People of the Elephant
أصحاب الفيل
Their plot is ruined and the force is struck by birds carrying baked clay.
Named collectively; leaders are not named.
The story through its verses
Read continuously: every passage is already open and arranged in narrative order.
A plot brought to nothing
Their scheme is made to go astray.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَـٰبِ ٱلْفِيلِ
Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the people of the Elephant[1]?
أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ كَيْدَهُمْ فِى تَضْلِيلٍ
Did He not turn their scheme into a total loss[2]?
Birds and baked clay
Birds strike them with baked clay, leaving eaten straw.
وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ
He sent against them swarms of birds,
تَرْمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةٍ مِّن سِجِّيلٍ
pelting them with stones of baked clay,
فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَّأْكُولٍۭ
leaving them like chewed-up chaff.
Later names and details are not presented as surah wording.