Al-Buruj: (17) "Has there reached you the story..."

(Has there reached you the story of the soldiers?) This is a new beginning, in which there is an affirmation that He, the Exalted, is a doer of what He wills. Likewise, it affirms the intensity of His assault, glorified be He, against the unjust, the disobedient, and the insolent disbelievers. It also serves as a consolation to him—may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him—by intimating that what befell those soldiers will likewise befall the disbelievers of his own people.

"Soldiers" (al-junud) is the plural of "soldier" (jund), a term used for an army, derived from the concept of hardness—referring to hard, rugged land. It is also used for assistants and for a specific category of creatures, as well as for any assembled group. The intent by "the soldiers" here is the groups that banded together against the Prophets of Allah, peace be upon them, and gathered to cause them harm.