Overall meaning : The Almighty says, pointing out some of the conditions of the idolaters when they hear the Qur’an: When you recite the Qur’an, Muhammad, and your idolatrous people, who do not believe in the life to come, hear it, We place between you and them an invisible barrier that prevents them from comprehending the Qur’an and benefit from it, as punishment for their obstinate unbelief. And we place covers upon their hearts to prevent them from understanding it, and deafness in their ears so that they do not readily listen to it in such a way as to benefit from it. When you mention your Lord alone, declaring His oneness, while reciting the Qur’an, they arrogantly turn away from you, showing great aversion to what you are reciting.
Almighty Allah then declares His perfect, all-encompassing knowledge, stating that He will repay them with what they deserve: We know of the idolaters’ mockery and disdain of the Qur’an when they listen to your recitation of it, Muhammad. As they listen to you, they privately say to one another, ‘If you were to follow Muhammad, you would follow only a bewitched man!’
Next, He gives His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, solace, saying: See what likenesses they strike out for you, by calling you a magician, a poet and a madman! Thus, they have gone so far astray that they cannot find the right way.