This Surah (Revealed) Meccan, consisting of 5 verses.(Al-Fâl)
Ayah 105:1 الأية
بِسْم ِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Ayah First 1 الأية
Tafseer
Have you not considered (an interrogative meant to provoke marvel, in other
words, âmarvel atâ) the way in which your Lord dealt with the Men of the Elephant?, who was named Mahmūd, and
the men were Abraha, King of Yemen and his troops. He had built a church in Sanâāâ in order to divert
pilgrims away from Mecca to it. A man from among the Banū Kināna defecated in it and stained its prayer
niche with a deflowered virginâs blood, in contempt of it. Abraha then swore that he would knock down the Kaâba.
So he approached Mecca with his troops riding Yemeni elephants with Mahmūd at the vanguard. But when
they turned to destroy the Kaâba, God unleashed upon them what He relates in His words:
Ayah 105:2 الأية
Tafseer
Did He not make â that is to say, He did [indeed] make â their stratagem, to
destroy the Kaâba, go astray, [ending up] in failure and destruction,
Ayah 105:3 الأية
Tafseer
and unleashed upon them swarms of birds, [birds] in droves, one following the
next (it is said there is no singular form for it [abābīl], like asātīr; but some say that the singular is
abūl or ibāl or ibbīl, similar [in constructed pattern] to âajūl, miftāh and sikkīn),
Ayah 105:4 الأية
Tafseer
pelting them with stones of baked clay,
Ayah 105:5 الأية
Tafseer
thus making them like devoured blades?, like the leaves of crops which have been
consumed, trampled and destroyed by animals. God destroyed each one of them with his own stone,
inscribed with his name, larger than a lentil [in size] but smaller than a chick-pea, able to pierce through an
egg, a man, or an elephant and go through the ground. This took place in the year of the Prophetâs birth (s).