Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:137

This is a justification for what they claimed regarding equality [with the prophets]; that is, "This which you have brought to us is nothing but the custom of the ancients," which they fabricate, imitate, and call others to.

Alternatively, it means: "This state we are in—of life and death—is nothing but an ancient habit that people have always followed." Or, "This religion we hold is nothing but the custom of the ancients who preceded us, such as our forefathers and others, and we are followers of them."

Abu Qilaba and Al-Asma’i, narrating from Nafi’, read it as khuluq (with a damma on the kha and a sukūn on the lam), and the meaning remains as stated above.

'Abdullah, 'Alqama, Al-Hasan, Abu Ja'far, Abu 'Amr, Ibn Kathir, and Al-Kisa'i read it as khalq (with a fatha on the kha and a sukūn on the lam); meaning: "This is nothing but the fabrication and lies of the ancients." This interpretation is supported by what 'Alqama narrated from 'Abdullah, that he recited it as: illā ikhtilāqu al-awwalīn ("except the fabrication of the ancients"). This would be like the saying of the other disbelievers: "Legends of the ancients."

It may also mean: "We have not been created except as the ancients were created; we live as they lived and we die as they died." Their intention in this is to deny resurrection and reckoning, which is understood from their threatening with punishment.