َ وَأَرْسَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ طَيْرًا أَبَابِيلَ ﴿۳﴾ تَرْمِيهِمْ بِحِجَارَةٍ مِنْ سِجِّيلٍ ﴿۴﴾ فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَأْكُولٍ ﴿

﴾3﴿ Wa arsala 'alaihim tairan abaabeel
﴾4﴿ Tarmeehim bihijaaratim min sijjeel
﴾5﴿ Faja 'alahum ka'asfim m'akool

﴾3﴿ And He sent upon them birds in flocks
﴾4﴿ Striking them with stones of baked clay
﴾5﴿ And He made them like eaten straw

[3] This is connected in the manner of interpreting "تضلیل" (misguidance or bringing to ruin).
[4] The word "مَأْكُولٍ" refers to vegetation that has been eaten.
(Question): Once something is eaten, it disappears in the stomach—so how does this comparison make sense?
(Answer): The meaning here is that after being eaten, it is expelled as dung, which is:
Foul-smelling
Disintegrated into separate, broken pieces
However, explicitly mentioning dung in eloquent speech would not be appropriate. Instead, the Quran uses the refined term "مَأْكُولٍ" to imply this meaning.
Similarly, the bodies of those destroyed were:
Crushed into tiny fragments
Decayed into foul-smelling corps