"Thus have We sent you to a nation before which other nations have passed away," meaning: just as We sent [messengers] to the nations that had passed away before this nation. "While they disbelieve in the Most Merciful," for they used to say: As for Allah, we know Him, but as for the Most Merciful, we do not know Him. "Say, 'He is my Lord; there is no deity except Him. Upon Him I have relied, and to Him is my return,'" meaning: repentance.