And He, exalted is He, also said:

“Had We destroyed them with a punishment before this, they would surely have said, ‘Our Lord, why did You not send a messenger to us, so that we might follow Your signs before we were humiliated and disgraced?’” (Ta-Ha 134)

This verse shows that He would not punish the unbelievers until He had first sent a messenger to them. It also makes clear that, even before the messenger arrived, they had already earned deeds that merit wrath and censure and constitute a cause for punishment; yet the very condition for that punishment is that the conclusive proof be established against them through the message.