Overall meaning : The Almighty asserts that whenever a sign testifying to His oneness and proving His messengers’ truthfulness comes to the unbelievers and those who ascribe partners to Him, they turn away and pay no heed whatsoever to it. They rejected the truth when it came to them from Allah, and so punishment will surely be meted out to them for mocking the truth and mocking those who has brought it.
Have these not taken warning from the example of past generations and seen how many nations Allah destroyed before them? He had established the past unbelieving nations on the earth far more firmly than He has established these unbelievers and had given them more power in the land than the power He has given such unbelievers. He also had sent down abundant rain on them, made rivers flow beneath their trees and dwellings, but, then, He destroyed them because of their sins and raised up in their wake other generations to succeed them.