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wa-ʾidhā tutlā ʿalayhim ʾāyātunā bayyinātin qāla lladhīna kafarū li-l-ḥaqqi lammā jāʾahum hādhā ṣiḥrun mubīnun
When Our manifest signs are recited to them, the faithless say of the truth when it comes to them: ‘This is plain magic.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Ahqaf - Verse 7
7. And when Our Clear Verses are recited to them, the disbelievers say of the truth when it reaches them: “This is plain magic!”
Dominance of obduracy leads to the denial of the Clear Signs, i.e. the illuminating Qur’anic Verses. The obdurate regarded the prophets’ miracles incredible, but interesting and weird;
(“This is plain magic!”).
The Verse in question demonstrates that disbelievers regarded Qur’anic Verses as extraordinary since despite the fact that the Holy Qur’an was revealed in eloquent Arabic and Arab polytheists were speakers of the Arabic tongue, they knew that composing such Verses were beyond them; nonetheless, the prejudice predominant at the time of pre-Islamic ignorance in Arabia and the arrogance and vanity deeply rooted in the hearts of polytheists impeded them from believing in the prophethood of the Seal of the Prophets (S) and confessing that It is the Word of God, so that whenever they heard a Verse, they attributed magic and sorcery to the Noble Prophet (S).