20 Preface أُولٰئِكَ لَم يَكونوا مُعجِزينَ فِي الأَرضِ وَما كانَ لَهُم مِن دونِ اللَّهِ مِن أَولِياءَ ۘ يُضاعَفُ لَهُمُ العَذابُ ۚ ما كانوا يَستَطيعونَ السَّمعَ وَما كانوا يُبصِرونَYusuf AliThey will in no wise frustrate (His design) on earth, nor have they protectors besides God. Their penalty1 will be doubled! They lost the power to hear, and they did not see!Cf. 7:38. In this context, it is implied that they committed a twofold wrong: (1) in inventing falsehoods against God, which deadened their own soul, and (2) in leading others astray or hindering them from God’s path. Thus they lost the faculty of hearing, which they might have used to hear the Word of God, and they blinded the faculty of sight by shutting out God’s light, (see also 25:69 and 33:68).