The Quran

128

أَفَلَم يَهدِ لَهُم كَم أَهلَكنا قَبلَهُم مِنَ القُرونِ يَمشونَ في مَساكِنِهِم ۗ إِنَّ في ذٰلِكَ لَآياتٍ لِأُولِي النُّهىٰ

Muhammad Asad

CAN, THEN, they [who reject the truth] learn no lesson by recalling how many a generation We have destroyed before their time?¹ - [people] in whose dwelling-places they [themselves now] walk about? In this, behold, there are messages indeed for those who are endowed with reason!

Lit., "Is it, then, no guidance for them how many a generation...", etc. It is to be borne in mind that, in Qur'anic usage, the noun qarn signifies not only "a generation", but also - and rather more often - "people belonging to one particular epoch", i.e., "a civilization" in the historical sense of this term.