أَتَّخَذْنَـٰهُمْ سِخْرِيًّا أَمْ زَاغَتْ عَنْهُمُ ٱلْأَبْصَـٰرُ Qur’an Sad (38:63)Attakha th n a hum sikhriyyan am z a ghat AAanhumu alab sa r u
I.e., the prophets and the righteous, who - as the Qur'an points out in many places - have always been derided by people enamoured of the life of this world and, therefore, averse to all moral exhortation.
In other words, did we underestimate them?