ELEPHANT

The year of. Arabic ʿĀmu ʾl-Fīl ( عام الفيل‎ ). The year in which Muḥammad was born. Being the year in which Abrahatu ʾl-Ashram, an Aby in i an Christian and Viceroy of the King of Ṣanʿāʾ in Yaman marched with a large army and a number of elephants upon Makkah, with the intention of destroying the Kaʿbah. He was defeated and his army destroyed in so sudden a manner, as to give rise to the legend embodied in the CV th Sūrah of the Qurʾān, which is known as the Chapter of the Elephant. Profe or Palmer says it is conjectured that small-pox broke out amongst the army. [ ASHABU ʾL-FIL .]