Tafsir of Al-Anfal 8:31

"And when Our verses are recited to them"—verses which, had We sent them down upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and splitting asunder from the fear of Allah—"they say: 'We have heard. If we wished, we could say something like this.'"

The one who said this was al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, of the tribe of Banu 'Abd al-Dar, according to the majority of commentators. He used to travel to the lands of Persia and al-Hirah, where he would hear their tales about Rustam, Isfandiyar, and the great figures of the Persians. He would also pass by the Jews and Christians, hearing from them the Torah and the Gospel. Attributing this statement to the plural pronoun—despite it being the act of one—is done because the accursed one was their leader and judge, whose words they echoed and whose opinion they followed.

It is also said that it was spoken by those who conspired against the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the Dar al-Nadwah. Regardless of who said it, it represents the pinnacle of arrogance and the extreme of stubbornness. For if they had the ability to produce anything like it, what prevented them from willing it? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had challenged them and rebuked them with their inability for ten years, and then he engaged them with the sword; yet they never opposed him with anything else, despite their pride and disdain for being defeated, especially in the field of eloquence, for they were its champions, masters of its reins, and possessors of the lead in it.

It is famous that they hung the seven renowned odes (Mu'allaqat) on the door of the Ka'bah, challenging others with them, but this has been countered by the claim that it has no basis, even if it is famous. Some have claimed that this statement was made by them before they lost hope of being able to produce the like of it, but there is no substance to this claim.

"This is nothing but the legends of the ancients."

This is the plural of usturah (legend), as stated by al-Mubarrad, similar to uhduthah (tale) and ahadith (narratives). Its meaning is that which has been lined and written down. In al-Qamus, it is stated that asatir (legends) are tales that have no coherence, being the plural of istar and ustir and ustur, with the ha (feminine marker) in all forms. The root of satr (line) is a row, such as in writing, trees, or otherwise; its plural is astur, sutur, and astar, and the plural of the plural is asatir. The vowel on the middle letter is used in all forms. Some have said that the plural of satr (with a quiescent middle) is astur and sutur, while the plural of satr (with an active middle) is astar and asatir; however, this contradicts what is in al-Qamus.

The speech here is metaphorical; they intended: "This is nothing but like the stories of the ancients and their tales which they have inscribed," and not the speech of Allah the Exalted. It is as if this is an explanation of the grounds for their claim that they could say the like of it if they wished.