Editing Al-Fil (section)

==Principal subject==
The principal subject of the surah is a specific historic event. The year of [[Muhammad]]'s birth is identified as 'the Year of the Elephant', when [[Mecca]] was attacked by [[Abraha]] accompanied by an elephant. Quranic exegetes interpreted that God saved the Meccans from this force by sending a swarm of birds that pelted the invaders with clay stones and destroyed them.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Leaman|editor-first=Oliver|title=The Qur'an : an encyclopedia|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-32639-1|page=129|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1134339755}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Mir|first=Mustansir|title=Elephants, Birds of Prey, and Heaps of Pebbles: Farāhī's Interpretation of Sūrat al-Fīl|journal=Journal of Qur'anic Studies|year=2005|volume=7|issue=1|pages=33–47|doi=10.3366/jqs.2005.7.1.33|jstor=25728163}}</ref> The army of Abraha destroyed for attacking the [[Kaabah]]<ref>[[George Sale]]</ref> is a reminder and an example that Allah can save His house (Al-Ka'bah) by destroying an army of 60,000 with elephants, through a flock of birds.<ref>Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik (translator), Al-Qur'an, the Guidance for Mankind - English with Arabic Text (Hardcover) {{ISBN|0-911119-80-9}}</ref><ref>[[Muhammad Asad]], Al-Qur'an translation, ''[[The Message of the Qur'an]]'', First Hardback, 1980, Dar Al-Andalus, [[Gibraltar]], {{ISBN|1-904510-00-0}}</ref> The origin of the word ''sijjīl'' (i.e. [[Lava stone|Lava stone from Volcanic eruption]]) in verse 4 has the etymology proposed as Persian ''sang'' and ''gil'' ('stone' and 'clay'), or Aramaic ''sgyl'' ('smooth altar stone').<ref>Rippin, Andrew (editor) (2007). [https://books.google.com/books?id=xUu04ozMXOcC&q=sijjil ''The Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an''.] Oxford: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 137–138.  {{ISBN|1-4051-7844-2}}</ref> In the Quran [[Lava|'sijjīl']] occurs in two other verses: 11:82 and 15:74.