How the Sun Sets in a Muddy Spring

Allah Almighty says in describing the journeys of Dhul-Qarnayn: (Until when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring) (Surah Al-Kahf). Does this mean that the sun, in its vastness, set and submerged inside a muddy spring as a heavy ball submerges in water? Of course not! The matter is simply that Dhul-Qarnayn reached the end of the earth in the direction of the west, so when he looked at the sun setting at that end, the last thing it disappeared behind - from the perspective of the observer - was a muddy spring, meaning it did not disappear behind a mountain or a plain, but behind a muddy spring. And the verse does not mean at all that the sun (submerged) inside a muddy spring! I referred to many interpretations of the Salaf to see if any of them understood that the sun submerged in a muddy spring, but I did not find them understanding that, nor did they have any objection to it to seek a solution, even though they were in an era when they had no conception of the earth's sphericity and its rotation around the sun. And from those who thought of it, some warned against this misconception. Al-Qurtubi said: (The meaning is not that he reached the sun in the west and east until he reached its body and touched it; for it is with the sky around the earth without touching the earth, and it is too great to enter into a spring of the earth's springs, but it is greater than the earth by many times. Rather, the meaning is that he reached the end of habitation in the direction of the west and the east and found it, in the eye's view, setting in a muddy spring, just as we see it on the flat earth as if it enters the earth) ended. Refer to point 1 in the comment. We are not facing a doubt that needs a solution! Nor are we facing a verse that shows contradiction with science until we seek reconciliation! But this is the linguistic expression of the sunset, used even in non-Arabic languages, even in the language of the American space agency NASA (refer to point 2 in the comment). But wait! What is this muddy spring? We can imagine that Dhul-Qarnayn saw the sun setting in a sea or ocean, as a person standing on the Mediterranean coast sees it. But what about the muddy spring? First, what does Hamia mean? It means a water spring with mud, i.e., with black mud: (And indeed, We created man from clay of black mud altered in form). Where is this spring that Dhul-Qarnayn reached, from which a water body can be formed in which the setting sun can be seen? We do not know of such a thing in the known world at the time of the revelation of the Quran, i.e., in the region where civilizations succeeded each other. These springs are part of a group of natural phenomena called geothermal features (geothermal features), and they contain mud springs (mud pots) and hot springs (geysers), and these two phenomena are found near each other (refer to N3 in the comment): What surprised me while preparing the topic was a map of the locations of these springs worldwide, which is the attached upper image. Of course, it is from a foreign site unrelated to explaining the verse, at the following link: http://geology.com/articles/geyser.shtml You notice in this image a striking presence of hot springs, along with muddy springs at the far west of the globe. Refer to another map in N4. Okay... now let's review an image of the sunset on one of the muddy springs in the far west. The lower image is of the sunset on a muddy or hot spring in the west of America. And to see various images of hot and muddy springs, type on Google: ((geyser at sunset, meaning hot spring at sunset, then choose images (images). It seems that the scene Dhul-Qarnayn saw was very similar to this scene, and Allah knows best. Let's return to the verse: (Until when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring). Notice the complete harmony! But wait! We said that the far west of the globe was not a known region at the time of the revelation of the Quran. Is it reasonable that Dhul-Qarnayn, who lived long before this time, reached it? The answer, and Allah knows best: Yes! It is not excluded, especially since Allah Almighty said: (We have enabled him in the earth and We have given him from everything a means)... everything, and this may include the means to cross the oceans and reach the far ends of the unknown earth to the people of the region of civilizations. And I saw in the interpretation (Fath al-Qadir) of Imam al-Shawkani support for this possibility, as he said: (It was said: Perhaps when Dhul-Qarnayn reached the coast of the surrounding sea, he saw it like this in his view, and it is not far-fetched to say: There is no prevention from Allah enabling him to cross the surrounding sea until he reaches that spring in which the sun sets, and what prevents this after Allah narrated about him that he reached the setting of the sun, and enabled him in the earth, and the sea is part of it, and mere exclusion does not necessitate interpreting the Quran contrary to its apparent meaning) ended. But the Quran mentions that this land was inhabited? And what prevents it? Our lack of knowledge about its people does not mean they did not exist. Therefore, it is not far-fetched that the Quran refers to this region in the far west of the globe with this verse. This is what appeared to us in the interpretation of the verse, and Allah knows best, and perhaps others are more accurate than it. However, in all cases, there is no - as claimed by the doubters - scientific error! The response to many inquiries in the comment.