nothing has kept these people from believing and pleading to their lord for forgiveness when guidance came to them except that the precedent of the ancients come to pass for them or that the punishment come to them face to face.
وما منع الناس أن يؤمنوا إذ جاءهم الهدى ويستغفروا ربهم إلا أن تأتيهم سنة الأولين أو يأتيهم العذاب قبلا