Surah 52. At-Tur, Ayah 15

This is obviously the meaning of the term sihr in the present context (see surah {74}. note [12]).

Perhaps they had said that the Hereafter was a fake, mere old wives' tales! If they had given serious thought to the Signs of Allah, they would have been saved from that serious spiritual blindness: then they will see that the fault was their own, and that the warnings of the messengers of Truth were nothing but pure Truth.