Surah 105
Al-Fīl
الفيل
5 verses · Meccan
Key structural observations
- Two occurrences of a-lam open the reminder. Kayfa asks about the manner of action; Rabbuka is named as subject before the People of the Elephant, giving the account its centre (1–2).
- The plot’s outcome is announced before the scene of birds and stones. Fī taḍlīl concerns the failure of their undertaking, which the following verses show (2–4).
- Arsala attributes the sending to Allah; ṭayran abābīl presents birds in successive groups. Present-tense tarmī makes their action vivid, with stones as the instrument (3–4).
- Yajʿal kaydahum and fa-jaʿalahum connect the project’s frustration with its authors’ fate. The final comparison presents them as eaten and loosened vegetation (2, 5).
- Four pronouns resume the People of the Elephant: their plot, the sending against them, the throwing reaching them and their transformation. The Lord’s action remains the account’s thread (1–5).