5 Preface فَما كانَ دَعواهُم إِذ جاءَهُم بَأسُنا إِلّا أَن قالوا إِنّا كُنّا ظالِمينَYusuf AliWhen (thus) Our punishment took them, no cry did they utter but this: “Indeed we did wrong.”1The spiritual story of man begins with a prelude. Think of the towns and nations ruined by their iniquity. God gave them many opportunities, and sent them warners and teachers. But they arrogantly went on in their evil ways, till some dreadful calamity came like a thief in the night and wiped out their traces. In a warm climate the disturbance in the heat of the midday rest is even more than the disturbance at night. It was when the catastrophe came that the people realised their sins, but it was too late.