Its a good story:
Taking its name from the mention of the "Army of the Elephant" in the first verse, this surah alludes to the
Abyssinian campaign against
Mecca possibly in the year 552 CE.
Abrahah, the Christian viceroy of the
Yemen (which at that time was ruled by the Abyssinians), erected a great
cathedral at
Sana'a, hoping thus to divert the annual Arabian pilgrimage from the Meccan sanctuary, the
Kabah, to the new church. When this hope remained unfulfilled, he was determined to destroy the Kabah; and so he set out against Mecca at the head of a large army, which included several
war elephants as well, and thus represented something hitherto unknown and utterly astounding to the Arabs: hence the designation of that year, by contemporaries as well as historians of later generations, as "the
Year of the Elephant". Abrahah's army was destroyed on its march
[8][9] - by an extremely huge flock of martin swallow birds (
ababil) that dropped tiny stones onto them and turned them to ashes.
[10] - and Abrahah himself died on his return to Sana.
[11]