Mahmud sits down, and his controller is trying everything in his power to rise and move forward to lead the attack, but Mahmud plainly refuses. No amount of convincing can get him to stand up. They try encouraging him, beating him, punishing him and everything that they could think of to try to get him to charge forward. Interestingly, when they would turn him towards any other direction, he would begin walking in that direction; if they were to turn his face away from the Ka’bah, he would walk forward, but if they turned his face towards the Ka’bah, he would refuse and sit down. They tried to hurt him in an effort to make him move towards the Ka’bah, inserting blades into his snout and slashing him with iron rods, causing him immense pain, but nothing worked. Then, all of a sudden, Mahmud gets up, turns around and begins to stampede, and because of how they were trained, all of the other elephants in Abraha’s army go out of control and stampeded as well, trampling over everyone.
This is when Allah (SWT) sends his army. [“Have you not considered, (O Muhammad,) how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant? Did he not make their plan into misguidance? And He sent against them birds in flocks, striking them with stones of hard clay; and he made them like eaten straw.” Surah Al-Fil] Allah (SWT) made their plan go to waste, sending small birds carrying three stones each. The stones are small, like pebbles; one stone in its beak and one stone in each of its claws. These small birds arrive and begin to circle the army of Abraha’s heads, to their confusion. Then, suddenly, they release the stones in their beaks and claws. The stones wall with such velocity and intensity that anything they were to fall upon, they would pierce right through. The verse used in the Qur’an, “tayran ababil”, is referring to the waves of birds coming one after the other, in a very specific formation, and as one wave of the stones were dropped, it was followed by another wave that does the same thing, and another, and so on. This can be plural of “abul” or “ibeel”, which means “a well organised group”. The pebbles, some have said, were the pebbles of Jahannam; others say the stones were small pebbles like balls of clay. The point is that the pebbles struck this massive army of tens of thousands and destroyed them. There was complete chaos. Not all were killed immediately; some were, but others were pierced by the stones and they suffered a very painful death. Abraha was one of these people, and his body was hit by the pieces, tearing and shredding his flesh. He eventually died after an excruciating and gradual death at the place of Khat’am, where Nufail initially challenged him and tried to stop him.
Speaking of Nufail; he was watching this, and said some couplets praising Allah (SWT), saying “These people came with all their power and strength and Allah (SWT) made them fail.” Right now, the army of Abraha are all looking for me; but I am nowhere to be seen, as if I have debts to be paid from the one that I owe.” He said these words because when the army of Abraha panicked and tried to find out where to retreat and go, they needed a guide, who was originally Nufail, but he was nowhere to be found, so they scattered and became lost until they eventually returned to Khat’am where Abraha eventually died. All of this happened for a number of reasons: one, as Ibn Kathir and others have mentioned, Allah (SWT) wanted to protect Bayt-Allah, as this is where the reawakening of Tawhid would take place from at the hands of the prophet (SAW), and this was a way of protecting the prophethood of the prophet (SAW); two, as a way of conveying to people that Allah (SWT) has chosen this house to be the base and the center of his worship until the Day of Judgement, and the message was very clear that someone was going to come and convey the message of Allah (SWT), just as Ibrahim (AS) conveyed his message from there. This was the same year in which the prophet Muhammad (SAW) was born. It was named the Year of the Elephant. Another reason why this miraculous arrangement took place is mentioned in the next surah, surah Quraysh. Many Mufassireen mention that although Surah Quraysh is an independent surah, it is a continuation of the topic that was mentioned in surah Al-Fil, just like how the surah Alam Nashrah is a continuation of the topic being discussed in surah Ad-Dhuha.
Another verse in this surah refers to how Allah (SWT) made these people resemble eaten straw, as in the hay that animals eat and leave. That is what they became; they came in the form of a massive, powerful army and they were left scattered, destroyed and chewed up. This happened for the interests of Quraysh. Because of Quraysh’s habit, they are used to traveling in the winter and in the summer. This was, according to most Mufassireen, the business travel that used to occur between Makkah and Sham in the summer and Makkah and Yemen in the winter. The Quraysh were traveling traders; this is how they made a living and were able to bring supplies and essentials to Makkah. So, in the summer months when the area was very pleasant in Sham and Makkah, they would travel there, do business and come back with the profits. In the winter months, it was very cold in Sham, so they would go towards Yemen where the weather was very pleasant and they would conduct business there. So, like this, they would conduct business depending on the weather. Allah (SWT) mentions that he did not want this to be disrupted. The Quraysh were such that because they were based in Makkah, their caravans were the only ones that were not looted. Allah (SWT) says, [“Have they not seen that We made (Makkah) a safe sanctuary, while people are being taken away all around them? Then in falsehood do they believe, and in the favor of Allah they disbelieve.”] “I have given them this haram which keeps them safe, even though the caravans of every other tribe are looted, attacked and ravaged by the bandits among the paths, but when it was learned that any caravans were from the Quraysh, then out of reverence for the Ka’bah and their residents, no one would touch those tribes. So, what should they do? In surah Quraysh, “Then let them worship the lord of this house.” Worship him alone instead of bringing all the hundreds of idols into the Ka’bah. “Who has fed them, (saving them) from hunger and made them safe, (saving them) from fear.” The one who made provisions of food for them even though all around them there is nothing but hunger. In other words, there are no means of food or sustenance around them. Allah (SWT) made these arrangements. The children of Isma’il (AS) were not left to die in this desert and mountainous region. Allah (SWT) made arrangements for them to travel back and forth so that they could provide for them. In all directions, there was fear, terror and concern, but the people of Quraysh were always kept safe. So, this leads us now to the era of the prophet (SAW), and this story of the elephants is considered to one of the miraculous events that occur before a prophet comes into the world, sort of as a preamble to that prophet, and that something very important is about to take place, and Allah (SWT) is telling the people that he is making arrangements to bring a prophet, so that they should be attentive, careful and listen to what the prophet is going to say.
