"Has there not reached you the news of those before you..."

Has there not reached you the news of those before you – the people of Noah and Aad and Thamud and those after them? No one knows them [i.e., their number] but Allah. Their messengers brought them clear proofs, but they returned their hands to their mouths[1] and said, "Indeed, we disbelieve in that with which you have been sent, and indeed we are, about that to which you invite us, in disquieting doubt."