وَاِذْ قَالَتْ اُمَّةٌ مِّنْهُمْ لِمَ تَعِظُوْنَ قَوْمًاۙ ۨاللّٰهُ مُهْلِكُهُمْ اَوْ مُعَذِّبُهُمْ عَذَابًا شَدِيْدًاۗ قَالُوْا مَعْذِرَةً اِلٰى رَبِّكُمْ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُوْنَ ( الأعراف: ١٦٤ )
Wa iz qaalat ummatum minhum lima ta'izoona qaw manil laahu muhlikuhum aw mu'azzibuhum 'azaaban shadeedan qaaloo ma'ziratan ilaa Rabbikum wa la'allahum tattaqoon (al-ʾAʿrāf 7:164)
Sahih International:
And when a community among them said, "Why do you advise [or warn] a people whom Allah is [about] to destroy or to punish with a severe punishment?" they [the advisors] said, "To be absolved before your Lord and perhaps they may fear Him." (Al-A'raf [7] : 164)
1 Mufti Taqi Usmani
When a group of them said, “Why do you exhort a people whom Allah is going to destroy or chastise with a severe punishment?” They said, “To absolve ourselves before your Lord, and in order that they may fear Allah.”