Waarsala AAalayhim tayran ababeel (surah Al Fil: 3)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(105:3) And He sent against them swarms of birds *5

Wa arsala `alaihim tairan abaabeel

*5) Ababil means many separate and scattered groups whether of men or other creatures, which come from different sides successively. 'Ikrimah and Qatadah say that these swarms of birds had come from the Red Sea side. Sa`id bin Jubair and 'Ikrimah say that such birds had neither been seen before nor ever after; these were neither birds of Najd, nor of Hijaz, nor of Timamah (the land between Hijaz and the Red Sea). lbn 'Abbas says that their beaks were like those of birds and claws like the dog's paw. 'Ikrimah has stated that their heads were like the heads of the birds of prey, and almost all the reporters are agreed that each bird carried a stone in its beak and two stones in its claws. Sotne people of Makkah had these stones preserved with them for a long time. Thus, Abu Nu`aim has related a statement of Naufal bin Abi Mu`awiyah, saying that he bad seen the stones wich had been thrown on the people of the elephant; they equalled a small pea seed in size and were dark red in colour. According to Ibn `Abbas's tradition that Abu Nu`aim has related, they were equal to a pine kernel, and according to Ibn Marduyah, equal to a goat's dropping. Obviously, all the stones might not be equal but differing in size to some extent.