本章提及阿拉伯半岛一件广为人知的事件,该事件发生在伊斯兰使命开始之前。这一事件非常清楚地表明,真主如何保护了那片圣地。真主意欲使那里成为最后光明的焦点、新信仰的摇篮,由此出发,伊斯兰将开始其蒙福的进程,从世界各个角落消除蒙昧无知(jāhiliyyah),并以真主万无一失的指引取而代之。

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.

根据关于这一事件的各种记载，阿比西尼亚人把波斯人逐出也门并建立统治之后，阿比西尼亚派驻也门的总督艾卜拉哈修建了一座极为华丽的教堂，并以当时阿比西尼亚皇帝的名字为其命名。他之所以这样做，是因为他观察到也门的阿拉伯人以及整个阿拉伯地区都对天房即麦加的禁寺怀有热爱与热情。他修建这座教堂的目的，是要让阿拉伯人放弃对麦加清真寺的眷恋，转而前往他这座新建的华丽教堂。

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.

但阿拉伯人并没有背弃他们的历史圣殿。他们相信自己是建造天房的易卜拉欣和伊斯玛仪的后裔，他们常用“天房”这一名称来指称克尔白。在他们看来，这一事实是一种荣耀，符合他们尊敬先祖的传统。他们的信仰虽然空洞虚妄，但在他们眼中，却比以往启示宗教的信徒（即犹太教徒和基督教徒）的信仰更加优越、更加深刻。他们认为这些宗教相互矛盾、毫无价值。

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.

因此,艾比拉哈决定拆毁克尔白,以达到使阿拉伯人远离它的目的。于是他率领一支装备大象的庞大军队出发。队伍前方是一头巨象,在艾比拉哈的部下中享有特殊的名声。艾比拉哈的进军及其目的的消息传遍阿拉伯各地,阿拉伯人对于摧毁他们神圣的殿堂产生了十分强烈的情绪。一位出身也门王室、名叫祖·纳法尔的贵族试图阻止这位阿比西尼亚总督,呼吁他的族人和其他阿拉伯人起来与艾比拉哈作战,保卫这座殿堂。一些阿拉伯部落加入了他与艾比拉哈的战斗,但祖·纳法尔战败,随后被俘。之后,艾比拉哈在途中被哈塔姆部族的纳菲勒·伊本·哈比卜拦截,纳菲勒曾动员两个阿拉伯部落以及其他贝都因志愿者。艾比拉哈再次获胜并俘虏了纳菲勒。纳菲勒随后同意为艾比拉哈带路,为他指引道路。当这位阿比西尼亚总督接近塔伊夫时,该城的一些领袖前去见他,告诉他,他想要拆毁的殿堂在麦加,而不在塔伊夫。他们这样做,是为了阻止他摧毁他们为偶像拉特所建的殿堂。他们还为他提供了一名向导,为他指明前往克尔白的道路。

As a result, Abrahah decided to pull the Ka`bah down in order to achieve his objective of turning the Arabs away from it. He therefore marched at the head of a great army equipped with elephants. At the front was a huge elephant which enjoyed special fame among Abrahah’s men. News of Abrahah’s march and his objective travelled throughout Arab lands giving rise to very strong feelings amongst the Arabs about the destruction of their sacred House. A nobleman of the royal family of Yemen, called Dhū Nafar, tried to stop the Abyssinian governor, calling on his people and other Arabs to fight Abrahah and defend the House. Some Arab tribes joined him in a battle against Abrahah which Dhū Nafar lost before he was taken prisoner. Later, while Abrahah was on his way, he was intercepted by Nat’l ibn Ĥabīb al-Khath`amī, who had mobilized two Arab tribes as well as other Bedouin volunteers, but Abrahah again won the battle and captured Nat’l. Nat’l then agreed to act as a guide for Abrahah showing him the way. When the Abyssinian governor approached Ţā’if, a number of its leaders went to him to say that the House he wanted to pull down was in Makkah and not at Ţā’if. They did this in order to prevent him from destroying the house they had built for their idol, al-Lāt. They also provided him with a guide to show him the way to the Ka`bah.

