When Our angelic Messengers brought glad news to Abraham, they told him, "We are about to destroy the people of this town for their injustice". 31 [And when Abraham] exclaimed, "But Lot lives there!" - they answered: We know fully well who is there; most certainly we shall save him and his household - all but his wife: she will indeed be among those that stay behind." 32 And when Our Messengers came to Lut, he was grieved on their account, and felt himself powerless (to protect) them: but they said: "Fear thou not, nor grieve: we are (here) to save thee and thy following, except thy wife: she is of those who lag behind. 33 We shall bring down upon the people of this city a scourge from the heaven because of their evildoing.” 34 And indeed We have left thereof an evident Ayah (a lesson and a warning and a sign the place where the Dead Sea is now in Palestine) for a folk who understand. 35 We sent to the people of Midian their brother Shu`ayb. He told them, "Worship God. Have hope in the life to come. Do not spread evil in the land". 36 But they denied him, so the earthquake seized them, and they became within their home [corpses] fallen prone. 37 And We destroyed the A’ad and the Thamud, and you already know their dwellings; Satan made their deeds appear good to them and prevented them from the path, whereas they could perceive. 38 And (We destroyed) Qaroon, Firaun and Haman; and indeed Moosa came to them with clear signs, so they were arrogant in the land, and they could never escape from Our control. 39 And We seized all of them for their crimes. Against some We sent a violent wind hurling stones, and some We seized with a mighty blast, and some We submerged under the earth, and some We drowned. It was not for God to wrong them, they wronged themselves. 40 The case of those who took others than Allah as their protectors is that of a spider who builds a house; but the frailest of all houses is the spider's house; if they only knew. 41 Verily, Allah knows what things they invoke instead of Him. He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise. 42 These are the parables that We set forth to make people understand. But only those endowed with knowledge will comprehend them. 43 God created the heavens and the earth with the truth; surely in that is a sign to the believers. 44