قَالَ أَمَّا مَنْ ظَلَمَ فَسَوْفَ نُعَذِّبُهُ ثُمَّ يُرَدُّ إِلَى رَبِّهِ فَيُعَذِّبُهُ عَذَابًا نُكْرًا ﴿۸۷﴾ وَأَمَّا مَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَهُ جَزَاءً الْحُسْنَى وَسَنَقُولُ لَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِنَا يُسْرًا ﴿۸۸﴾ ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَ سَبَبًا ﴿۸۹﴾ حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ مَطْلِعَ الشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَطْلُعُ عَلَى قَوْمٍ لَمْ نَجْعَلْ لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِهَا سِتْرًا ﴿۹۰﴾ كَذَلِكَ وَقَدْ أَحَطْنَا بِمَا لَدَيْهِ خُبْرًا ﴿۹۱﴾ ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَ سَبَبًا ﴿۹۲﴾

﴾87﴿ Qaala amma man zalama fasawfa nu'azzibuhoo summa yuraddu ilaa Rabbihee fa yu 'azzibuhoo azaaban nukraa
﴾88﴿ Wa ammaa man aamana wa 'amila saalihan falahoo jazaaa'anil husnaa wa sanaqoolu lahoo min amrinaa yusraa
﴾89﴿ Summa atba'a sababaa
﴾90﴿ Hattaaa izaa balagha matli'ash shamsi wajdahaa tatlu'u alaa qawmil lam naj'al lahum min doonihaa sitraa
﴾91﴿ Kazaalika wa qad ahatnaa bimaa ladaihi khubraa
﴾92﴿ Summa atba'a sababaa

﴾87﴿ He said, But as for the one who remains in oppression (shirk), We will soon punish him (in this world), then he will be returned to his Lord (after death), and He will punish him with a severe punishment
﴾88﴿ But as for the one who believes and acts according to the tradition, for him is the reward of Paradise, and We will surely guide him to the easy path in matters of his religion
﴾89﴿ Then he set out on another path
﴾90﴿ Until, when he reached the place of the sun's rising, he found it rising upon a people for whom We had provided no shelter against it
﴾91﴿ Thus it was (he dealt with them as with the previous people), and indeed We had encompassed whatever was with him in knowledge
﴾92﴿ Then he set out on another path

[87] It means that Dhu al-Qarnayn ruled with justice—whoever, after being invited to monotheism, persisted in disbelief and polytheism, he would punish them by imprisonment and execution, and in the Hereafter, Allah will give them a severe punishment.
[88] And whoever accepted monotheism and acted with sincerity and followed the Sunnah—for him is the best reward. What is meant by al-ḥusnā is Paradise in the Hereafter. Jazā’an is either an explanatory accusative (tamyeez) or a circumstantial accusative (ḥāl). Yusrān means that in this world, he will not be burdened with what is beyond his capacity, because: “Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity,” and “The religion is ease.”
[89] He then set out on another path—meaning toward the east—and in every village, he would call the people to the religion.
[90] Here too, the meaning of maṭliʿ al-shams (place of sunrise) is not the exact east, but rather a place where reaching it is not possible. He arrived at a location where civilization had ended, and the region was close to where the sun rises. The people there were wild tribes, the inhabitants of Makran and Bactria. “Lam najʿal lahum min dūnihā sitran” means there were no buildings or trees to shelter them from the sun—they mostly lived in caves.
[91] (Ka-dhālik) means that here too, he made the same judgment as he had made at the place of sunset.
(Wa-qad aḥaṭnā bimā ladayhi khubrā) indicates that his resources and means were so vast that only Allah, the Most High, had complete knowledge of them.
[92] It means he set out toward the north, and the southern path was not mentioned—either because there was no civilization in the south at that time, or because reaching that side was difficult.