And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Hārūt and Mārūt. But they [i.e., the two angels] do not teach anyone unless they say, "We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic]." And [yet] they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allāh. And they [i.e., people] learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But they [i.e., the Children of Israel] certainly knew that whoever purchased it [i.e., magic] would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves, if they only knew.
Sahih International
وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟
wa-ittabaʿū
And they followed
Word breakdown
وَ
Harf · Conjunctionand
ٱتَّبَعُ
Fi'l · VerbAnd they followed
to follow
172× in the Quran · Common
وا۟
Ism · Personal pronounthem/their
Grammar rules
وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ (And they followed) is a past tense verb — the action already happened and is complete.
We translate it in past tense — "did", "created", "said", etc.
Lesson 8 · Verbs — Past & Presentوَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ (And they followed) uses form VIII (إِفْتَعَلَ) — it means doing the action for yourself or by yourself.
We translate it as "to [verb] for oneself".
Lesson 13 · Verb Families V–Xوَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ (And they followed) starts with وَ, the most common Arabic word — it means "and".
We add "and" to connect this to what came before.
Lesson 4 · Particles