Wannan sūrah tana magana ne a kan wani sanannen lamari da ya faru a yankin Larabawa kafin fara saƙon Musulunci. Lamarin ya nuna a fili yadda Allah ya kare wurin mai tsarki, wanda Ya nufa ya zama cibiyar haske ta ƙarshe, mahaifar sabon addini, daga inda zai fara tafiyarsa mai albarka don kawar da jāhiliyyah daga ko'ina a duniya da kuma kafa shiriyar Allah maras kuskure a wurinta.

This sūrah refers to a widely famous incident in the Arabian Peninsula which took place before the commencement of the Islamic message. The incident shows very clearly how God protected the sacred area, which He willed to be the focal point of the last enlightenment, the cradle of the new faith, from where it was to begin its blessed march to exterminate jāhiliyyah from all corners of the world and to establish in its place God’s infallible guidance.

Rahotanni daban-daban game da wannan lamari sun nuna cewa bayan Habashawa sun kori Farisawa daga Yaman, suka kafa mulkinsu a can, sai gwamnan Habasha na Yaman, Abrahah, ya gina wani coci mai ban mamaki na alatu, ya sanya masa sunan Sarkin Habasha na lokacin. Ya yi haka ne bayan ya lura da son da kishin Larabawan Yaman suke yi wa Ka'aba, Masallaci Mai Alfarma da ke Makkah, irin wanda ake ji a ko'ina a ƙasar Larabawa. Manufarsa wajen gina cocin ita ce ya sa Larabawa su bar kaunarsu ga Masallacin Makkah, su juya zuwa ga sabon cocinsa na alatu.

The various reports about this incident relate that after the Abyssinians had expelled the Persians from Yemen and established their rule there, the Abyssinian governor of Yemen, Abrahah, built a superbly luxurious church giving it the name of the then Abyssinian Emperor. He did this after he had observed the love and enthusiasm of Yemeni Arabs — the same as those felt all over the Arab land — for the Ka`bah, the Sacred Mosque at Makkah. His purpose behind building the church was to make the Arabs forsake their attachment to the Mosque at Makkah and turn instead to his new luxurious church.

Amma Larabawa ba su juya baya ga wurin ibadarsu na tarihi ba. Sun yi imani cewa su zuriyar Ibrahim ne da Isma'il, waɗanda suka gina Gidan, wanda sau da yawa suke kiran Ka'aba da sunansa. A gare su, wannan gaskiya ce da ta kasance abin alfahari, daidai da al'adarsu ta girmama kakanninsu. Ko da yake akidunsu sun kasance wofi kuma babu tushe, a idonsu sun fi zurfi da kyau fiye da na mutanen wahayin da suka gabata [watau Yahudawa da Nasara]. Suna ganin waɗannan addinai a matsayin masu karo da juna kuma marasa amfani.

But the Arabs did not turn away from their historical shrine. They believed themselves to be the descendants of Abraham and Ishmael who built the House, which is the name they often used for the Ka`bah. For them, this fact was a source of pride in line with their tradition of honouring their forefathers. Vain and hollow as they were, their beliefs were, in their eyes, better and more profound than those of the people of earlier revelations [i.e. the Jews and Christians]. They viewed these religions as contradictory and futile.

Labaran wannan al'amari ya sha bambam game da bayanin garken tsuntsaye, yawansu, yanayin duwatsun da kuma yadda suka yi tasiri. Wasu riwayoyi sun kara da cewa a wannan shekara an samu bullar cutar sankarau da kyanda a Makkah. Wadanda suka fi son takaita girman mu'ujizoji da al'amura marasa sani, suna neman bayyana dukkan al'amura a matsayin sakamakon aikin al'amuran halitta da muka sani, sun fi so su bayyana wannan al'amari a matsayin bullar cutar sankarau da kyanda ta gaske wacce ta addabi sojojin. Sun kara bayyanawa cewa "tsuntsayen" na iya zama kudaje ko sauro masu dauke da kwayoyin cuta. Kalmar "tsuntsu" a harshen Larabci tana nufin duk abin da ke tashi sama. Imam Muhammad `Abduh, yana bayyana wannan sura a cikin tafsirinsa na wannan bangare na Alkur'ani, ya ce:

Versions of this event vary with regard to the description of the bird flocks, their size, the nature of the stones and the manner of their effect. Some accounts add that smallpox and measles broke out in Makkah that year. Those who are inclined to limit the scale of miracles and unfamiliar phenomena, seeking to explain all events as resulting from the operation of natural phenomena that are familiar to us, prefer to explain this event as an actual outbreak of smallpox and measles that afflicted the army. They further explain that the ‘birds’ could have been flies or mosquitoes carrying germs. The word ‘bird’ in Arabic refers to all that flies. Explaining this sūrah in his own commentary on this part of the Qur’ān, Imām Muĥammad `Abduh says:

