Page 491
wa-lammā jāʾahumu l-ḥaqqu qālū hādhā siḥrun wa-ʾinnā bihī kāfirūna
But when the truth came to them, they said, ‘This is magic, and we indeed disbelieve in it.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
43Az-ZukhrufالزخرفVerse 30 of 89
The Ornaments of Gold43. Az-Zukhrufالزخرف
al-Zukhruf
The Gold Ornaments
MeccanVerse 30 of 89
Surah al-Zukhruf - Verses 29- 30
29. [Not only I did not destroy polytheists] but also I made them and their fathers to enjoy till there came to them the truth (the Holy Qur’an) and a Messenger (S) making things clear.
30. And when the truth came to them, they said: “This is magic and we disbelieve therein.”
God makes believers and disbelievers enjoy and gives respite to all people. The blessed Verse 29 says that God Almighty bestowed worldly possessions and pleasures to Meccan polytheists and fathers until the truth, i.e., the Holy Qur’an, and the Messenger of God (S) came to them making things clear. Not only God Almighty made them think about the falsity of polytheism and idolatry and Divine Unity through their intellection and conscience, but also He gave them respite to benefit from Divine Guidance through turning to the Holy Qur’an, the Book which is all truth, and the Noble Prophet Muhammad (S).
in the preceding Verse indicates that Abraham (as) made attempts at making his offspring turn to Divine Unity; nonetheless, the Arabs claimed to have descended from him but they failed to turn to It. God Almighty provided them with further respite through sending the Noble Prophet (S) with a new Book. It was awakening for a large number of the Arabs. According to Verse 30, upon the revelation of the Holy Qur’an they failed to rectify their past errors and instead opposed the Word of Truth by saying that it was magic and they disbelieved in it:
They called the Holy Qur’an magic and the Noble Messenger of God (S) magician. Had they persisted in their disbelief, they would have been afflicted with Divine chastisement.