Al-Fil (The Elephant): (3) And He sent against them birds...

Questions:

The First Question: Why did He say {birds} (singular indefinite, tayran)?

Answer:

1. For belittlement: The more insignificant the agent, the more wondrous and great is the work of God.
2. For magnification: As if to say: What kind of birds were these that, throwing small stones, never missed their target?

The Second Question: What are al-Abābīl?

Answer: Linguists, such as Abu 'Ubaydah, said: Abābīl means a group in dispersion. It is said: "The cavalry came abābīl abābīl from here and there."

Regarding whether this word has a singular form, there are two opinions:

1. It has no singular: This is the view of Al-Akhfash and Al-Farra'. It is like al-shamāṭīṭ and al-'abādīd (words that have no singular form).
2. It has a singular form: On this view, three possibilities were mentioned:
   • First: Abu Ja'far al-Ru'asi—who was trustworthy and reliable—claimed to have heard the singular form as ibālah. In their proverbs, there is: "A bundle of sticks upon an ibālah (a large bundle)," suggesting that a group of birds in their formation was named al-ibālah.
   • Second: Al-Kisa'i said: "I used to hear the grammarians say ibūl and abābīl, like ʻujūl and ʻajāgīl."
   • Third: Al-Farra' said: "If someone said the singular of al-abābīl was ībālah, it would be correct, just as one says dīnār and danānīr (singular and plural)."

The Third Question: What was the description of those birds?

Answer: Ibn Sirin narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that they were birds with trunks like the trunks of elephants and beaks like the claws of dogs. 'Ata' narrated from him that they were black birds that came from the direction of the sea, in groups after groups (fawjan fawjan). Perhaps the reason is that the people they were sent against had blackness in their appearance, and in their hearts, the blackness of disbelief and sin.

Sa'id ibn Jubayr narrated that they were small and white. Perhaps the reason is that the darkness of disbelief was defeated by them, and whiteness is the opposite of blackness.

It was also said that they were green with heads like the heads of beasts of prey. I suggest that since they came in successive groups (afwāj), perhaps each group had a different form, and everyone described what they saw. It was also said they were piebald (white and black) like swallows.

! 7 < { Pelting them with stones of baked clay } . > 7 !

Then the Almighty said: {Pelting them with stones of sijjīl}.