Surah Hud (Hud), Verse 116

فَلَوْلَا كَانَ مِنَ الْقُرُوْنِ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ اُولُوْا بَقِیَّةٍ یَّنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْفَسَادِ فِی الْاَرْضِ اِلَّا قَلِیْلًا مِّمَّنْ اَنْجَیْنَا مِنْهُمْ وَاتَّبَعَ الَّذِیْنَ ظَلَمُوْا مَاۤ اُتْرِفُوْا فِیْهِ وَكَانُوْا مُجْرِمِیْنَ ۟

Falaw laa kaana minal qurooni min qablikum ooloo baqiyyatiny yanhawna 'anil fasaadi fil ardi illaa qaleelam mimman anjainaa minhum; wattaba'al lazeena zalamoo maaa utrifoo feehi wa kaanoo mujrimeen

“Why were there not, among the generations before you, persons possessed of balanced good sense, prohibiting (men) from mischief in the earth - except a few among them whom We saved (from harm)? But the wrong-doers pursued the enjoyment of the good things of life which were given them, and persisted in sin.”

Quran 11:116 (Yusuf Ali Translation)