The Quran

Preface

وَلَولا أَن تُصيبَهُم مُصيبَةٌ بِما قَدَّمَت أَيديهِم فَيَقولوا رَبَّنا لَولا أَرسَلتَ إِلَينا رَسولًا فَنَتَّبِعَ آياتِكَ وَنَكونَ مِنَ المُؤمِنينَ

Yusuf Ali

If (We had) not (sent thee to the Quraish),- in case a calamity should seize them for (the deeds) that their hands have sent forth, they might say: “Our Lord! why didst Thou not¹ sent us a messenger? We should then have followed Thy Signs and been amongst those who believe!”

Now that a warner has co me among them with all the authority that previous Messengers possessed and with all the knowledge which can only come by divine inspiration, they have no excuse left whatever. They cannot say, “No warner came to us.' If any evil comes to them, as the inevitable result of their illdeeds, they cannot blame God and say that they were not warned. Cf. 20:134.