Surah al-A`raf (The Elevated Places) 7 : 69

Explanatory Note
 
All that they have been given should have made them grateful and should have warned them against being cocky and conceited so that they would not suffer the same fate as earlier nations. They had not made a covenant with God to suspend the laws of nature He had set in operation, in accordance with His design for life on earth. To remember God’s favours encourages gratitude for them, and to be grateful for God’s blessings requires that what has led to them should be assiduously maintained and preserved. Only in this way can we ensure prosperity in this life as well as in the life to come.
 
However, when human nature deviates, it ceases to think, reflect and heed warnings. Those elders behaved in the most arrogant of manners. They stopped the argument and precipitated God’s punishment, showing boredom with sincere, honest advice and paying little heed to God’s messenger’s serious warning. Their answer shows that they can hardly tolerate the manner their Prophet spoke to them in.