وَيَا قَوْمِ اسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوا إِلَيْهِ يُرْسِلِ السَّمَاءَ عَلَيْكُم مِّدْرَارًا وَيَزِدْكُمْ قُوَّةً إِلَىٰ قُوَّتِكُمْ وَلَا تَتَوَلَّوْا مُجْرِمِينَ (52)
(11:52) My people! Ask your Lord for forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance. He will shower abundant rains upon you from the heaven, and will add strength to your strength. *57 Do not turn away as those given to guilt.'
*57). This is a reiteration of what was said earlier, 'that you may seek forgiveness of your Lord and turn to Him in repentance whereupon He will grant you a fair enjoyment of life until an appointed term'. (See verse 3 above.) We learn from this that the rise and fall of a nation's fortunes depends on moral factors. For God's rule over the world is based on moral rather than physical laws which are bereft of all distinction between good and evil. The Qur'an has repeatedly mentioned that when a nation receives God's Message through a Prophet, the fate of that nation depends entirely on how it responds to it. If that nation accepts the Message, God lavishes His bounties and blessings upon it. However, if that nation spurns the Message, it is destroyed.
This is a provision of the moral law according to which God deals with human beings. Another provision of this law is that any nation which, deluded by its worldly prosperity, has recourse to wrong-doing and sin, is doomed to destruction. However, if the people in question while proceeding speedily towards their tragic end, realize their mistake, give up their disobedience of God and sincerely return to His worship and service, their evil end is averted and their term is extended. Not only that but they are also judged to be deserving of reward instead of punishment, and God even ordains that they may attain well-being and ascendancy.