– Do you not see how your Lord dealt with ‘Ād . . . ?

In a kind of shorthand, the Quran refers to a series of punishment stories that have already appeared a number of times. For the ‘Ād and Thamūd stories, see 7.65 and 7.73, respectively. “Iram” (v. 7) and the “stakes” of Pharaoh (v. 10) are obscure, but what these stories are to illustrate is clear: peoples who “transgressed insolently” (v. 11) were punished.