وَهُوَ اللَّهُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَفِي الْأَرْضِ يَعْلَمُ سِرَّكُمْ وَجَهْرَكُمْ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تَكْسِبُونَ ﴿۳﴾ وَمَا تَأْتِيهِمْ مِنْ آيَةٍ مِنْ آيَاتِ رَبِّهِمْ إِلَّا كَانُوا عَنْهَا مُعْرِضِينَ ﴿۴﴾ فَقَدْ كَذَّبُوا بِالْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِيهِمْ أَنْبَاءُ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ ﴿۵﴾ أَلَمْ يَرَوْا كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ مِنْ قَرْنٍ مَكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَا لَمْ نُمَكِّنْ لَكُمْ وَأَرْسَلْنَا السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْهِمْ مِدْرَارًا وَجَعَلْنَا الْأَنْهَارَ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهِمْ فَأَهْلَكْنَاهُمْ بِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَأَنْشَأْنَا مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ قَرْنًا آخَرِينَ ﴿۶﴾

﴾3﴿ Wa Huwal laahu fissamaawaati wa fil ardi ya'lamu sirrakum wa jahrakum wa ya'lamu maa taksiboon
﴾4﴿ Wa maa ta'teehim min Aayatim min Aayaati Rabbihim illaa kaanoo 'anhaa mu'rideen
﴾5﴿ Faqad kazzaboo bilhaqqi lammaa jaaa'ahum fasawfa ya'teehim ambaaa'u maa kaanoo bihee yastahzi'oon
﴾6﴿ Alam yaraw kam ahlaknaa min qablihim min qarnim makkannaahum fil ardi maa lam numakkil lakum wa arsalnas samaaa'a 'alaihim midraaranw wa ja'alnal anhaara tajree min tahtihim fa ahlak naahum bizunoobihim wa ansha'naa mim ba'dihim qarnan aakhareen

﴾3﴿ And it is Allah alone Who manages the affairs in the heavens and the earth; He knows your secrets and your open deeds, and He knows whatever you do.
﴾4﴿ And there does not come to them any sign from the signs of their Lord except that they turn away from it.
﴾5﴿ So indeed, they denied the truth when it came to them; but soon there will come to them news (of punishment) concerning what they used to ridicule.
﴾6﴿ Do they not see how many generations We destroyed before them, whom We had established on the earth with a strength We have not given you? And We sent down abundant rain upon them from above, and made rivers flow beneath their palaces. Then We destroyed them because of their sins, and raised up after them another generation.

[3] This is the third reason. The first three reasons pertain to the making things of Allah the Exalted—and these three matters mentioned are knowledge: the hidden word, the spoken word, and the rest of the deeds.

[4,5] This is a punishment, and three things have been mentioned in it: turning away, denial, and mockery.
"(مِنْ آيَةٍ)" means a sign, miracle, or Qur'anic verse. "مِن" is used firstly for totality and secondly for partiality.
"(فَقَدْ)" – the "fa" is for sequence, meaning that after turning away, they went on to deny and mock.
"(أَنْبَاءُ)" means consequences (punishments, retributions).
"(يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ)" means that along with denial, they also engaged in mockery.
[6] This is worldly fear, in which three blessings are mentioned: power, rain, and rivers.
And three conditions are also mentioned: two instances of destruction, and third, the emergence of other nations after them.
"(قَرْنٍ)" refers to a group of people living in the same era, and it also means a period of time, approximately one hundred years.
"(مَكَّنَّاهُمْ)" – by "power," it means lands, palaces, kingship, and wealth.
"(وَأَرْسَلْنَا)" indicates that just as they were wealthy, they also had land; thus, barren lands became fertile through rain.
"(مِدْرَارًا)" – continuously, yet according to need.
"(تَحْتِهِمْ)" – under their palaces and under their management and control, which is why "under them" was mentioned.
"(فَأَهْلَكْنَاهُمْ)" – the first destruction means the intention to destroy, and this verb is the realization of that intent; or, the first destruction was due to shirk (associating partners with Allah), and the second due to other sins.