The Quran

Preface

وَإِذا تُتلىٰ عَلَيهِم آياتُنا بَيِّناتٍ قالوا ما هٰذا إِلّا رَجُلٌ يُريدُ أَن يَصُدَّكُم عَمّا كانَ يَعبُدُ آباؤُكُم وَقالوا ما هٰذا إِلّا إِفكٌ مُفتَرًى ۚ وَقالَ الَّذينَ كَفَروا لِلحَقِّ لَمّا جاءَهُم إِن هٰذا إِلّا سِحرٌ مُبينٌ

Yusuf Ali

When Our Clear Signs are rehearsed to them, they say, “This is only a man who wishes to hinder you from the (worship)¹ which your fathers practised.” And they say, “This is only a falsehood invented!” and the Unbelievers say of the Truth when it comes to them, “This is nothing but evident magic!”

Apart from the worship of Evil in the guise of the Powers of Light, there is another form of false worship, which depends on ancestral tradition. “Why” it is said “should we not do as our fathers did?” They reject a new prophet of Truth simply because his teaching does not agree with the ways of their ancestors. The answer to this is given in verse 44 below. But meanwhile the rejectors’ objection to new Truth is stated in three forms: (1) our ancestors knew nothing of this: (2) The story of inspiration is false; it is merely an invention; we do not believe in inspiration: (3) when in some particular points, the new Truth does work wonders in men’s hearts, they account for it by saying it is magic. The third objection is merely traditional. What is magic? If it is merely deception by the fact that the Messenger who comes with new spiritual Truth is acknowledged to be truthful in other relations of life: why should he be false where his preaching brings him no gain but much sorrow and persecution? For the ancestral objection see next note.