Qur’an reader

105. Al-Fil · The Elephant

The defeat of the people associated with the elephant is recalled through the collapse of their scheme and an image of birds carrying stones. This brief account invites reflection on the vulnerability of apparently overwhelming power.

Updated 20 October 2026Editorial review edition

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Meccan (traditional classification) · 5 verses

Editorial themes: Divine protection · Power · Failed aggression · Remembrance

English: Marmaduke Pickthall (1930), public-domain translation. Arabic: Tanzil Project, Uthmani 1.1, used verbatim under its text licence. Text provenance & limitations →

A note on Arabic, English and verse numbering

Tanzil’s Arabic source includes the opening basmala with the first verse of surahs other than 9. Pickthall’s numbered translation includes it at 1:1; at other surah openings it is not repeated within the numbered English verse. This display preserves both source conventions. The Arabic is not a collection of all variant readings.

105:1 Compare translations ↗

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَٰبِ ٱلْفِيلِ

Hast thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with the owners of the Elephant?

105:2 Compare translations ↗

أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُمْ فِى تَضْلِيلٍ

Did He not bring their stratagem to naught,

105:3 Compare translations ↗

وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ

And send against them swarms of flying creatures,

105:4 Compare translations ↗

تَرْمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةٍ مِّن سِجِّيلٍ

Which pelted them with stones of baked clay,

105:5 Compare translations ↗

فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَّأْكُولٍۭ

And made them like green crops devoured (by cattle)?

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