فَاعْتَبِرُوا عِبَادَ اللهِ، وَاذْكُرُوا تِيكَ الَّتي آبَاؤُكُمْ وَإِخْوَانُكُمْ بِهَا مُرْتَهَنُونَ، وَعَلَيْهَا مُحَاسَبُونَ. وَلَعَمْرِي مَا تَقَادَمَتْ بِكُمْ وَلاَ بِهِمُ الْعُهُودُ، وَلاَ خَلَتْ فِيَما بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُمُ الاَحْقَابُ وَالْقُرُونُ، وَمَا أَنْتُمُ الْيَوْمَ مِنْ يَوْمَ كُنْتُمْ فِي أَصْلاَبِهِمْ بِبَعِيد.
So take lesson O creatures of Allāh, and recall that (evil doing) with which your fathers and brothers are entangled, and for which they have to account. By my life, your time is not much behind theirs, nor have long periods or centuries lapsed between you and them, nor are you much distant from when you were in their loins.