﴿ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّن قَرْنٍۢ فَنَادَوا۟ وَّلَاتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍۢ ﴾

“How many a generation have We destroyed before their time [for this very sin]! And [how] they called [unto Us] when it was too late to escape!”

(How many a generation) past generation (We destroyed before them) before the Quraysh, (and they cried out when it was no longer the time for escape!) the angels cried out to them upon their destruction: this is no context for attacking or fleeing; stop! And they stopped until Allah destroyed all of them. This is because before this, upon fighting an enemy, they used to say: attack all together! (Manas! Manas!). Some would therefore survive and others die. But when they were defeated by the enemy they used to cry: flee! Flee! (Manasa! Manasa!), and so they used to flee all together from the battlefield. These were two different signs whenever they engaged in fighting either to attack or to flee from the enemy. When Allah wished to destroy them, the angels cried out to them: this is no context for attacking or fleeing.