Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Fil Verse 3

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And He sent upon them flying birds in flocks,

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

For He sent against them flocks of birds,

Ruwwad Translation Center

He sent against them swarms of birds,

A. J. Arberry

And He loosed upon them birds in flights,

Abdul Haleem

He sent ranks of birds against them,

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And He sent against them birds in flocks.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And He sent against them Flights of Birds,

Abul Ala Maududi

And He sent against them swarms of birds

Ahmed Ali

And sent hordes of chargers flying against them,

Ahmed Raza Khan

And send flocks of birds upon them,

Ali Quli Qarai

and send against them flocks of birds

Ali Ünal

He sent down upon them flocks of birds (unknown in the land),

Amatul Rahman Omar

And He sent against them flocks of birds,

English Literal

And He sent on them flying/birds (in) flocks/groups gathered and following each other .

Faridul Haque

And send flocks of birds upon them,

Hamid S. Aziz

And sent down on them birds in flocks,

Hilali & Khan

And sent against them birds, in flocks,

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And send against them birds in flocks?

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And send down (to prey) upon them birds in flocks,

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And send against them swarms of flying creatures,

Muhammad Sarwar

by sending against them flocks of swallows

Qaribullah & Darwish

And He sent against them flights of birds

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And He sent against them birds, in flocks (Ababil).

Wahiduddin Khan

and send against them flocks of birds,

Talal Itani

He sent against them swarms of birds.

Tafsir jalalayn

and unleashed upon them swarms of birds, [birds] in droves, one following the next (it is said there is no singular form for it [abbl], like astr; but some say that the singular is abl or ibl or ibbl, similar [in constructed pattern] to `ajl, mifth and sikkn),

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

And He sent against them birds, in flocks (Ababil).

Hammad bin Salamah narrated from Asim, who related from Zirr, who related from `Abdullah and Abu Salamah bin `Abdur-Rahman that they said,

(
طَيْراً أَبَابِيلَ
birds Ababil.) "In groups."

Ibn `Abbas and Ad-Dahhak both said,

"Ababil means some of them following after others."

Al-Hasan Al-Basri and Qatadah both said, "Ababil means many."

Mujahid said, "Ababil means in various, successive groups."

Ibn Zayd said,

"Ababil means different, coming from here and there. They came upon them from everywhere."

Al-Kasa'i said,

"I heard some of the grammarians saying, "The singular of Ababil is Ibil."

Ibn Jarir recorded from Ishaq bin Abdullah bin Al-Harith bin Nawfal that he said concerning Allah's statement,
وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْراً أَبَابِيلَ


"This means in divisions just as camels march in divisions (in their herds)."

It is reported that Ibn `Abbas said,
وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْراً أَبَابِيلَ


"They had snouts like the beaks of birds and paws like the paws of dogs."

Ikrimah said commenting on Allah's statement,
طَيْراً أَبَابِيلَ


"They were green birds that came out of the sea and they had heads like the heads of predatory animals."

It has been reported from `Ubayd bin `Umayr that about
طَيْراً أَبَابِيلَ
he commented;

"They were black birds of the sea that had stones in their beaks and claws."

And the chains of narration (for these statements) are all authentic.


تَرْمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةٍ مِّن سِجِّيلٍ