وَكَذَٰلِكَ مَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ فِى قَرْيَةٍ مِّن نَّذِيرٍ إِلَّا قَالَ مُتْرَفُوهَآ إِنَّا وَجَدْنَآ ءَابَآءَنَا عَلَىٰٓ أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَىٰٓ ءَاثَـٰرِهِم مُّقْتَدُونَ
Wa kazaalika maaa arsalnaa min qablika fee qaryatim min nazeerin illaa qaala mutrafoohaaa innaa wajadnaaa aabaaa'anaa 'alaaa ummatinw wa innaa 'alaaa aasaarihim muqtadoon
When-ever We sent a messenger before you to warn a township, those corrupted by wealth said, in the same way, ‘We saw our fathers following this tradition; we are only following in their footsteps.’
And so it was: we never sent a warner to any town before you without its affluent ones saying, "We found our fathers on a certain way, and we are following in their footsteps."