Note 2056 — SECTION III. HINDŪSTĀN (continued 3)

“This alludes to the defeat of [an Abyssinian Christian] Abraha the prince of Yemen who [in the year of Muḥammad’s birth] marched his army and some elephants to destroy the ka‘ba of Makka. ‘The Meccans,’ says Sale, ‘at the appearance of so considerable a host, retired to the neighbouring mountains, being unable to defend their city or temple. But God himself undertook the defence of both. For when Abraha drew near to Mecca, and would have entered it, the elephant on which he rode, which was a very large one and named Maḥmūd, refused to advance any nigher to the town, but knelt down whenever they endeavoured to force him that way, though he would rise and march briskly enough if they turned him towards any other quarter; and while matters were in this posture, on a sudden a large flock of birds, like swallows, came flying from the sea-coast, every-one of which carried three stones, one in each foot and one in its bill; and these stones they threw down upon the heads of Abraha’s men, certainly killing every one they struck.’ The rest were swept away by a flood or perished by a plague, Abraha alone reaching Senaa, where he also died” [Erskine]. The above is taken from Sale’s note to the 105 chapter of the Qorān, entitled “the Elephant”.