102. " and they followed what the shaitans chanted of sorcery in the
reign of solomon; and solomon disbelieved not,
but the shaitans disbelieved by teaching people sorcery;
and that which was sent down to the two angels, harut and marut,
in babylon. even though they (the two)
never taught anyone without saying: ` we are only a trial for you,
therefore do not disbelieve'.
so they learned from these two (magic spells) by which they might cause
separation between a man and his wife,
though they cannot hurt anyone (thereby) but by allah's leave.
they learn what harms them and profits them not;
and they surely knew that the buyers of it would have no share of
happiness in the hereafter. and vile was the price
for which they sold their own selves, had they but known (this)! "
103. " yet, had they believed (in allah), and guarded themselves
(against evil) a reward from allah would have been better,
had they but known (this)! "

commentary:

solomon (a.s.) and the sorcerers in babylon

it is understood from the islamic literature that, at the time of
solomon (a.s.), some of his fellow countrymen used to practice the art
of sorcery. solomon (a.s.) ordered that their records and related
materials be gathered and kept locked in a safe place. (their
preservation was, perhaps, for the purpose that there may have been
some pieces of paper among them helpful for breaking the spells of the
sorcerers' magic.)

after the departure of solomon (a.s.), a group of people took
them out and began spreading and teaching others sorcery. some,
taking advantage of this opportunity, said that solomon (a.s.) was not a
prophet at all, and the wonderful power that he had over the realms of
nature was through witchcraft; so it was with the help of those magic
tricks that he could dominate his country and do extraordinary things.

by following this group, some of the israelites were severely
engaged in the art of sorcery; so intensively that they put the turah aside.

when the prophet of islam (p.b.u.h.) announced his invitation
and, through the verses of the qur'an, proclaimed that solomon (a.s.)
had been one of the apostles of allah, some of the jewish rabbis told
their people: ` are you not surprised that muhammad says solomon
was an apostle while he was a sorcerer ? '

this statement by those jews was counted a great accusation
against this divine prophet (a.s.), because when they said he was a
sorcerer it insinuated that he was a lier and not a true prophet. this
action caused him to be considered a blasphemer. then, the above
verse responded to their false accusation.

however, the first verse of this group of verses illustrates another
dimension of the hineous actions of the jews : that they accused the
apostle of allah, solomon (a.s.), of sorcery and witchcraft. it says:

" and they followed what the shaitans chanted of sorcery in the reign
of solomon; ..."

the pronoun ` they ', existing in the arabic word /wattaba`u/, `they
followed ', may refer to the jews contemporary with the prophet of
islam (p.b.u.h.) or those contemporary with solomon (a.s.) or all of them.
the objective meaning of the term /sayatin/ may be the evil
people, or devils of the jinn, or both of them.

then, after stating the above idea, the qur'an adds:

"... and solomon disbelieved not, ..."

solomon (a.s.) never did practice sorcery, and he did not take any
advantage from it in attaining his goals:

"... but the shaitans disbelieved by teaching people sorcery; ..."
"... and that which was sent down to the two angels, harut and marut,
in babylon. ..."

yes, they stretched their hands toward sorcery from two sides :
one, from the side of sorcery which was taught by the shaitans during
the time of solomon (a.s.); and the other side was the instructions that
harut and marut taught people for the purpose of breaking the spells
of sorcery.

"... even though they (the two) never taught anyone without saying :
` we are only a trial for you, therefore do not disbelieve '. ..."

in short, when these two angels appeared in the society, sorcery
was in fashion among those people and a popular item in their
marketplace. at that time, most of the people were captured in the
grips of sorcerers. the two angels taught people the ways in which they
could counter the effects of such wicked practices (the witchcraft) of
the sorcerers as an art of self-defense. but learning this art demanded,
firstly, that they learn about the magic itself. so, in order to be able to
negate sorcery, they initially had to learn sorcery itself, and the ways in
which it might work effectively, as good skillful magicians.

but jewish mischief mongers took this matter as a means for
spreading sorcery more and more. they expanded it so vastly that they
accused the divine prophet, solomon (a.s.), of sorcery and said that if
nature, or even jinns and humans, obeyed him (a.s.), it was merely the
effect of sorcery. yes, this is the common habit of the vicious: to
accuse the great men as being their followers to justify their own school
of thought.

at any rate, they could not pass this divine trial successfully and,
consequently, failed in keeping the right path, the true faith.

"... so they learned from these two (magic spells) by which they might
cause separation between a man and his wife, ..."

but the power of allah is above all these abilities.

"... though they cannot hurt anyone (thereby) but by allah's leave. ..."
"... they learn what harms them and profits them not; ..."

yes, they altered this divine constructive training. instead of
utilizing it on the path of improving their society and using it as a
means of defense against the witchcraft of the sorcerers, they applied it
to doing evil.

"... and they surely knew that the buyers of it would have no share of
happiness in the hereafter. ..."
"... and vile was the price for which they sold their own selves,
had they but known (this)! " 

they were heedless of their own happiness and of that of the
society they belonged to, and were drowned in the whirlpool of
blasphemy.

" yet, had they believed (in allah), and guarded themselves (against evil)
a reward from allah would have been better,
had they but known (this)! "