The Destruction of the Disbelievers and Intensification of their Punishment for rejecting the Revelation
Allah says;
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُم
And when it is said to them;
Allah informs us that when it is said to those liars,
مَّاذَا أَنزَلَ رَبُّكُمْ قَالُواْ
"What is it that your Lord has revealed!" They say,
not wanting to answer,
أَسَاطِيرُ الَاوَّلِينَ
"Tales of the men of old!"
meaning nothing is revealed to him, what he is reciting to us is just tales of the men of old, taken from the previous Books.
As Allah says,
وَقَالُواْ أَسَـطِيرُ الاٌّوَّلِينَ اكْتَتَبَهَا فَهِىَ تُمْلَى عَلَيْهِ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلً
And they say;"Tales of the ancients, which he has written down, and they are dictated to him morning and afternoon." (25;5)
i.e., they tell lies against the Messenger and say things contradicting one another, but all of it is false, as Allah says,
انْظُرْ كَيْفَ ضَرَبُواْ لَكَ الاٌّمْثَالَ فَضَلُّواْ فَلَ يَسْتَطِيعْونَ سَبِيلً
Look at the parables they make of you, so they have gone astray, and they are not able to find the right way. (17;48)
Once they have gone beyond the bounds of the truth, whatever they say will be in error. They used to say that he (the Prophet) was a sorcerer, a poet, a soothsayer, or a madman, then they settled on an idea proposed by their leader, an individual known as Al-Walid bin Al-Mughirah Al-Makhzumi, when;
إِنَّهُ فَكَّرَ وَقَدَّرَ
فَقُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ
ثُمَّ قُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ
ثُمَّ نَظَرَ
ثُمَّ عَبَسَ وَبَسَرَ
ثُمَّ أَدْبَرَ وَاسْتَكْبَرَ
فَقَالَ إِنْ هَـذَا إِلاَّ سِحْرٌ يُوْثَرُ
He thought, and plotted. So let him be cursed, how he plotted! And once more let him be cursed, how he plotted! Then he thought. Then he frowned and he looked in a bad tempered way; then he turned back, and was proud. Then he said;"This is nothing but the magic of old." (74;18-24)
meaning something that had been transmitted and passed down. So they dispersed having agreed on this opinion, may Allah punish them.
As Allah says