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naḥnu ʾaʿlamu bi-mā yastamiʿūna bihī ʾidh yastamiʿūna ʾilayka wa-ʾidh hum najwā ʾidh yaqūlū ẓ-ẓālimūna ʾin tattabiʿūna ʾillā rajulan masḥūran-i
We know best what they listen for, when they listen to you, and when they hold their secret talks, when the wrongdoers say, ‘[If you follow him] You will be following just a bewitched man.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Isra’ – Verse 47
47. “We are well-aware of what they listen to when they are listening to you, and when they are whispering (with each other), when the unjust say (unto the believers)! ‘You are thus following none but a man bewitched’.”
We have it in commentaries that each one of the chiefs of pagans used to attend behind the house of the Prophet secretly and without informing each other so that, in the darkness of night, they could hear the voice of the Qur’an and thereupon analyze it. They would bump into each other at times in the darkness and recognized one another, and thus, blamed themselves, reaffirming the fact that while they could not dispense with the voice of Muhammad (S), how could then they expect the common folk to behave in this respect.
This noble verse sympathizes with the Messenger of Allah, recommending him not to despair because of the lack of respect which the pagans showed towards him, for everything is clear before Him. It is for this reason that He says:
“We are well-aware of what they listen to when they are listening to you, and when they are whispering (with each other), when the unjust say (unto the believers)! ‘You are thus following none but a man bewitched’.”
The main aim is that We are aware of their mood while they are listening to the Qur’an and once they leave you, engage themselves in praying, some call you a sorcerer, others regard you as a poet, and, as they notice the respect of people to the Divine leaders, they hit them by false accusations.