And if We had destroyed them with a torment before this (i.e. Messenger Muhammad SAW and the Quran), they would surely have said: "Our Lord! If only You had sent us a Messenger, we should certainly have followed Your Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), before we were humiliated and disgraced."
و اگر آنان را پیش از نزول قرآن هلاک می کردیم، قطعاً می گفتند: پروردگارا! چرا رسولی به سوی ما نفرستادی تا پیش از آنکه خوار و رسوا شویم، آیات تو را پیروی کنیم.