134 Preface وَلَو أَنّا أَهلَكناهُم بِعَذابٍ مِن قَبلِهِ لَقالوا رَبَّنا لَولا أَرسَلتَ إِلَينا رَسولًا فَنَتَّبِعَ آياتِكَ مِن قَبلِ أَن نَذِلَّ وَنَخزىٰAli Quli QaraiHad We destroyed them with a punishment before it,1 they would have surely said, ‘Our Lord! Why did You not send us an apostle so that we might follow Your signs before we were abased and disgraced?’ That is, before the revelation of the Qurʾān.