قُلْ سِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَٱنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـٰقِبَةُ ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ
Qul seeroo fil ardi fanzuroo kaifa kaana 'aaqibatul mujremeen
[Prophet], say, ‘Travel through the earth and see how the evildoers ended up.’
Say: travel through the earth and see how the wrongdoers met their end.
The objection just raised was that resurrection is old storytelling, and the answer sends the objectors out on the road instead of into an argument. Meccan caravan routes ran past the ruins of ʿAd, Thamud and the towns of Lut, so the evidence being pointed at was scenery the traders already knew. ʿAqiba names the outcome that follows after, what a course of action finally amounts to.