You are reading a tafsir for the group of verses 40:21 to 40:22
اَوَلَمْ
یَسِیْرُوْا
فِی
الْاَرْضِ
فَیَنْظُرُوْا
كَیْفَ
كَانَ
عَاقِبَةُ
الَّذِیْنَ
كَانُوْا
مِنْ
قَبْلِهِمْ ؕ
كَانُوْا
هُمْ
اَشَدَّ
مِنْهُمْ
قُوَّةً
وَّاٰثَارًا
فِی
الْاَرْضِ
فَاَخَذَهُمُ
اللّٰهُ
بِذُنُوْبِهِمْ ؕ
وَمَا
كَانَ
لَهُمْ
مِّنَ
اللّٰهِ
مِنْ
وَّاقٍ
۟
ذٰلِكَ
بِاَنَّهُمْ
كَانَتْ
تَّاْتِیْهِمْ
رُسُلُهُمْ
بِالْبَیِّنٰتِ
فَكَفَرُوْا
فَاَخَذَهُمُ
اللّٰهُ ؕ
اِنَّهٗ
قَوِیٌّ
شَدِیْدُ
الْعِقَابِ
۟
3

In the history of the world it has happened frequently that one nation or community rises to great heights, but is then annihilated. One finds that a nation once gave birth to a grand civilization and today that civilization is traceable only through its half buried ruins. A nation which once enjoyed the position of a live entity is today considered worthy of mention only as a matter of historical record. Such events are a common occurence. But people have attributed them to geological phenomena or to historical revolutions. But the fact is that the fall of nations has always resulted from Divine decisions, which were imposed on the concerned peoples on account of their denial of the Truth. Had we possessed the insight to see the reality behind the events we will find that every event took place through the angels of God, though to all appearances, its causes were of a worldly nature.