and that your assumption that you will not be punished as they were when you belie the message could only be grounded in one of two claims: either you are better than those former peoples and therefore do not deserve the punishment they merited, or else Allah has expressly told you that He will not punish you—so that you possess a written guarantee preserved in the scriptures and know it by His own statement. Now, what Allah does is sometimes known through His revealed word, and sometimes through His established way, His wisdom, and His justice. Accordingly, you must have derived this assurance from one of these two avenues—this, if we look at what Allah Himself brings about, matters over which no human being has any power.

But when the issue is viewed in terms of the apparent strength of the Messenger and his followers, the disbelievers say,
“We are indeed a united host, sure to prevail.” [Q 54:44]
For they are more numerous and seemingly stronger, just as the Exalted said:
“When Our clear verses are recited to them, the disbelievers say to the believers, ‘Which of the two parties has the better station and the grander gathering?’” [Q 19:73] (73)
“Yet how many a generation We destroyed before them who were superior in possessions and outward show!” [Q 19:74]
—that is, greater in wealth and splendor.

So the Exalted declared:
“The whole host will be routed, and they will turn their backs in flight.” [Q 54:45]