في اليوم الثاني تفشى وباء الجدري والحصبة بين جنود أبرهة. يقول عكرمة: "كانت المرة الأولى التي يظهر فيها الجدري في الجزيرة العربية." ويقول يعقوب بن عتبة: "كانت تلك السنة التي ظهر فيها الحصبة والجدري في الجزيرة العربية. كان لهذين المرضين أثر لا مثيل له تقريبًا في أجسادهم: إذ بدأ لحمهم يتساقط. فارتاع الجنود وقائدهم ففروا هاربين. وأصيب أبرهة أيضًا، فظل لحمه يتساقط عن جسده إصبعًا إصبعًا، حتى تهشم صدره في النهاية، فمات في صنعاء."

On the second day, a smallpox and measles epidemic broke out among Abrahah’s soldiers. `Ikrimah says: “It was the first time smallpox had appeared in the Arabia.” Ya`qūb ibn `Utbah says: “That was the year when measles and smallpox appeared in Arabia. The diseases had an almost unparalleled effect on their bodies: their flesh began to fall apart. The soldiers and their commander were horror-stricken and ran away. Abrahah was also hit. His flesh continued falling off his body, finger by finger, until eventually his chest broke up and he died at Sana`ā’.

Wannan shi ne abin da rahotanni daban-daban suka ambata, kuma shi ne abin da hankali ke karɓa. Wannan sūratu tana nuna mana cewa cutar sankarau da kyanda sun samo asali ne daga duwatsu masu ƙarfi waɗanda manyan garken tsuntsaye ke ɗauka suna jefawa a kan sojoji, tsuntsayen kuma iska ce ke taimaka musu wajen tafiyarsu.

Wannan zato da malamin nan mai ilimi ya gabatar, wato cewa cutar sankarau ko kyanda ta samo asali ne daga laka da ke ɗauke da ƙwayoyin cutar, ana kwatanta shi da wani zato da ke cikin wasu ruwayoyi, wanda ke bayyana cewa duwatsun da tsuntsaye suka jefa ne suka sa kawunan Habashawa da jikunansu suka tsage. Suna cewa duwatsun sun huda jikunansu, suka bar su kamar busassun ganyayyaki. A ganinmu, babu ɗayan bayanan biyu da ya fi ɗayan nuna girman ikon Allah, ko kuma ya fi bayyana abin da ya faru. Dukansu iri ɗaya ne ta fuskar yiwuwa da kuma nuna ikon Allah. Ko abubuwan halitta da mutum ya sani kuma ya saba da su ne suka yi aiki wajen halakar da mutanen da Allah ya nufa su halaka, ko kuwa an cika nufinSa ta hanyar wata doka ta Allah da wasu abubuwa da mutum ba shi da masani a kansu, a ganinmu duk ɗaya ne.

This assumption [of smallpox or measles resulting from clay infected with the germs of those diseases] advanced by the well-versed Imam is contrasted with one included in some narratives, describing the stones thrown by the birds as causing the heads and bodies of the Abyssinians to split. They speak of the stones boring through their bodies, leaving them like remnants of dry leaves. To us, neither of the two explanations outweighs the other in manifesting God’s might, or provides a better explanation of the event. Both are the same with regard to their possibility and the demonstration of God’s power. Whether the natural phenomena known and familiar to man operated to destroy the people God willed to be destroyed, or His purpose was accomplished through some divine rule and phenomena of which man has no knowledge, are in our view exactly the same.

Dokokin halitta na Allah ba a iyakance su da iyakokin ilimin mutum ko abin da ya saba masa ba. Gaskiya mutum ba ya sani sai dan kadan da Allah ke gabatar masa, kuma sai abin da ya dace da fahimtarsa da tunaninsa. Saboda haka, abin da ake kira mu'ujizai na cikin dokokin halitta da Allah ya kafa, amma mu'ujizai ne kawai idan aka auna su da ilimi da gogewar mutum.

The divine rules of nature are not circumscribed by the boundaries of man’s knowledge or what is familiar to him. For man knows only the fraction which God puts before him, and only that which suits his understanding and thought. Hence, so-called miracles are part of the rules of nature laid down by God, but they are miracles only when measured by human knowledge and experience.

Saboda haka, babu buƙatar damuwa ko shakka idan an fuskanci wani abu na ban mamaki.

Hence, there is no need for unease or doubt when faced with a supernatural event.

