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Lit., "after its [former] people". The people "who have inherited the earth" are those now living.
See surah {2}, note [7]. Here, again, we have an affirmation that what the Qur'an describes as "God's punishment" (as well as "God's reward") is, in reality, a consequence of man's own doings, and not an arbitrary act of God: it is "by means of their sins" (bi-dhunubihim) that God "sets a seal" upon the hearts of men. This statement is further elucidated at the end of verse {101}.
The stories which have been related should give a warning to present and future generations which have inherited the land, the power, or the experience of the past. They should know that if they fall into the same sins they will meet with the same fate: when through their contumacy their hearts are hardened, they do not listen to the advice that falls on their ears.