And when Our verses are recited to them, they say, "We have (8:31)

﴿وَإِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُنَا قَالُوا قَدْ سَمِعْنَا لَوْ نَشَاءُ لَقُلْنَا مِثْلَ هَٰذَا ۙ إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ﴾
[ الأنفال: 31]

8:31 And when Our verses are recited to them, they say, "We have heard. If we willed, we could say [something] like this. This is not but legends of the former peoples."

If Allah’s words are recited to them, they say – stubborn against the truth, considering themselves above it, and disbelieving – that they have heard something similar before, and that if they wanted to say something similar to the Qur’ān they could, saying that the Qur’ān is just the fables of earlier peoples.

And when Our Verses (of the Quran) are recited to them, they say: "We have heard this (the Quran); if we wish we can say the like of this. This is nothing but the tales of the ancients."

phonetic Transliteration

Waitha tutla AAalayhim ayatuna qaloo qad samiAAna law nashao laqulna mithla hatha in hatha illa asateeru alawwaleena

Abdullah Yusuf Ali - Translation

When Our Signs are rehearsed to them, they say: "We have heard this (before): if we wished, we could say (words) like these: these are nothing but tales of the ancients."

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And when Our Ayat are recited to them, they say: "We have heard (the Qur'an); if we wish we can say the like of this. This is nothing but the tales of the ancients."

Page 180 English transliteration