His words, Exalted is He:

Have you not considered the way in which your Lord dealt with the Men of the Elephant? ^{1This sūra alludes to an event which took place in 570 c.e., the year of the Prophet’s birth, when Abraha, the Christian ruler of Yemen, led an army to attack the Kaʿba, wishing to destroy Meccan power and divert the pilgrims to his newly-built cathedral in Sanaa. His troops were supported by at least one elephant, and tradition relates that when the elephant reached the borders of the Meccan territory, it kneeled down and refused to move forward. Flights of birds then came and pelted the army from the air with small pebbles, killing them all.}

He said:

‘Do you not know how your Lord dealt with your enemies while you had not yet appeared in this world? Thus will He treat your enemies while you are amongst them, and will avert their scheming (makr) from you.’

His words, Exalted is He:

(And did He not unleash upon them) flights of birds?

ʿIkrima said regarding these words of God, Exalted is He, ‘They are birds that came from the direction of the sea, and had heads like the heads of vipers.’ It was said also, ‘They had heads like those of predatory beasts.’ Their likeness had never been seen before that day nor has it been seen since. They proceeded to pelt them [the Men of the Elephant] with stones to infect their skin with smallpox. This was the first day on which a person infected with smallpox was seen. But God, Exalted is He, knows best what is correct.