Sallam the Interpreter

Sallam al-Tarjuman, 'the Interpreter,' was an envoy of the Abbasid caliph al-Wathiq, reputed to speak many languages. According to the account preserved by the geographer Ibn Khordadbeh, the caliph dreamed that the barrier built by Dhul-Qarnayn to hold back Gog and Magog (Quran 18:94–98) had been breached, and around 842 he sent Sallam with a large party to inspect it.

Sallam's report describes a long journey north and east through the Caucasus and the steppe, past ruined towns, to a great gate of iron and bronze set between mountains, guarded by local people, after which the party returned by way of Central Asia. The trip is said to have taken more than two years. Ibn Khordadbeh says he heard the story from Sallam directly, and later geographers such as al-Idrisi repeated it.

Historians disagree about how much of the journey happened as told. Proposals for what Sallam actually saw include the Caspian Gates at Derbent, passes in Central Asia, and fortifications near the Great Wall of China. Some scholars regard the account as largely literary.