my friend told me of a story about a boy and his relative,
he was told to go get water from a stream and given a coal bucket for the job.
he would go and put water in and walk back.. by the time he returned there was no water in the bucket so he went to the stream again and again but every time he got back the bucket was empty!
finally he realised there was a small hole in the bucket and he went to tell the relative.
the relative replied that it didnt matter but realised the bucket was no longer black from all the coal dust.
Good example, but does this example relate to the Quran as well ? i say no, and the reason are because there are many minor signs before the End of times, which were given by prophet Muhammad (saw) and the Companions (r.a) related them to us and one of them is this...
Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (RA) reported that Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said,
“There will rise in the final period a people, young of age but poor of intelligence. They will recite the Qur’an but it will not get past their throats. They will mention from the sayings of the best of creation (the Prophet (SAW) but will come out of religion as an arrow comes out of the game.”
[Ibn Majah 168] (Tirmizi Chapter 24 Hadith #2195)
People reciting the Quran and not understanding, will make them like those who recite but the meaning of those words do not go pass their throats, meaning do not connect with their Hearts, which is what Quran is supposed to do.
This prediction also came true during the life time of Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib (r.a), when he fought a group called Khawarij, who used to recite the Quran, yet they did not grasp the meaning and they went to such extent to declare the Caliph as a disbeliever , and it was one of them who Martyred Hazrat Ali (r.a). Whether they or people similar to them still exists today or not is another issue.
So just saying that those who simply recite and do not ponder over the meaning of the Verses, does not mean would become like Khawarjis, but what i mean to say is we should and no doubt always should ponder over the meanings and try applying them as much as we can.