The Quran

Preface

أَوَلَم يَسيروا فِي الأَرضِ فَيَنظُروا كَيفَ كانَ عاقِبَةُ الَّذينَ مِن قَبلِهِم ۚ كانوا أَشَدَّ مِنهُم قُوَّةً وَأَثارُوا الأَرضَ وَعَمَروها أَكثَرَ مِمّا عَمَروها وَجاءَتهُم رُسُلُهُم بِالبَيِّناتِ ۖ فَما كانَ اللَّهُ لِيَظلِمَهُم وَلٰكِن كانوا أَنفُسَهُم يَظلِمونَ

Yusuf Ali

Do they not travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those before them? They were superior to them in strength: they tilled the soil and populated it in greater numbers than these have done: there came to them their messengers with Clear (Signs).¹ (Which they rejected, to their own destruction): It was not God Who wronged them, but they wronged their own souls.

Let not any generation think that it is superior to all the went before it. We may be “heirs to all the ages, in the foremost files of times.” That is no reason for arrogance, but on the contrary adds to our responsibility. When we realise what flourishing cities and kingdoms existed before, how they flourished in numbers and prosperity, what chances they were given, and how they perished when they disobeyed the law of God, we shall feel a sense of humility, and see that it was rebellion and self-will that brought them down. God was more than just. He was also merciful. But they brought about their own ruin (Cf. 35:44).