Surah al-Fil is Makkan. (1)

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

“Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?” (1)

“Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?” The account of the companions of the elephant—as related by Muhammad ibn Ishaq from some scholars, from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr and ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbas, and also related by al-Waqidi—is as follows:

The Negus, king of Abyssinia, had sent Aryat to Yemen, and he overcame it. Then a man from Abyssinia, called Abrahah ibn al-Sabah [Abu Yaksum], (2) rose up and disputed with Aryat over the rule of Abyssinia, until they split into two factions: one party was with Aryat, and another was with Abrahah. The two advanced against one another, and Abrahah killed Aryat. The Abyssinians then united under Abrahah; he gained control of Yemen, and the Negus confirmed him in his position.

Abrahah then saw the people making preparations, during the season, to travel to Mecca for pilgrimage to the House of Allah. So he built a church in San‘a’ and wrote to the Negus: “I have built for you in San‘a’ a church the like of which has never been built for any king, and I shall not cease until I divert the pilgrimage of the Arabs to it.” A man from Banu Malik ibn Kinanah heard of this, [so he went there secretly], (3) entered it by night, relieved himself inside it, and smeared its sanctuary with filth. When news of this reached Abrahah, he said, “Who has dared to defy me and soil my church with filth?” He was told, “This was done by an Arab man from the people of that House, who heard what you had said.” Thereupon Abrahah swore that he would march upon the Ka‘bah and destroy it. He wrote to the Negus informing him of this and asked him to send him his elephant. The Negus had an elephant called Mahmud, such an immense, powerful creature as had never been seen before. So he sent it to him, and Abrahah set out