6ما آمَنَت قَبلَهُم مِن قَريَةٍ أَهلَكناها ۖ أَفَهُم يُؤمِنونَMuhammad AsadNot one of the communities that We destroyed in bygone times1 would ever believe [their prophets]:wilt these, then, [be more willing to] believe?2Lit., "before them".The downfall of those communities of old - frequently referred to in the Qur'an - was invariably due to the fact that they had been resolved to ignore all spiritual truths which militated against their own, materialistic concept of life: is it, then (so the Qur'anic argument goes), reasonable to expect that the opponents of the Prophet Muhammad, who are similarly motivated, would be more willing to consider his message on its merits?