Surah Al-Fil

About Surah Al-Fil

This surah concerns an event that older Makkans could still remember first hand. An army came north from Yemen intending to destroy the Ka'bah, with an elephant at its head, and it never took the city. Arabs afterwards dated things by it, calling it the Year of the Elephant, and it is traditionally given as the year the Prophet, peace be upon him, was born. Because the story was common knowledge, the surah does not narrate it. It asks a question about it instead.

Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant (105:1) is addressed to people who already knew the answer. Their scheme was turned to nothing (105:2), birds came in flocks (105:3), stones of hard clay struck them (105:4), and the army was left like eaten straw (105:5). Five ayahs, no commander named, no date, no battle described. What the Makkans are being reminded of is that the House they took such pride in guarding had once been defended entirely without them, which sets up the argument the next surah makes.