وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ مُهْلِكَ ٱلْقُرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ يَبْعَثَ فِىٓ أُمِّهَا رَسُولًا يَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتِنَا ۚ وَمَا كُنَّا مُهْلِكِى ٱلْقُرَىٰٓ إِلَّا وَأَهْلُهَا ظَـٰلِمُونَ
wamā kāna rabbuka muh'lika l-qurā ḥattā yabʿatha fī ummihā rasūlan yatlū ʿalayhim āyātinā wamā kunnā muh'likī l-qurā illā wa-ahluhā ẓālimūna
And never would your Lord have destroyed the cities until He had sent to their mother [i.e., principal city] a messenger reciting to them Our verses. And We would not destroy the cities except while their people were wrongdoers.
— Saheeh International
Your Lord would never destroy towns without first raising a messenger in their midst to recite Our messages to them, nor would We destroy towns unless their inhabitants were evildoers.
— M. A. S. Abdel Haleem
And never will your Lord destroy the towns (populations) until He sends to their mother town a Messenger reciting to them Our Verses. And never would We destroy the towns unless the people thereof are Zâlimûn (polytheists, wrong-doers, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allâh, oppressors and tyrants).
— Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali

