This ayat translates to “Thus he made them into ‘asf”

Meaning of ‘Asf

“‘Asf” is dried up leaves, dried up crops, dried up hay, things that turn yellow, things that are harsh.

“‘Asf” is actually used for wind that takes dried up grass, and pebbles, and it comes into our eyes and hurts.

Meaning of M’akool

“M’akool” means “chewed up mush”. This refers to animals that chew up dried grass, leaves etc. and make them into a mush.

Observation:

The image being painted here is rotting corpses.

The meaning of this is that Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) destroyed them, annihilated them and repelled them in their plan and their anger. They did not achieve any good. He made a mass destruction of them, and not one of them returned (to their land) to relate what happened except that he was wounded. This is just like what happened to their king, Abrahah. Abrahah was split open, exposing his heart when he reached his land of San’a. He informed the people of what happened to them and then he died.

Looking at this ayat with the first ayat of Surah Quraysh:

The most compelling way of looking at the beginning of the next surah is actually a continuation of this ayat. Combining them it would means “Thus he made them into chewed up hay for the convenience of the Quraysh”.

If the first ayat of the next surah is looked at independently it would mean “for the convenience of the Quraysh”. It is missing what it is related to. Also, the next ayat (ayat #2 of surah Quraysh) is furthering it and it is not describing the relation to the first ayat. It is elaborating the “ilaf” of the first ayat, but it is not describing the “li”. Hence it becomes a huge grammatical problem to understand that surah on its own.

Safety and prosperity go hand-in-hand. The most beautiful way they go hand-in-hand is the dua of Ibrahim (alaihissalam). Hence it is why these 2 surahs also go hand-in-hand. This is when we appreciate the genius of the Sahabas who would recite these Surahs together without the “basmala” in between.

Meaning of Ayat #5

Thus he made them into chewed up mush