不同的记载在关于这一事件的描述上存在差异，包括飞鸟群的样子、数量、石头的性质，以及它们产生效果的方式。有些记载还补充说，那一年麦加爆发了天花和麻疹。那些倾向于限制神迹和不寻常现象范围、希望把一切事件都解释为我们所熟悉的自然现象所致的人，更愿意把这一事件解释为确实爆发的天花和麻疹侵袭了军队。他们进一步解释说，所谓的"飞鸟"可能是携带病菌的苍蝇或蚊子。阿拉伯语中的"鸟"（ṭayr）一词指一切会飞的东西。伊玛目穆罕默德·阿布笃在其对《古兰经》这一部分的注释中解释这一章时说：

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:

第二天，阿布拉哈的士兵中爆发了天花和麻疹疫情。伊克里玛说："这是天花第一次在阿拉伯半岛出现。"雅古卜·伊本·欧特白说："那一年，麻疹和天花在阿拉伯半岛出现。这些疾病对他们的身体造成了几乎前所未有的影响：他们的皮肉开始脱落。士兵和他们的统帅惊恐万分，四散逃命。阿布拉哈也被击中了。他的皮肉一根手指接一根手指地从身上脱落，直到最后胸膛破裂，他死在了萨那。"

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’.

这是各种传闻所记载的内容，也是在逻辑上可以接受的说法。这一章经文向我们表明，天花和麻疹是由成群巨大的鸟所携带并投掷到士兵身上的坚硬石子造成的，而这些鸟则借助风力飞行。

This is what different reports have mentioned and what is logically acceptable. This sūrah shows us that the smallpox and measles were produced by solid stones carried and thrown on the soldiers by colossal flocks of birds that are helped on their way by winds.

根据这些记载,相信经文中提到的那些飞禽,指的是一种携带某些疾病病菌的苍蝇或蚊子,而那些石子是被风卷起的干燥而有毒的泥土,这些泥土可能粘在了飞禽的腿上。这种泥土一旦接触到任何生物体,就会深深渗入其中,进而在伤口和创伤处引发并发症,扰乱整个身体,最终导致血肉脱落。事实上,这些看似无力的飞禽中,有许多种类是真主军队中最有效的力量,真主用它们来毁灭他所意欲毁灭的人。如今被称为"细菌"的那种微小生物,正属于这一类。它们聚集成大群,其数量除造物主外无人知晓。真主的大能得以显现,并不要求飞禽必须像山峰一般巨大,也不要求它们具有某种特定的形状或颜色;同样,也不要求我们知道那些石子的大小以及它们发挥作用的方式。因为真主拥有各种各样的军队:正如那句话所说:"他在万物中都有一个证明他独一的迹象。"

It is in line with these reports to believe that those birds mentioned in the sūrah refer to a kind of fly or mosquito which carries the germs of some diseases, and that the stones were of dried and poisonous clay which the wind carried and which might have stuck to the birds’ legs. When this clay touched any organism, it penetrated deep into it and then caused complications in wounds and injuries which upset the whole body, leading to the dropping off of flesh. Many kinds of these powerless birds are, as a matter of fact, among the most efficient of God’s troops, which He uses for the destruction of whomsoever He wills. That little organism, called nowadays ‘germ’, is within this classification. It gathers in large groups, the number of which is unknown except to the Creator. It is not essential for the manifestation of God’s might that the birds should be as large as mountain tops, or of a certain shape or colour, and it is not essential for this manifestation that we should know the size of those stones and the way they work. For God has troops of all kinds: “In everything He has a sign attesting to His oneness,” as the saying goes.

这一假设——即小石子上带有天花或麻疹病菌的泥土所致——是这位学识渊博的伊玛目所提出的，它与某些叙述中的说法形成对照。那些叙述描述，鸟儿投掷的石子使阿比西尼亚人的头颅和身体裂开，石子穿透他们的身体，使他们如同干枯的树叶一般。在我们看来，这两种解释在彰显真主的大能方面并无高下之分，也不能更好地说明这一事件。二者在可能性以及对真主之力的展现上是相同的。至于真主所意欲毁灭的人，究竟是借助人所知悉、熟悉的自然现象而被毁灭，还是借助人所不知的某种神圣定律和现象而达成其旨意，在我们看来完全是一样的。

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.

神圣的自然法则并不受限于人类的知识界限或其所熟悉的范围。因为人所知道的，只是真主呈现在他面前的那一小部分，也只是与他的理解和思维相契合的那一部分。因此，所谓的“奇迹”，实际上是真主所制定的自然法则的一部分，只是以人类的知识和经验来衡量时，它们才显得是奇迹。

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.

