Surah 105
Surah Al-Fil (The Elephant)
الفيل
Also written: Fil, Feel
Surah Al-Fil (الفيل) is surah 105 of the 114 surahs of the Quran. It has 5 ayahs, was revealed in Mecca (Meccan), and its name means “The Elephant”.
- Number
- 105
- Ayahs
- 5
- Revelation
- Meccan
- Meaning
- The Elephant
Names, meaning and Meccan/Medinan classification as listed in the quran-json dataset.
About Surah Al-Fil
Al-Fil, “The Elephant”, recalls an event the people of Mecca knew well: an army that came with an elephant to destroy the Kaaba and was itself destroyed. In five verses it reminds them how God turned the attackers’ plan to nothing by sending flocks of birds against them.
The story in brief
According to the historical accounts used by commentators, Abraha, the Abyssinian ruler of Yemen, marched on Mecca with a large army and at least one elephant, intending to demolish the Kaaba. The Meccans could not resist and withdrew to the hills. The army was stopped before it could reach the sanctuary.
Verse by verse
- A reminder (105:1–2): have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the people of the elephant, and how He made their plot go astray?
- The birds (105:3–4): He sent flocks of birds (ababil) pelting them with stones of baked clay.
- The outcome (105:5): He left them like straw that has been eaten.
The Year of the Elephant
The year of this event became known among the Arabs as the Year of the Elephant, and it is commonly held to be the year the Prophet Muhammad was born, around 570 CE. When the surah was revealed, some of its listeners would have remembered it or heard of it from their parents, which is why it is addressed as something they had “seen”.
The next surah, Surah Quraysh (106), follows on naturally: having protected the House, God asks Quraysh to worship its Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- Who were the people of the elephant?
- According to the commentators and historians, the army of Abraha, ruler of Yemen, who came to destroy the Kaaba.
- When did the event of the elephant happen?
- In the year commonly held to be the year of the Prophet's birth, around 570 CE, known as the Year of the Elephant.
- How many verses are in Surah Al-Fil?
- 5.
- How many ayahs are in Surah Al-Fil?
- Surah Al-Fil has 5 ayahs. It is surah number 105 in the Quran and is Meccan.
- Can I read Surah Al-Fil in English or save it as a PDF?
- Yes. This page shows the Arabic text of every ayah with the Saheeh International English meaning under it. Use “Print / Save as PDF” for a clean printable copy that you can save as a PDF file from your browser.
- Is Surah Al-Fil the same as Surah Fil?
- Yes. Fil, Feel and Al-Fil are different English spellings of the same surah name, الفيل.
Summaries describe the surah’s content and commonly cited reports for general readers; they are not a tafsir or a religious ruling.
Making a video of Surah Al-Fil
With 5 ayahs, Surah Al-Fil is short enough for a single vertical video. Select all ayahs on the new-project page, load a recitation, and use “Highlight current ayah” to keep the whole surah on screen while each ayah is emphasised as it is recited.
In the editor, the Online Recitations tab lists the reciters Quran Foundation provides for this surah. See how to create a Quran video for the full steps.
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Surah Al-Fil in Arabic with English meaning
Arabic: Uthmani script from The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia (quranenc.com), Uthmani script, via quran-json (CC-BY-SA 4.0), shown as in the verified dataset; open-tanween marks use the equivalent codepoints this font draws, as in the editor. English meaning: Saheeh International (tanzil.net). A translation conveys the meaning; it is not the Quran itself.
أَلَمۡ تَرَ كَيۡفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصۡحَٰبِ ٱلۡفِيلِ ١
105:1Have you not considered, [O Muhammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant
أَلَمۡ يَجۡعَلۡ كَيۡدَهُمۡ فِي تَضۡلِيلࣲ ٢
105:2Did He not make their plan into misguidance
وَأَرۡسَلَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ طَيۡرًا أَبَابِيلَ ٣
105:3And He sent against them birds in flocks
تَرۡمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةࣲ مِّن سِجِّيلࣲ ٤
105:4Striking them with stones of hard clay
فَجَعَلَهُمۡ كَعَصۡفࣲ مَّأۡكُولِۭ ٥
105:5And He made them like eaten straw