Parables of the QuranA parable of the Quran · Yaseen 36:13–29
مثل أصحاب القرية
A town that rejected the messengers sent to it, held up as a lesson for those who reject the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ is told to strike for those who reject him the parable of the people of the town, when messengers came to them calling them to worship Allah alone (36:13), and what followed from their denial.
As-Sa'di notes that had naming the town been of any benefit, Allah would have named it; trying to identify it is speaking without knowledge, and those who do so contradict one another. The point is the lesson: the town was made an example for those being addressed, of what happens to those who reject Allah's messengers.
وَٱضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلًا أَصْحَـٰبَ ٱلْقَرْيَةِ إِذْ جَآءَهَا ٱلْمُرْسَلُونَ ١٣
And present to them an example: the people of the city, when the messengers came to it -
Saheeh International · QuranEnc v1.1.2
13. And put forward to them a similitude: the (story of the) dwellers of the town, [it is said that the town was Antioch (Antâkiya)], when there came Messengers to them.