Overall meaning : Allah Almighty says: Remember, Muhammad, when the Quraysh unbelievers schemed against you in order to imprison you, kill you or banish you from Makkah. Thus were they secretly plotting against you, but Allah put His will into effect and brought their evil scheme to nothing by protecting you from them and destroying them. Allah is the best to punish for evil. He brings the evil scheme of those who disbelieve in Him and disobey Him to nothing and repays them according to the evil of their deeds.
Whenever verses of the Qur’an revelations are recited to these unbelievers, they say, 'We have already heard them. If we wished, we could compose things like these ourselves. They are nothing but fables of the ancients.’
Mention to them, Muhammad, when they prayed, 'If what Muhammad recites is indeed the truth revealed by You, then rain down stones upon us from the heavens or bring down upon us a painful chastisement in this life.’
But Allah would never punish them while you, Muhammad, are still in their midst. Nor would He ever punish them if they ask Him for forgiveness. But what plea do they have that Allah should not punish them, seeing that they prevent Muslims from reaching the Sacred Mosque, although they are not its rightful guardians? Its qualified, rightful guardians are only the God-fearing who do not ascribe partners to Allah and keep from disobedience to Him, but most of them do not know.
The Quraysh idolaters’ prayers at the Sacred House (the Ka’bah), the Almighty states, are nothing but whistling and clapping of hands. Then addressing them, He says: Taste then the punishment for your unbelief.