Dr Bassam Saeh introduces Surah al-Fil by inviting readers to reflect on whether their ability to read the Quran with fresh insight has developed through the method used in his analysis of previous short surahs.

Surah Al-Fil, with only twenty three words, contains five unique words or expressions and twenty two new linguistic features. Two words—in ruin and in flocks—appear only in this surah and nowhere else in the Quran. It also includes five exclusive expressions: the people of the elephant, their plan in ruin, birds in flocks, striking them with stones, and like chewed-up husks.

The word in ruin is rare in Arabic and changes its meaning from deception in pre-Islamic poetry to destruction in the Quran. Birds, usually singular when indefinite, is used here in an unusual plural sense. In flocks is grammatically unique and richly layered in meaning, describing movement from all directions and appearing only in this surah. Hard clay refers to a mysterious type of stone, possibly of Persian origin, never used in this form outside the Quran. Chewed-up husks is a vivid image of complete destruction, found only here.

The grammatical structure of the surah also breaks with Arabic norms. It opens with a direct question, Have you not seen, which usually requires an identifiable speaker and listener in poetry but is used here without that context. The phrase Have you not seen how adds a level of grammatical complexity and appears only in the Quran. The expression Did He not make their plan in ruin introduces a prepositional phrase instead of the usual direct object, which creates a new rhythmic and metaphorical structure.

Dr Saeh explores how the Quran reworks familiar Arabic patterns into new forms. For example, He sent against them uses the verb sent with the preposition on, something not found in pre-Islamic usage.

Each verse moves from one verb and actor to another with fluid rhythm and meaning. The image of the birds striking with stones leads directly into the final statement of total destruction: He made them like chewed-up husks.

The surah’s power lies in its open-ended and layered meanings. The word plan includes not just action but hidden motive and deception. In ruin means more than defeat—it suggests being cast into a state of loss. Birds in flocks conveys motion, number, and overwhelming force.

Each expression is charged with new meaning and can be used beyond the surah, becoming part of a broader moral and emotional language. Dr Saeh shows that the surah’s structure, grammar, vocabulary, and rhythm all mark it as a uniquely original composition.

Introduction to the surah and its structure 

Now, after completing our study of ten short surahs, following one of medium length, Dr Saeh says he has the right to ask the readers: Have you begun to feel within yourselves a new ability to read the Quran in a different way, using the approach we took in studying these surahs?

Even though, with the exception of the surah before them (Fatir), these chapters are among the shortest in the Quran, do you find them enough to help open the way for discovering the points of renewal in other surahs—or at least some of those points?

Of course, I do not expect you to complete this study on your own—at least not at this advanced stage—but I hope that many of you now feel capable of anticipating what I will say, and forming your own judgements before I mention mine.

Try that with me in this surah. See how far your ability has grown to discover meaning in this way.

Which words, for example, do you think you might find in Surah al-Fil that were unknown to the Arabs before Islam, or at least were not used in the same way?

Perhaps some of you are already thinking to yourselves of a few such words.

In this surah, which has no more than twenty three words, we will find five new words or expressions, along with twenty two new structural features spread across grammatical forms, linguistic relationships, unique compositions, open-ended meanings, and powerful expressions.

As in the previous surahs, this one also confirms its unique linguistic identity through two words that never appear again in the Quran: in ruin and in flocks. It also contains five expressions found only in this surah: the people of the elephant, their plan in ruin, birds in flocks, striking them with stones, and like chewed-up husks.

Words and expressions

In ruin (تضليل)

This word is found only once in pre-Islamic poetry—in a line by al-Tufayl al-Ghanawi (d. 13 before Hijrah):

إن تمس قد سَمِعَتْ قِيلَ الوُشاة بنا وكل ما نطق الواشون تضليل

If you stay long, you will hear the slanderers say, everything the informers say is falsehood.

In that poem, the word means deception, misleading, or stirring doubt. But in the verse from the surah, it means destruction or loss. It carries a meaning that is entirely new in Arabic and appears only in this surah of the Quran. It is not found in hadith either.

