Tafsir of Al-Muddathir 74:24

"Then he said: 'This is nothing but sorcery that is narrated.'" That is, narrated and learned from the sorcery of Babylon and their ilk. It has also been said that it means: "chosen and preferred over other sorcery," yet it is not a matter of choice.

The particle fa (then) serves to indicate that as soon as this foolish notion occurred to his mind, he uttered it without hesitation or delay. It is for immediate sequence, and there is no contradiction in it to the narration mentioned previously, as is not hidden. And His saying...