وَقَالُوا أَسَاطِيرُ الاَْوَّلِينَ اكْتَتَبَهَا
...
And they say: "Tales of the ancients which he has written down..."
meaning, the ancients wrote them down, and he has copied it.
...
فَهِيَ تُمْلَى عَلَيْهِ
...
and they are dictated to him,
means, they are read or recited to him.
...
بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلً
morning and afternoon.
at the beginning and end of the day.
Because this idea is so foolish and is so patently false, everyone knows that it is not true. It is known through Mutawatir reports and is a common fact that Muhammad the Messenger of Allah never learned to read or write, either at the beginning or the end of his life. He grew up among them for approximately forty years, from the time he was born until the time when his mission began. They knew all about him, and about his honest and sound character and how he would never lie or do anything immoral or bad. They even used to call him Al-Amin (the Trustworthy One) from a young age, until his mission began, because they saw how truthful and honest he was. When Allah honored him with that which He honored him, they declared their enmity towards him and came up with all these accusations which any reasonable person would know he was innocent of. They were not sure what to accuse him of.
Sometimes they said that he was a sorcerer, at other times they would say he was a poet, or crazy, or a liar.
So Allah said:
انْظُرْ كَيْفَ ضَرَبُواْ لَكَ الاٌّمْثَالَ فَضَلُّواْ فَلَ يَسْتَطِيعْونَ سَبِيلً
See what examples they have put forward for you. So they have gone astray, and never can they find a way. (17:48)
In response to their stubbornness, Allah says here: