And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign (2:102)

Almuntakhab Fi Tafsir Alquran Alkarim

And they pursued vanity and neglected religion; they were attracted to characteristics befitting AL-Shayatin who attributed Sulaymans (Solomon) prerogative of Prophethood and power to the art of sorcery and occult qualities; a defying impiety and a serious offence for which Sulayman was innocent. In fact it was the blasphemers who defied Allah. They taught people necromancy which they practised through contact with evil spirits and through the knowledge they acquired from revelations imparted to the two angelic Babylonians Harut and Marut. But Harut and Marut made it clear that their art was a source of temptation and an incitement to evil and they cautioned against indulgence as it meant defiance to Allah. Yet those blasphemers pursued the evil aspect of this art using those spirits to sow discord between husband and wife and other similar evil acts. Nonetheless no one suffers harm unless divinely predetermined. They applied themselves to learning the art which inflicts harm upon them and they derive no profit from it. Yet they knew that he who engages in sorcery for vice shall have no bliss of the Hereafter; how worthless was the price they received for selling their own souls to immorality and wickedness if they only knew

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(2:102) (Instead of this,) they began to follow that (magic) to which the devils falsely attributed (the greatness of) the kingdom of Solomon. *104 In fact Solomon .was never involved in any practice of disbelief, but the satans, who taught magic to the people were themselves guilty of disbelief. They were after that thing which was sent to Harut and Marut, the two angels at Babylon. Whenever these two angels taught black art to anyone, they would always give a clear warning beforehand, saying, "We are merely a trial for you; so you should not commit blasphemy. *105 But in spite of this warning, those people used to learn from the angels the art which caused division between husband and wife. *106 Although it was obvious that they could not do any harm to anyone by means of this magic without Allah's permission, yet they learnt that art which could not be profitable even for them but was actually harmful. Moreover, they knew it full well that anyone, who purchased that art, would have no share in the Hereafter. What a vile commodity it was for which they sold off their souls, if they had but known it!

And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign meaning

*104). 'Evil ones' embraces all evil beings, whether they belong to the human species or to the jinn. Here the reference seems to be to both.
When moral and material decline set in amon the Israelites, they were overwhelmed with slavery and ignorance, with misery and poverty, and with humiliation and decadence. They were thus drained of all high ambitions and increasingly turned to magic, sorcery, witchcraft, charms and amulets. They began to search for facile means such as spells that would spare them hard work and yet ensure the achievement of their desired ends. At this stage they were misled by the evil ones, who made them believe that the mighty kingdom and astonishing power of Solomon were merely due to occult sciences and magical formulae, and that by revealing those they would pass on to them the keys to success. People were so engrossed in such practices that they ignored both the Book of God and anyone who summoned them to truth and righteousness.
*105). There are various opinions on the interpretation of this verse. My own conclusion is that at the time when the whole Israelite nation was chained in slavery and captivity in Babylonia God sent two angels in human form in order to test the Jews. In the same way as angels were sent to the people of Lot in the form of handsome youths (see Quran 11: 69 ff. - Ed.), they were presumably sent to Israel in the form of divines who could work magic and sorcery. These angels at once began working their magical wonders but they warned the people that their presence among them was designed to test their faith, and that they ought not to jeopardize their After-life by the practice of magic. Despite the warning it seems that the Israelites had become so fond of their magical artifices that they continued to resort to talismans and sorcery.
It should not surprise anyone that angels came down to earth in human form; angels are dutiful servants of God's kingdom, and are capable of assuming the form appropriate to the specific task they are required to perform at any particular time. Who knows how many angels may be busy performing their duties in our midst even today!
One might also wonder why angels should teach people magic, which is after all intrinsically evil. In order to understand this we must remember that the nature of their task was no different from that of an undercover policeman who hands over marked currency notes to a corrupt official as a bribe with the aim of ensuring that he is caught red-handed.
*106). This shows that the greatest demand was for magical arts and charms to sow discord between a man and his wife and to procure the eventual seduction of the latter. This was the depth of moral depravity to which these people had fallen. A people cannot sink to a lower level of moral degeneracy than when adulterous affairs become their favourite pastime, and when seducing a married woman is considered a boastful achievement. The matrimonial relationship is, in truth, the very foundation of man's collective life. Tle soundness of human civilization depends on the soundness of the relationship between the twosexes. Hence, nothing could be worse than the person who strikes at the very foundations of the structure which supports both him and society as a whole.
There is a Tradition from the Prophet to the effect that Satan sends his agents on their missions to all parts of the world. On their return these agents report their achievements with each mentioning his own special evil act. But Satan is not completely satisfied with any of them. It is only when an agent reports that he has succeeded in separating a wife from her husband that Satan is filled with joy and embraces him. (Bukhiri, 'Talaq', 25 - Ed.) In the light of this Tradition it is understandable why the angels who were sent to the Israelites to test them were asked to disclose those magical arts which would lead to separation between a husband and his wife, for the inclination of a people to learn such arts is a sure index of its moral decadence.
 

And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign meaning in Urdu

اور لگے اُن چیزوں کی پیروی کرنے، جو شیا طین، سلیمانؑ کی سلطنت کا نام لے کر پیش کیا کرتے تھے، حالانکہ سلیمانؑ نے کبھی کفر نہیں کیا، کفر کے مرتکب تو وہ شیاطین تھے جو لوگوں کو جادو گری کی تعلیم دیتے تھے وہ پیچھے پڑے اُس چیز کے جو بابل میں دو فرشتوں، ہاروت و ماروت پر نازل کی گئی تھی، حالانکہ وہ (فرشتے) جب بھی کسی کو اس کی تعلیم دیتے تھے، تو پہلے صاف طور پر متنبہ کر دیا کرتے تھے کہ "دیکھ، ہم محض ایک آزمائش ہیں، تو کفر میں مبتلا نہ ہو" پھر بھی یہ لوگ اُن سے وہ چیز سیکھتے تھے، جس سے شوہر اور بیوی میں جدائی ڈال دیں ظاہر تھا کہ اذنِ الٰہی کے بغیر وہ اس ذریعے سے کسی کو بھی ضرر نہ پہنچا سکتے تھے، مگراس کے باوجود وہ ایسی چیز سیکھتے تھے جو خود ان کے لیے نفع بخش نہیں، بلکہ نقصان د ہ تھی اور انہیں خوب معلوم تھا کہ جو اس چیز کا خریدار بنا، اس کے لیے آخرت میں کوئی حصہ نہیں کتنی بری متاع تھی جس کے بدلے انہوں نے اپنی جانوں کو بیچ ڈالا، کاش انہیں معلوم ہوتا!