do We recompense the criminal people”—that is, just as We destroyed them for their disbelief, We punish and destroy the criminal people: those who disbelieve by denying Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. By this, He warns the disbelievers of Mecca of the punishment that befell the bygone nations who rejected the truth.

“Then We made you successors in the land after them, so that We might see how you would act. (14)”