And there had already strayed before them most of the former peoples, (37:71)

﴿وَلَقَدْ ضَلَّ قَبْلَهُمْ أَكْثَرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ﴾
[ الصافات: 71]

37:71 And there had already strayed before them most of the former peoples,

Verily, the majority of people before them also went astray.
So O Messenger, those to whom you have been sent are not the first to go astray.

And indeed most of the men of old went astray before them;

phonetic Transliteration

Walaqad dalla qablahum aktharu alawwaleena

Abdullah Yusuf Ali - Translation

And truly before them, many of the ancients went astray;-

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And indeed most of the earlier ones went astray before them;

Page 448 English transliteration