Alexander the Great in the Quran rhetorical type depending on the Cleitarchus tradition, and with this he amalgamated a collection of imaginary letters derived from an "Epistolary Romance of Alexander" written in the first century B.C. He also included two long letters from Alexander to his mother Olympias and his tutor Aristotle describing his marvellous adventures in India and at the end of the World. These are the literary expression of a living popular tradition and as such are the most remarkable and interesting part of the work. The Greek variants of the "Alexander romance" continued to evolve until, in the 4th century, the Greek legend
Alexander the Great in the Quran to the notion of an "inhabited Earth," surrounded by the Ocean, and an "uninhabited Earth" (though exactly how much of this was understood by his student Alexander the Great is not known). "Surah Al-Kahf" has also been linked to the "Alexander romance" through a second story. The Quran verses 18:60–82, which immediately precede the story of Dhul-Qarnayn, mention the story of Al-Khidir and a fish that miraculously comes to life. It has been theorized that the Quran's story was influenced by the story of the Water of Life (Fountain of Youth) mentioned in Eastern versions of the "Alexander romance". In