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ʾa-lam yaʾtihim nabaʾu lladhīna min qablihim qawmi nūḥin wa-ʿādin wa-thamūda wa-qawmi ʾibrāhīma wa-ʾaṣḥābi madyana wa-l-muʾtafikāti ʾatathum rusuluhum bi-l-bayyināti fa-mā kāna llāhu li-yaẓlimahum wa-lākin kānū ʾanfusahum yaẓlimūna
Has there not come to them the account of those who were before them—the people of Noah, ‘Ad, and Tham£d, and the people of Abraham, the inhabitants of Midian, and the towns that were overturned? Their apostles brought them manifest proofs. So it was not Allah who wronged them, but it was they who used to wrong themselves.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah At-Tawbah – Verse 70
70 . “Has not the news of those before them came to them, of the people of Noah and ‘Ād and Thamūd, and the people of Abraham and the dwellers of Madyan and the subverted cities? Their Messengers came to them with clear arguments, so it was not Allah to do injustice unto them, but they unto themselves used to be unjust.”
In this holy verse, the Qur’ān addresses the Prophet (S) and, as a positive interrogation with a negative sense, says:
These are some shaking events the study and searching of which moves any person with the least feeling in his heart. Yet, Allah did not deprive them from His grace, which was His guidance and, as the verse says:
But they did hearken to none of those godly prophets and did not consider worthy their laborious troubles in the way of guiding the servants of Allah. Thus, never did Allah injustice unto them, but they unto themselves did injustice. The verse says: