Overall meaning : When the Jews expressed their enmity towards Gabriel, peace be upon him, and claimed that it was only Prophet Muhammad’s loyalty to Gabriel, peace be upon him, that prevented them from believing Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, Allah Almighty instructed His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to tell them that Gabriel revealed the Qur’an with the command of Allah and that it was not sent down by itself. In fact, such enmity is tantamount to enmity towards Allah Himself; besides, the Qur’an that He has brought down upon him confirms the truth contained in the previously revealed divine scriptures, proves to be the ultimate truth and brings the good news Allah has promised the believers in the hereafter.
Allah Almighty then declares that whoever is an enemy of Allah, any of His angels or indeed any of His messengers is surely a blatant unbeliever, and that He declares Himself an enemy of every unbeliever.
Then He says to His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace that He has sent clear signs proving the truthfulness of his prophethood, and that because of its absolute clarity only those who are out of the fold of faith would deny them.
Next, Allah Almighty states that the breaking of covenants is deeply ingrained in the Jews. Whenever they make a solemn pledge, a group of them betray it. That is because most of the them do not admit or accept the truth, nor follow it by word or deed.
When Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whose description the Jews find clearly written in the Torah, was sent, a group of them gave up acting on the instructions of the Torah altogether, which urges them to believe Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, totally ignoring its teachings as though they did not know that the book in their possession does not mention Prophet Muhammad’s description and does not admonish them to follow him.
These Jews followed the magic that the devils invented during the time of Prophet Solomon, peace be upon him, and attributed it to him, falsely claiming that he had only acquired a mighty kingdom because of such magic. They also followed the magic sent down to the two angels, Haarut and Maarut, in Babylon, Iraq. These angels never taught magic to anyone without first advising them, saying that were only a temptation to the descendants of Adam, and warning them against disbelieving in Allah by learning and practising magic. Those who did not follow their advice learned magic from them, so much so that they would continue to sow discord between husband and wife until they split up. However, no one can possibly harm anyone else thereby except by the leave of Allah, Glorified be He. They learnt from the angels what harmed them and brought them no profit at all; yet the Jews knew full well that those who engaged in this evil practice would surely have no share in the life to come. Evil indeed is such practice if they but knew the considerable harm it is bound to cause them! Had they chosen the path of faith and righteousness instead of that of magic, Allah Almighty would have given them a reward that is far better than all the transient worldly gains.