This ayat translates to “Birds that are throwing onto them with stones made of sijjeel”.

Tarmee is feminine. It is to describe birds.

Meaning of Sijjeel

“Sijjeel” is originally Farsi. It is a compound of 2 words – “sanj” and “jil” (sanj-e-jil). “Sanj” means stone and “jil” means clay. Therefore “sijjeel” means “baked clay stones”. These are the kinds of stones that are easily found in desert climates. They are not very hard stones. They collapse easily when we crush them.

Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) by using the word “sijjeel” is being sarcastic, such that it did not take even a hard rock to kill them. They couldn’t even defend themselves against baked clay.

Another interpretation of this ayat:

Abu Hanifa (rahimahullah) used to recite “yarmeehim” instead of “tarmeehim”. There were a couple of other Sahaba who also recited this way. With “yarmeehim”, it means that Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) was throwing stones at them. Abu Hanifa’s (rahimahullah) argument was that the doer in all the ayats so far is Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) and with “yarmeehim” even this verse would be attributed to Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). Also, a qira’ah existed with “yarmeehim”, so Abu Hanifa (rahimahullah) argued that this was more plausible.

If “yarmeehim” is used, it changes the whole image because it’s not that the birds are carrying the rocks but they are just gnawing (eating away) at them, and the wind blows and these little rocks are smacking at their faces. This is their burial.

Meaning of Ayat #4

Birds that are throwing onto them with stones made of baked clay.