Kuma babu buƙatar neman bayani game da shi, idan rahotannin da suke ambatonsa ingantattu ne, ko kuma idan akwai isassun dalilai, bisa abin da ke cikin nassosi, da za su nuna cewa abin ya kasance na ban mamaki, wanda ya wuce dokokin halitta da aka sani. Cewa wani abu ya faru bisa dokokin halitta da aka saba da su ba ya rage masa girma ko tasiri ba, fiye da idan ya faru bisa dokokin ban mamaki. Haka nan, dokokin halitta da mutane suka sani suna da abin al'ajabi idan aka auna su da ikon mutum da ƙarfinsa. Fitowar rana abu ne na al'ajabi, duk da cewa tana fitowa kowace rana, kuma haihuwar kowane jariri abu ne da ya wuce ikon mutum, duk da cewa yana faruwa a kowane minti. Idan wani yana so ya ƙalubalanci wannan, to ya gwada ya ƙirƙiri haihuwa! Amfani da tsuntsaye irin kowane iri wajen ɗaukar duwatsun da aka murkushe, waɗanda ke ɗauke da ƙwayoyin cuta, da jefa su ga rundunar yaƙi a daidai lokacin da za ta mamaye birnin ta hallaka Ɗakin Ka'aba, lallai abu ne mai girma na al'ajabi. Cewa nufin Allah ya tabbata ta wannan hanya zai ƙunshi al'ajabai da dama, kowannensu ana ɗaukarsa a matsayin bayyananniyar alama mai ban mamaki ta ikonsa da nufinsa. Idan aka bi wannan hanya, ba zai zama ƙasa da girma ko ƙasa da burgewa ba fiye da aika wani nau'in tsuntsu, yana ɗauke da duwatsu irin waɗanda ba a saba da su ba, don ya addabi jikin mutane da wani irin cuta ta musamman a wannan lokaci na musamman. Hanyoyin biyu iri ɗaya ne; dukansu al'ajabi ne kuma sun wuce ikon mutum.

Bari yanzu mu duba rubutun surah da kansa, mu yi ƙoƙarin fahimtar muhimmancin labarin.

Let us now examine the text of the sūrah itself and try to understand the significance of the story.

"Shin ba ka sani ba ne yadda Ubangijinka ya yi wa mutanen Giwa?" (Aya ta 1) Tambaya ce da ke jawo hankali zuwa ga abubuwan al'ajabi da ke cikin wannan lamari da kansa, kuma tana jaddada muhimmancinsa mai girma. Lamarin ya shahara sosai a wurin Larabawa har suka riƙe shi kamar wani irin farkon tarihi. Suna cewa, "Wannan lamari ya faru a shekarar Giwa", ko kuma, "Wancan abu ya faru shekara biyu kafin shekarar Giwa", ko kuma, "Wannan ya faru shekara goma bayan shekarar Giwa". An sani sosai cewa an haifi Annabi ﷺ a daidai shekarar Giwa kanta. Wannan watakila ɗaya ne daga cikin tsare-tsare masu ban mamaki na cikakkiyar nufin Allah.

“Are you not aware how your Lord dealt with the people of the Elephant?” (Verse 1) It is a question that draws attention to the wonders involved in the incident itself and stresses its great significance. The incident was so well known to the Arabs that they used to consider it a sort of beginning of history. They would say, ‘This incident happened in the year of the Elephant’, and, ‘That event took place two years before the year of the Elephant’, or, ‘This dates to ten years after the year of the Elephant’. It is well known that the Prophet was born in the year of the Elephant itself. This is perhaps one of the fascinatingly perfect arrangements of divine will.

Suratu da ake magana a kai a nan ba ta ba wa Larabawa labarin wani abu da ba su sani ba. Tunatarwa ce game da wani lamari da ya shahara a gare su, amma manufarta ta wuce kawai tuna shi.

The sūrah then is not relating to the Arabs something they did not know. It is a reminder of an event well known to them, aiming at achieving something beyond actual remembrance of it.

Bayan wannan gabatarwa, sūrah ta ci gaba da bada labarin a cikin siffar tambaya ta alama: "Shin bai sa dabarunsu na cuta su tafi a banza ba?" (Aya ta 2). Wannan yana nufin cewa shirye-shiryen mutanen Giwa ba su da amfani, ba su iya cimma komai ba. Sun kasance kamar mutumin da ya ɓace hanya, saboda haka bai iya kai wa ga inda yake so ba. Watakila wannan tunatarwa ce ga Quraishawa game da alherin da Allah ya yi musu lokacin da Ya kare da kiyaye Ka'aba, a lokacin da suke ganin ba su da ƙarfin fuskantar azzalumai masu ƙarfi, mutanen Giwa.

After this opening note, the sūrah tells the rest of the story in the form of a rhetorical question: “Did He not utterly confound their treacherous plan?” (Verse 2) This means that the designs of the people of the Elephant were useless, incapable of achieving anything at all. They were like someone who had lost his way and thus could not arrive at his destination. Perhaps this is a reminder to the Quraysh of the grace God bestowed on them when He protected and preserved the House at a time when they felt too weak to face the mighty aggressors, the people of the Elephant.