Birds (طيرًا)

This word, when definite with al, always means a group and appears that way sixteen times in the Quran. But when indefinite, as it is here, it usually refers to a single bird. This surah is unique in that the word is indefinite but still means many birds. This usage is without parallel in the Quran.

In flocks (أبابيل)

This word is found only in this surah and nowhere else in the Quran or in hadith. It does appear once in pre-Islamic poetry by Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma, where it likely meant groups of animals or riders. Al-Aʿsha, a later poet, used it with birds in one poem. The various explanations in tafsir about what kind of birds were sent—white, black, green with yellow beaks, or even with heads like lions—give the word a new meaning, one not found in poetry.

It became a unique Quranic expression describing not only number but the way in which the birds came, one group after another, from all directions. The grammar of the Quran allows the word in flocks to act as a descriptive state even though traditional grammar might resist that analysis.

Hard clay (سجيل)

This is another Quranic word not found in pre-Islamic poetry or hadith. It is thought to come from a combination of two Persian words meaning “stone” and “clay,” making it a kind of baked clay stone. Some said it was clay hardened by the Fire of Hell with names written on it for those to be struck. Others said it referred to the lowest heaven from which punishment descended, as in the story of Lot. In all three cases it appears in the Quran, it is always paired with the word stones.

Chewed-up husks (عصف مأكول)

This phrase is used to describe the broken and ruined bodies of the people struck by the stones, like the remains of grain husks after animals have eaten and spat them out. The image is completely new in Arabic. The phrase appears only here in the Quran and is not found in hadith or poetry.

Grammatical forms and relationships 

Have you not seen (ألم تر)

This opening mirrors that of the last three surahs in the Quran, all of which begin with a direct command or question without identifying who is speaking or being spoken to. For the early Arabs hearing these words, it would have raised the question: who is the speaker and who is being addressed? In poetry, such questions are always between known parties—the poet and his audience. But here, the speaker is Allah and the question is framed through the Prophet. The listener, hearing it from the Prophet, might look around in confusion: where is the one asking, and who is being asked?

Have you not seen how (ألم تر كيف)

This full phrase never appears in pre-Islamic or early Islamic poetry, even though “Have you not seen” appears at least forty five times. The addition of how in this way confused later grammarians, because how normally comes at the beginning of a sentence and is not something that can be grammatically acted upon by the verb before it. They were forced to assign its role to the next verb in the sentence, which is a workaround. This unusual structure appears six times in the Quran.

The people of the elephant (أصحاب الفيل)

The story of the elephant and Abraha al-Habashi was well known to the Arabs before Islam. They knew many details not mentioned in the Quran, such as that the Prophet was born in the Year of the Elephant, and that Aisha said she had seen the elephant’s driver and caretaker in Mecca, blind and begging. It is also said that smallpox first appeared in Arabia in that year, resembling the disease caused by the stones. Yet, despite how widely known the story was, the exact phrase the people of the elephant does not appear in pre-Islamic or early Islamic poetry, nor does it appear in the Quran outside this surah.

Did He not make (ألم يجعل)

We have already discussed how the Quran often omits the usual connectors between sentences. Instead of beginning this verse with a wa or fa, it continues directly with the phrase Did He not make, repeating the same interrogative construction as the verse before. If we were following usual Arabic style, we would expect: So He made, Then He made, or When He made. But the Quran does something new, using the same structure twice for effect.

In ruin (في تضليل)

We already saw that the word in ruin is unique to this surah. What is remarkable here is not just the word but the structure: the verb make is connected to this noun using the preposition in, something that is not typical in Arabic. Normally, we would expect the object to be directly connected to the verb, such as: He made their plan false or He made their plan lost. But instead, the Quran uses in ruin, creating a new expression not found in pre-Islamic poetry or hadith.

He made their plan in ruin (يجعل كيدهم في تضليل)

This expression is entirely new in Arabic. We would usually say: He ruined their plan, He destroyed their scheme, or He defeated their army. But the Quran uses a new image: placing their plan in ruin. This adds both metaphor and rhythm, turning it into a unique Quranic phrase not used before or after.