因此，面对超自然事件时，无需感到不安或怀疑。

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

不必为此寻求解释，只要相关的记载是可靠的，或者依据文本本身有足够理由认为该事件是超自然的，超出了已知的自然规律。某一事件依照人们熟知的自然规律发生，其意义并不逊于、效力也不弱于依照超自然规律发生。事实上，对人类的力量和能力而言，人所熟悉的自然规律本身就是奇迹。日出是奇迹，尽管它每天都在发生；每个孩子的诞生都是超越人力的，尽管它每分钟都在发生。如果有人对此提出异议，不妨试着自己创造一个生命！派遣某种飞鸟衔着感染了病菌的碎石，在入侵军队即将攻陷城池、摧毁天房的那一刻将石子投向他们，这确实是一个伟大的奇迹。神的旨意以这种方式实现，将包含数个奇迹，每一个都是神之大能与意志清晰而壮观的显现。若采用这种方式，其意义和震撼力并不逊于在那个特定时刻派遣某种飞鸟，衔着不为人知的石子，以一种特殊的疾病折磨人的身体。两种方式并无二致，都是奇迹，都超越人力。

Nor is there any need to seek an explanation for it, if the reports mentioning it are authentic, or there are enough reasons, based on what is in the texts, to suggest that it was supernatural, going beyond known natural laws. That a certain event should run according to familiar natural laws is no less significant or less effective than its following supernatural laws. Natural rules familiar to men are in fact miraculous when measured against human power and ability. Sunrise is a miracle, though it occurs every day, and the birth of every child is superhuman in spite of its happening every minute. If anyone wants to challenge this, let him try to devise a birth! The employment of birds of any kind to carry crushed stones infected with germs, and cast them at the raiding army the moment it was about to overwhelm the city and destroy the House, is indeed a great miracle. That God’s will should have been realized in that way would comprise several miracles, with each regarded as a clear and spectacular manifestation of His might and will. Had this course been followed, it would not have been less significant or less striking than sending a certain kind of bird, carrying unfamiliar kinds of stones, to afflict human bodies with a peculiar sort of affliction at that particular time. The two courses are the same; both are miraculous and superhuman.

现在让我们来审视这一章经文的内容本身，并试着理解这个故事的意义。

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

“你难道没有看到你的主怎样对待象军的人吗？”（第1节）这是一个引人注意的问句，它提请人们注意这件事本身所包含的种种奇迹，并强调其极为重大的意义。这件事在阿拉伯人中广为人知，以至于他们把它视为历史的一个起点。他们会说：“这件事发生在象年”，或者说：“那件事发生在象年之前两年”，又或者说：“这件事发生在象年之后十年”。众所周知，先知ﷺ正是出生于象年。这或许是天命安排中最令人叹为观止的完美之处之一。

“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.

这一章经文所讲述的，并非向阿拉伯人讲述他们所不知道的事情，而是提醒他们一件众所周知的事件，其目的在于达到超出单纯回忆的效果。

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.

在这段开场说明之后，该章以一个修辞性问题讲述余下的故事："难道他没有使他们的诡计归于徒劳吗？"（第2节）这意味着象人的谋划毫无用处，根本不可能达成任何目的。他们就像迷了路的人，因而无法抵达目的地。或许这也是在提醒古莱氏人，真主赐予他们的恩典：当他们感到自己过于弱小、无力抵挡强大的侵略者即象人时，真主保护并守护了天房。

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.

这样的提醒或许正是有意为之，好让他们感到自己的耻辱：当神在他们软弱无助之时搭救了他们，他们却仍然执意否认神。

Such remembrance was perhaps intentionally meant to make them feel their disgrace when they persistently denied God after He had helped them out of their weakness.

它或许也能抑制他们的骄傲与对穆罕默德以及支持他的少数信士的专横态度。真主毁灭了那些想要摧毁祂的殿的强大侵略者，而这座殿是全人类的庇护所。那么，真主也可能毁灭新的侵略者，那些企图迫害祂的使者、压制祂的使命的人。

It may also curb their conceit and heavy-handedness in their treatment of Muĥammad and the few believers who supported him. God destroyed the powerful aggressors who wanted to pull down His House, which serves as a sanctuary for all people. God, then, may destroy the new aggressors who try to persecute His Messenger and suppress His message.