105- Surat Alfil/Tafseer
5 Verses Meccan (revealed in Mecca)
A'auzu Bellahi mena alshaiytani alrajeem
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan
Besmi Ellahi Alrhmani Alraheem
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Alam tara kayfa fa'ala rabbuka bi as-habi alfil (1).
Have you not seen how Your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?.
Alam yaj'al kaidahum fi tadlil (2).
Did He not make their plan into misguidance?.
Wa arsala alayhim tayrann ababil (3).
And He sent upon them birds in flocks.
Tarmihim be-hijaratin min sejjeel (4).
Throwing upon them stones of hard clay.
Faja'alahum ka-asfin ma'kul (5).
And He made them like eaten straw.
Simplified interpretation:
Surah Alfil revolves around the companions of the elephant, and it was a sign of the favor that Allah has bestowed upon Quraish. Allah has honored Mecca with the presence of the Sacred House (Ka'bah) therein as mentioned in Surat Quraish, and now in this Surah Allah has mentioned his favour upon them by destroying the army who came to demolish the Sanctuary House.
Allah Almighty says in ts, he first two verses (1,2) "Have you not seen how Your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?, Did He not make their plan into misguidance?", that is, Although the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has not seen the incident of the elephant, but Allah addresses Him saying {Have you not seen}, because the Arabs use this question form for reminding of something whether one saw it or not.
There was a governor of Yemen called Abrahah Alashram, and Yemen at that time was under Al-Habashah dominion, and Najashi was the king of Al-Habashah (Ethiopia today). Abrahah built a cathedral in Yemen, and he want to attract people to his cathedral in stead of the Sanctuary House, and to divert pilgrims from Mecca to Yemen. The Arabs called that cathedral "Alqullays" because its great height.
There are differences between the scholars about the main reason that forced Abrahah to demolish the Sacred House (Alka'bah), some said that this happened when he announced his intentions to divert pilgrimage from Mecca to San'aa, the capital of Yemen and his church's location, and this idea was rejected by the Arab tribes. And it was said that he decided to demolish the Ka'bah when a man from Quraish entered his church one night and defecated in it, then ran away, then Abrahah swore to destroy the Ka'bah stone by stone. While others said that this happened because young men from Quraish started a fire in his cathedral in a windy day, so it collapsed to the ground.
Then Abrahah asked Najashi (Negus) for permission to demolish the Ka'bah, and he was given what he asked for, and Najashi sent him a huge elephant called "Mahmoud" for this mission, then Abrahah prepared a large army and moved towards Mecca.
There are many details happened on his way from Yemen to Mecca, but although Quraish and other Arab tribes were polytheists and disbelievers, the sanctuary House was very close to their hearts, so the Arab tribes tried to defend the Ka'bah, and entered into two battles with him, but he defeated them, and he and his army continued on the way until they came to Mecca, then Abdul Muttalib Bin Hashim (Muhammad's grandfather) said to Abrahah that the Ka'bah has its Lord who will defend it, then Abrahah said that he can not be prevented from destroying it, then Abdul Muttalib said to him "Then do so", and he ordered his people to leave Mecca, and to go up to the top of the mountains because he was certain of Allah's victory over Abrahah.
Allah Almighty says in the last three verses (3-5) "And He sent upon them birds in flocks, throwing upon them stones of hard clay, and He made them like eaten straw", that is, when the decisive moment came, the elephant Mahmoud knelt down and refused to rise and move towards the Sanctuary House, and Allah sent upon Abrahah and his army birds in flocks, throwing upon them stones of hard clay, then He made them like an eaten hay, and it was said that Allah sent against them the birds from the sea, each of them carries three stones, one in its beak, and one in each claw, and began to hit Abrahah's army by these stones, some of them had been destroyed immediately, and they became like trees whose grain has been eaten, and they became like hay eaten by cattle. While Abrahah and others were afflicted by the stones and were broken down, limb by limb, until they reached Yemen, then Abrahah informed his people of what happened to them and then he died, and it was said that he did not die until his heart fell out of his chest.