This work is a careful examination of the punishment narratives in the Qur[ham]an, focusing on the “triangular drama” among God, Muhammad (along with the believers), and the unbelievers. Expanding the work of Horovitz, Bell, and others, Marshall's analysis builds on the observation that Qur[ham]anic narratives concerning earlier prophetic figures often reflect and comment on, more or less directly, the contemporary situation of the Prophet Muhammad. Many passages portray Noah, Hud, Salih, and others addressing their peoples in their capacity as messengers of God. They are rebuked and meet with little success in their efforts to convince the unbelievers of their misguidance and to convert them to worship of the one true God. They then warn the unbelievers of the dire punishment that awaits them should they insist on refusing to believe, but to no avail. God inflicts the threatened punishment upon the unrepentant peoples, annihilating them in a cataclysmic event: the flood in the case of Noah's people; a raging wind in the case of [ayn]Ad, the people of Hud; a shower of stones in the case of Lot's people; and so on. These narratives portray the relationship between the messengers and their recalcitrant audiences in some detail and can therefore serve as the basis for a fruitful analysis of the relationship between Muhammad and the unbelievers among his people, the Quraysh.