وَلَقَدْ أَهْلَكْنَا مَا حَوْلَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْقُرَىٰ وَصَرَّفْنَا ٱلْـَٔايَـٰتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ Qur’an Al-Ahqaf (46:27)Walaqad ahlakn a m a h awlakum mina alqur a wa s arrafn a al a y a ti laAAallahum yarjiAAoon a
I.e., "close to you in space as well as in time". In its wider sense, this phrase denotes "all the rest of the world".
In Arabian history and tradition alone, to say nothing of Allah's Signs elsewhere, sin inevitably suffered its Punishment, and in various ways. Would not the later people take warning?