And when it was established that this is His affair; if He intends to destroy; He informed that He did that with those whom the count cannot encompass from the generations; nor can the limit encompass them from the nations; because considering the observed is more impactful in the heart; and more terrifying to the soul; as if He said: How many have We done this to the towns; and We did not hasten in destroying a town among them; nor did We take them without warning; rather We sent among them; and We gave them respite; until that which We knew in the beginning occurred; and the time that We had decreed came; and they reached in sins what they deserved to be taken for; and We certainly destroyed the people of Noah upon this pattern; and they were the inhabitants of the earth; as the indication has passed to it; and the warning occurred upon it; and their destruction was in conveying to the inhabitants of the earth what We sent Our messengers with; of monotheism; because that was not lightened for anyone after them; and He referred to this decree with His saying (the Most High): "And how many We have destroyed"; meaning: by what We have of greatness; and He clarified the meaning of "how many"; with His saying (the Most High): "from the generations"; upon this pattern.

And when the destruction was by the punishment of total annihilation; it did not encompass what came after it; He included the neighbor; so He said (the Most High): "after Noah"; who you are the offspring of the one whom We saved (p-394) with the carrying with him; with their sins; We gave them respite until We had excused ourselves to them; then We took them in varying periods; so some of them had a shorter period than others; and some of them We saved after We had surrounded them with the signs of punishment; and as for those before Noah, the apparent from the wording of the Torah; and the silence of the Qur'an; is that they were not disbelievers; and many of the interpreters have stated this; in the interpretation of: "the people were one nation" [Al-Baqarah: 213].

And when that might necessitate to say: How can the silent be punished; with the possibility of his excuse due to inability; or otherwise? He said - refuting that; leaving the appearance of greatness; kindly towards this noble Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -; in a general state -: "And sufficient is your Lord"; meaning: the one who is gracious to you by pardoning your nation; and their successors; from total annihilation; "for the sins of His servants"; meaning: because He created them; and decreed what is in them of all movements; and stillness; "All-Aware"; from the beginning; for He knows the secret and what is more hidden; and as for you, you are not there; so how many a person you used to see among the great righteous; then his outcome at the time of trial revealed that he is among the most astray of the misguided; "Seeing"; with it; when it occurs, nothing from it is hidden from Him; and as for you, how many a person (p-395) you used to see striving in worship; then when he was alone, he confronted his Lord with great sins.