Allah (swt) starts the stories of the destroyed nations by mentioning the people of ‘Ad and Thamud. All of them were destroyed a long time ago. None of their offspring remained although they were very powerful.

(  وَجَاءَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَن قَبْلَهُ وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ بِالْخَاطِئَةِ ) (…And there came Pharaoh and those before him and the overturned cities with sin): Pharaoh came and the nations before him came with sin as well as the overturned cities.

  (… وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ… ) (…the overturned cities …): They are the people of Lut. The Arabic word refers to something that is turned up side down. They are called so because their village was turned up side down. Allah (swt) says:

وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَةَ أَهْوَىٰ (53) فَغَشَّاهَا مَا غَشَّىٰ

(And the overturned towns He hurled down (53) And covered them by that which He covered.) (An-Najm: 53-54)

So it was turned upside down. The source word of this Arabic word also may mean to turn something away from its reality. This meaning is very clear in the following verse:

قَالُوا أَجِئْتَنَا لِتَأْفِكَنَا عَنْ آلِهَتِنَا

(They said, “Have you come to delude us away from our gods?) (Al-Ahqaf: 22)

The overturned cities are the cities of the people who were doing the grave sin. Allah (swt) says:

 فَلَمَّا جَاءَ أَمْرُنَا جَعَلْنَا عَالِيَهَا سَافِلَهَا وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَيْهَا حِجَارَةً مِّن سِجِّيلٍ مَّنضُودٍ

(So when Our command came, We made the highest part [of the city] its lowest and rained upon them stones of layered hard clay, [which were]) (Hud: 82)

The villages of the people of Lut are: Sadoon, Dadoma, Da’uh, ‘Amora and Qutum.

(  بِالْخَاطِئَةِ … ) (…with sin): Hence, the people of Pharoah of Egypt and the nations which came before him, as well as the people of Lut committed the greatest sins which are the disbelief and other sins. For example, Thamud killed the she-camel, the people of ‘Ad disbelieved their prophet Hud (PBUH), Pharoah disbelieved and claimed divinity and the people of Lut committed the obscenity which none had committed before them.