Dhu’l-Qarnayn was going around the cities when he came across an old man. He had collected human skulls and was turning them around in two hands and inspecting them closely. Dhu’l-Qarnayn stopped with his army and asked him why he was turning the skulls around. He replied that by this action of his he wanted to know which of them had been noble, and which of them stylish, which were the rich ones and who were poverty stricken.
“I am studying these skulls for 20 years but still cannot make out the difference,” he said. Dhu’l-Qarnayn moved ahead saying, “He only wanted to warn me that’s all.”