أَفَلَمْ يَهْدِ لَهُمْ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُم مِّنَ ٱلْقُرُونِ يَمْشُونَ فِى مَسَـٰكِنِهِمْ ۗ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍ لِّأُو۟لِى ٱلنُّهَىٰ Qur’an Ta-Ha (20:128)Afalam yahdi lahum kam ahlakna qablahum mina alqurooni yamshoona fee masakinihim inna fee thalika laayatin liolee alnnuha
Lit., "Is it, then, no guidance for them how many a generation.. .", etc. It is to be borne in mind that, in Qur'anic usage, the noun -tarn signifies not only "a generation", but also - and rather more often-"people belonging to one particular epoch", i.e.. "a civilization" in the historical sense of this term.
Cf. xx. 54. This phrase concluded the argument of Moses with Pharaoh about Pharaoh's blindness to Allah and the Signs of Allah. Now it concludes the more general argument about men, concerning whom the saying arose: 'none are so blind as those who will not sec.'