He sent against them (أرسل عليهم)

In pre-Islamic poetry and in hadith, the verb sent is never followed by the preposition on. Yet in the Quran, this exact combination appears twenty one times, usually indicating power, force, or punishment coming from above. In some verses, it refers to rain sent on believers, and in others to destruction or warning sent on disbelievers. The preposition adds a sense of overwhelming coverage.

Stones of hard clay (حجارة من سجيل)

This is another expression new to the Quran. The stones are described as being made of mysterious material—possibly hard clay, baked stone, or something from Hell. Some said it refers to the lowest heaven, which is where the punishment came from in the story of Lot. In every case it appears in the Quran, it is always mentioned with the word stones, and it never appears outside the Quran.

Like chewed-up husks (كعصف مأكول)

This phrase, found only here in the Quran, uses a powerful visual image. It describes the remains of the people as like bits of grain husks that animals have chewed and spat out. The picture is vivid and shocking. It shows the complete destruction caused by the punishment. The word husks appears only once more in the Quran and is also rare in Arabic literature. It never appears in hadith.

Unique compositions in the Quran 

Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with (ألم تر كيف فعل ربك)

We have already shown how the phrase Have you not seen how is unique to the Quran. Here, the phrase goes on to include the verb dealt with and the subject your Lord. The structure flows with a special rhythm, forming a complete unit with meaning, grammar, and sound all tied together.

Did He not make their plan in ruin (ألم يجعل كيدهم في تضليل)

The question here is not really asking for an answer. It is meant to remind and to stir the heart. This kind of rhetorical question is common in the Quran. The listener is not expected to answer “yes” or “no,” but to feel the truth of what is said. The structure is unique because the verb make takes two objects, and the second one is not a direct object but a prepositional phrase—in ruin—which is not usual in Arabic style. This makes the phrase into a unique Quranic expression with special rhythm and meaning.

And He sent against them birds in flocks (وأرسل عليهم طيرًا أبابيل)

The combination of sent, the preposition on, and the structure birds in flocks exists only in this surah. This gives it a unique sound and a strong image. The rhythm and grammar come together to form a special structure that is only found here.

Striking them with stones of hard clay, then He made them (ترميهم بحجارة من سجيل فجعلهم)

The verb striking here describes what the birds were doing, linking it back to the earlier word birds. Then the next verse begins with so He made them, which links to a different subject, Allah. The sequence of grammar and meaning moves smoothly between the agents of action, creating a unique Quranic composition.

Open-ended meanings 

Their plan (كيدهم)

To understand the richness of this word, imagine replacing it with more common words like war, attack, army, invasion, plot, or scheme. None of those words captures all the meaning. The word plan here includes not just the action but the hidden motives, the deceit, the evil intentions, and the desire to harm. It includes both action and intention, making it rich in meaning.

In ruin (في تضليل)

This phrase carries a power that no other expression can match. It means not just failure or defeat, but being thrown into loss, into a state of being lost, of being made useless. It is more powerful than words like defeated, destroyed, or ruined.

Birds in flocks (طيرًا أبابيل)

We saw that scholars disagreed on the exact meaning of this word and what kind of birds were meant. The variety of explanations gives the phrase a layered richness. The word flocks might mean groups coming from different directions, or large gatherings like tied bundles. The grammar also allows the word to be understood as describing the state of the birds—coming in groups—rather than simply being a description.

He made their plan in ruin (يجعل كيدهم في تضليل)

This Quranic phrase can be used in our daily life as a powerful way of responding to threats and injustice. If someone is wronged or feels threatened, we might say: “Do not worry, Allah will make their plan in ruin.” If we fear a plot against our country or our people, we can pray: “O Allah, make their plan in ruin.”

He made them like chewed-up husks (فجعلهم كعصف مأكول)

When defeat becomes clear and enemies are ruined, we might describe what happened using this phrase. It captures total destruction, just as it did in the surah. Whether we understand the verb striking as a description of the birds or as part of a separate clause, it does not change the impact of this final image. It stays powerful and unique.