Surah 105 · Makkan · 5 ayahs

Al-Fil

الفيل

The Elephant

Arabic in the Uthmani script. English translation by Saheeh International. Every ayah below carries its own reference.

What is this surah about?

Scholarly explanation

Name The Surah derives its name from the word ashab al fil in the very first verse. Period of Revelation This is unanimously a Makki Surah; and if it is studied against its historical background it appears that it must have been sent down in the very earliest stage in Makkah. Historical Background As we have explained in footnote 4 of Surah Al-Buruj, in retaliation for the persecution of the followers of the Prophet Jesus Christ (peace be on him) in Najran by the Jewish ruler Dhu-Nuwas of Yemen, the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia invaded Yemen and put an end to the Himyarite rule there, and in 525 A.D. this whole land passed under Abyssinian control. This happened, in fact, through collaboration between the Byzantine empire of Constantinople and the Abyssinian kingdom, for the Abyssinians at that time had no naval fleet.

Reference · Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, Tafhim al-Qur'an — The Meaning of the Quran

Translation

Reciter

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بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

105:1

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَـٰبِ ٱلْفِيلِ

Have you not considered, [O Muḥammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?

105:2

أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُمْ فِى تَضْلِيلٍ

Did He not make their plan into misguidance?

105:3

وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ

And He sent against them birds in flocks,

105:4

تَرْمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةٍ مِّن سِجِّيلٍ

Striking them with stones of hard clay,

105:5

فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَّأْكُولٍۭ

And He made them like eaten straw.

Ayah 1 of 5

Recited by Mishari Rashid al-Afasy