Quran Verses about The Army of the Elephant
Surah Al-Fil recalls what Allah did to the army of the elephant, which according to the tafsir was led by Abraha and came to destroy the Ka'bah. Their plot was brought to nothing, and Allah sent flocks of birds that pelted them with stones of baked clay, until they were like straw eaten by worms.
The plot of the army of the elephant brought to nothing
أَلَمۡ تَرَ كَيۡفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصۡحَٰبِ ٱلۡفِيلِ ١
Alam tara kayfa faʿala rabbuka biʾaṣḥābil-fīl.
Have you not considered, [O Muḥammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?1
Footnotes (1)
- i.e., the army under the command of Abrahah al-Ashram which was accompanied by a huge elephant and came with the intention of destroying the Kaʿbah at Makkah.
أَلَمۡ يَجۡعَلۡ كَيۡدَهُمۡ فِي تَضۡلِيلٖ ٢
Alam yajʿal kaydahum fī taḍlīl.
Did He not make their plan into misguidance?1
Footnotes (1)
- Causing them to perish.
The ababil birds and the stones of baked clay
وَأَرۡسَلَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ طَيۡرًا أَبَابِيلَ ٣
Wa arsala ʿalayhim ṭayran abābīl.
And He sent against them birds in flocks,
تَرۡمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةٖ مِّن سِجِّيلٖ ٤
Tarmīhim biḥijāratim min sijjīl.
Striking them with stones of hard clay,
فَجَعَلَهُمۡ كَعَصۡفٖ مَّأۡكُولِۭ ٥
Fajaʿalahum kaʿaṣfim maʾkūl.
And He made them like eaten straw.1
Footnotes (1)
- i.e., husks which have been chewed by cattle. This event took place in the year of the Prophet's birth.