But how many (countless) generations before them(2533) have We destroyed? Canst thou find a single one of them (now) or hear (so much as) a whisper of them?
2533 Cf. 19:74, from which this sentence is brought up as a reminiscence, showing the progress of sin, the Guidance which Allah gives to the good, the degradation of blasphemy, the respite granted, and the final End, when personal responsibility will be enforced.