If only there had been a few stalwarts among the communities that flourished prior to you, with a vestige of virtue retained in them to warn their folk against perpetrating feud in the land, - like the few amongst them whom We delivered! But the evil-doers remained engrossed in comforts given to them and persisted with their sinful deeds!

(How sad it is that the gates of Allah's mercy and forgiveness stand open night and day for those who wish to enter them and yet there are not many who seek the path that leads to them! This is a reflection on the dedication of those who are in a position to provide guidance to the confused, give directions to the lost, give courage to the meek, revive the spirits of the dispirited, put a stick in the hands of the blind, bring light into darkness and infuse knowledge in the ignorant. If those who were delivered by Allah in the past had done more to help others avoid their doom, the stories of the lost generations would have had happier endings. But there were not many who bothered!)