Surat al Fil starts off with Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim بِسْمِاللَّـهِالرَّحْمَـٰنِالرَّحِيمِ Alam tara kayfa fa’ala rabbuka bi ashaabil fil أَلَمْتَرَكَيْفَفَعَلَرَبُّكَبِأَصْحَابِالْفِيلِ Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant? Who are the ashaab al fiil, the companions of the elephant? Abraha was the ruler of Yemen, he built a great, beautiful palace. Nothing was like it in the world. Then he called it the Ka’ba and invited all the people to do their hajj pilgrimage here instead of Mecca. The hajj pilgrimage means a religious journey to the house of Allah which was built by Prophet Ibrahim and his son Prophet Ismail by Allah’s order. The people loved Mecca and the Ka’ba and knew it as the greatest sign of Prophet Ibrahim. So they decided to stay and not change the hajj pilgrimage to Yemen. Abraha became very angry and decided to destroy the Ka'ba so that he can attract people towards his palace. He set out to invade Mecca with an army of soldiers and elephants. These people are called the companions of the elephant. The next verse says, alam yaja’l kaydahum fii tadhliilأَلَمْيَجْعَلْكَيْدَهُمْفِيتَضْلِيلٍ Didn’t (Allah) make their plan go wrong? So what happened to their plan trying to attack the ka’ba. The next verse explains. Wa arsala a’layhim tayran abaabiil وَأَرْسَلَعَلَيْهِمْطَيْرًاأَبَابِيلَ So (Allah) sent a huge flock of birds? Tayran Ababiil What did these birds do? The next verse explains. Tarmihim bihijaaratin min sijjiilتَرْمِيهِمبِحِجَارَةٍمِّنسِجِّيلٍ Striking them with stones of hard clay The birds dropped the stones on Abraha and his soldiers. The next verse says faja a’lahum kaa’sfin maˈ kul فَجَعَلَهُمْكَعَصْفٍمَّأْكُولٍ And He made them like eaten straw Imagine some cattle had eaten up some straw or plants and completely chewed up and crushed them. That is what happened to ashab al fiil. They were completely crushed by these stones. In the same year, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S) was born and brightened the world with the light of his appearance. This story shows us the blessings and importance Allah had giving to this sacred place, the house of Allah, the Ka’ba. It also paved the way for the great event of the holy prophet Muhammad’s birth. It also warns the arrogant ones of the world, no matter how big or small you are, you can never stand against the Power of Allah.