Surah Saba (34) — Ayah 43

(Ayah 43) ➊ { وَ اِذَا تُتْلٰى عَلَيْهِمْ اٰيٰتُنَا … :} After mentioning that on the Day of Resurrection the polytheists will enter Hell and the deities they made will be of no use to them, now the reason for their deserving this punishment is stated, which was that when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) or any caller to Islam recited Our clear verses before them, they uttered the words mentioned in this verse.
➋ { قَالُوْا مَا هٰذَاۤ اِلَّا رَجُلٌ …:} That is, this person wants to stop you from worshipping those beings whom your forefathers have been worshipping for ages. Their purpose was to incite people against the one inviting them to Islam, by saying that this person wants to stop you from the religion of your forefathers, so were your forefathers insane that they worshipped them? And not only did they do this once or twice, but {’’ كَانَ يَعْبُدُ اٰبَآؤُكُمْ ‘‘} they have been worshipping them for ages. Thus, in their view, the only proof of the truth of their polytheism was the imitation of their forefathers, which is utter ignorance and has nothing to do with knowledge.
➌ { وَ قَالُوْا مَا هٰذَاۤ اِلَّاۤ اِفْكٌ مُّفْتَرًى :} Here, {’’ هٰذَاۤ ‘‘} refers to the Qur’an. In the word {’’ اِفْكٌ مُّفْتَرًى ‘‘}, they said two things about the Qur’an: first, that it is a lie in itself, and second, that it has been fabricated and attributed to Allah.
➍ { وَ قَالَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا لِلْحَقِّ … :} See the confusion of the disbelievers: sometimes they call it a lie and sometimes they call it clear magic, and as for the statement that when the truth came to them, they called it clear magic, it means that if they had no knowledge of the truth and said such things, perhaps they would be excused, but now that the truth has become clear, what end can they have except Hell in case of denial?

43. 1. By "person" is meant the Prophet ﷺ. The religion of their forefathers was correct in their view, so they described your ﷺ "crime" as wanting to prevent them from those deities whom their ancestors used to worship.
43. 2. By this second ھٰذَا is meant the Noble Quran; they declared it to be a fabricated slander or an invented lie.
34. 3. First, they called the Quran an invented lie, and here, clear magic. The first relates to the meaning and content of the Quran, and the second relates to the miraculous structure, style, and eloquence of the Quran.

And when Our clear verses are recited to them, they say, "This man only wishes to turn you away from what your forefathers [66] used to worship." And they say, "This Qur'an is nothing but a fabricated lie." And when the truth came to the disbelievers, they said, "This is nothing but clear magic [67]."

[65] At that time, the angels will also be present before Allah, as well as the polytheists and the devils. And all of them will be subjugated and helpless before Allah. The angels will disown the polytheists, and so will the devils, and the polytheists, because of the angels’ response, will disown them as well as the devils who led them to the path of polytheism. In other words, each will disown the other, and each will be helpless, so in such a situation, how could anyone benefit another, and why would they benefit them?

[66]
Why Did the Disbelievers of Makkah Call the Quran Magic?

That is, he wants to turn us away from our way of life and put us on a new path. Our way of life is the one that has been practiced by our forefathers for a long time, and the path this person wants to put us on is based merely on his own invented statements. And what he wants is to become our leader himself, and that we should live as his followers. How can we possibly accept this? In other words, in the view of the Quraysh of Makkah, the call of the Prophet of Islam was merely a matter of authority. Apart from this, they were not willing to accept any point or argument.

[67] The reason the disbelievers of Makkah called Allah’s word or the Noble Quran magic was that they themselves were afraid of the magical effect of the Quran. They had also imposed a restriction on the Muslims that they should not recite the Quran aloud, because in this way their wives and children would be influenced by the Quran, even though those wretches themselves could not remain unaffected by its impact. But merely out of stubbornness, obstinacy, and for a few worldly interests, they would deny and mock the Quran and the call of the Quran. Then, they also meant by magic that whoever accepted faith no longer cared whether so-and-so was his father or brother or son, or so-and-so was his mother or daughter, etc. And since the polytheists of Makkah used to employ magicians to create such separation, and this word also caused such separation, in this sense too they would call the Quran magic. In other words, despite being deniers of the Quran, they admitted that the Quran possessed an effect even greater than magic.