explanation with the words: U The stone is the human eye, which, whilst alive, even though it should possess the whole world, is insatiable, and which only death can satisfy."2
