Ababil (Arabic: أبابيل, romanized: abābīl) means a flock of birds. It refers to the miraculous birds in Islamic belief mentioned in Sura 105 of the Quran that protected the Kaaba in Mecca from the Aksumite elephant army of Abraha, then self-styled governor of Himyar, by dropping small clay stones on them as they approached. In the translation of sahih international, the phrase "tayran abābīl(a)"(طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ) is translated as "Birds in flocks" that is mentioned in the verse 105:3. The event is said to have occurred in 570, the year that the Islamic prophet Muhammad was born.
The thunderbird is a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture. It is considered a supernatural being of power and strength. It is especially important, and frequently depicted, in the art, songs and oral histories of many Pacific Northwest Coast cultures, but is also found in various forms among some peoples of the American Southwest, East Coast of the United States, Great Lakes, and Great Plains.
