Chapter 105 - the Elephant (al-Fil) - QuranVerse 1Pickthall - Hast thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with the owners of the Elephant?
Yusuf Ali - Seest thou not how thy Lord dealt with the Companions of the Elephant? Hilali-Khan Have you (O Muhammad (Peace be upon him)) not seen how your Lord dealt with the Owners of the Elephant? [The elephant army which came from Yemen under the command of Abrahah Al-Ashram intending to destroy the Ka'bah at Makkah].
Shakir - Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with the possessors of the elephant?
Sher Ali - Knowest thou not how thy Lord dealt with the Owners of the Elephant? Khalifa Have you noted what your Lord did to the people of the elephant?
Arberry - Hast thou not seen how thy Lord did with the Men of the Elephant?
Palmer - Hast thou not seen what thy Lord did with the fellows of the elephant? Rodwell HAST thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with the army of the ELEPHANT? Sale Hast thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with the masters of the elephant? Transliterated Arabic Alam tara kayfa faAAala rabbuka bi-as-habi alfeeli
War elephants were important, although not widespread, weapons in ancient military history. Their main use was in charges, to trample the enemy and/or break their ranks. They were probably first employed in India, where the elephant corps served as one of the four classical wings of the Indian Army.(Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_elephants)
Verse 2Pickthall Did He not bring their stratagem to naught,
Yusuf Ali Did He not make their treacherous plan go astray?
Hilali-Khan Did He not make their plot go astray?
Shakir Did He not cause their war to end in confusion,
Sher Ali Did HE not cause their design to miscarry?
Khalifa Did He not cause their schemes to backfire?
Arberry Did He not make their guile to go astray?
Palmer Did He not make their stratagem lead them astray,
Rodwell Did he not cause their stratagem to miscarry?
Sale Did he not make their treacherous design an occasion of drawing them into error;
Transliterated Arabic Alam yajAAal kaydahum fee tadleelin
Verse 3Pickthall And send against them swarms of flying creatures,
Yusuf Ali And He sent against them Flights of Birds,
Hilali-Khan And sent against them birds, in flocks,
Shakir And send down (to prey) upon them birds in flocks,
Sher Ali And HE sent against them swarm of birds,
Khalifa He sent upon them swarms of birds.
Arberry And He loosed upon them birds in flights,
Palmer and send down on them birds in flocks,
Rodwell And he sent against them birds in flocks (ababils),
Sale and send against them flocks of birds,
Transliterated Arabic Waarsala AAalayhim tayran ababeela
Comment:
I believe that
'waarsala' is derived from the word
'rasila' which means 'to send a messenger'.
'Arsala' means 'he sent',
'arsalu'= 'they sent',
'arsalat' = 'she sent',
'arsalna' = 'we sent',
'mursal?n'='those who were sent'.
'Tayran' is also a word that I believe to also have been mistranslated in the above verse. It's true that
'tayran' can mean 'birds', but it also has other meanings, such as
'to fly, flee, hasten to do a thing'.
B?bil = Babel, Babylon; City on the bank of the Euphrates founded by Nimr?d(?)
My personal interpretation of the verse:
Waarsala - We and/or I have sent...
Aalayhim - to them, on them
Tayran - hastenly
Ababeela - the people of Babylon/Babel
(Source:
Dictionary of the Holy Quran by Abdul Mannan Omar)
Verse 4Pickthall Which pelted them with stones of baked clay,
Yusuf Ali Striking them with stones of baked clay.
Hilali-Khan Striking them with stones of Sijjil.
Shakir Casting against them stones of baked clay,
Sher Ali ..., striking them against stones of clay.
Khalifa That showered them with hard stones.
Arberry hurling against them stones of baked clay
Palmer to throw down on them stones of baked clay,
Rodwell Claystones did they hurl down upon them,
Sale which cast down upon them stones of baked clay;
Transliterated Arabic Tarmeehim bihijaratin min sijjeelin
Sijjeelin is derived from the word
'sajala' and means 'to pour out, spill (liquid), write a paper or a scrol, decide judicially'. So it was basically a law.
Stoning, or lapidation, refers to a form of capital punishment whereby an organized group throws stones at the convicted individual until the person dies.
Stoning has been used throughout history in a number of places, both in the form of community justice and also as a judicial form of capital punishment. The practice is referred to in Greek history, as well as Christian, Jewish, and Islamic texts.(Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoning)
Pickthall And made them like green crops devoured (by cattle)?
Yusuf Ali Then did He make them like an empty field of stalks and straw, (of which the corn) has been eaten up.
Hilali-Khan And made them like an empty field of stalks (of which the corn has been eaten up by cattle).
Shakir So He rendered them like straw eaten up?
Sher Ali And thus made them like broken straw, eaten up.
Khalifa He made them like chewed up hay.
Arberry and He made them like green blades devoured.
Palmer and make them like blades of herbage eaten down?
Rodwell And he made them like stubble eaten down!
Sale and render them like the leaves of corn eaten [by cattle]?
Transliterated Arabic FajaAAalahum kaAAasfin ma/koolin
What is your opinion on my above findings? Could someone also help me discover what tribe is referred to in the above verse? And what year/period?
Thanks in advance.
Latifah
