And surely, We have destroyed from the countries around you, and We explained Our verses so that they may return.
Since Mecca is the center of the world and this verse was revealed in Mecca, It refers to the towns destroyed earlier as “around you.” Previous people were destroyed when they became Mujirims, wrongdoers, and transgressors by forgetting Adhikr, as explained in verses 6: 47; 7: 84; 46: 25 and 35. The Fujjar (the Mujirims) have read in verse 83: 29 that they will ridicule the believer who testifies to Adhikr in this world. They have also read verses 25: 33–34, which state that those who do not testify to Adhikr—the Best Interpretation of the Lord’s Book—will be dragged into Hell prone on their faces, such are in the worst place and are the most strayed; and verses 5: 44, 45, and 47, which state that whoever does not judge with Adhikr in individual, family, and social life are disbelievers, wrongdoers, and transgressors. See explanation 2: 18, 170; 30: 41; and 32: 21–22.