His saying: "Have you not considered"—the interpretation of Al-Suddi is: Have you not been informed? "How your Lord dealt with the companions of the Elephant." The interpretation of Al-Hasan is that this is a report by which Allah informed the Prophet [peace be upon him]. This is because the Arabs, the people of the Sacred Precinct, demolished a church of the Abyssinians, who were Christians. Consequently, Abrahah ibn al-Sabbah said: "We shall certainly demolish the Kaaba of the Arabs just as they demolished our church." Abrahah was from the people of Yemen, and the Abyssinians had made him their king. He sent the elephant and the troops, and when he reached the Sacred Precinct, the elephant cast its chest (jiran) upon the ground and fell. When they directed it toward their dwellings, it would go quickly, but when it was directed toward the Sacred Precinct, it would cast its chest (f. 399) and would not move, whereas if it were directed toward their dwellings, it would go quickly.

Muhammad said: The jiran, according to the linguists, is the part between the throat and the chest.