36 Preface وَكَم أَهلَكنا قَبلَهُم مِن قَرنٍ هُم أَشَدُّ مِنهُم بَطشًا فَنَقَّبوا فِي البِلادِ هَل مِن مَحيصٍYusuf AliBut how many generations before them did We destroy (for their sins),- stronger in power1 than they? Then did they wander through the land: was there any place of escape (for them)?While virtue and righteousness will accomplish their final goal, what will be the End of Sin? Let the past tell its story. Many powerful and arrogant generations were swept away, to stray in the paths of misery, without any way of escape from the consequences of their sin. This was already seen in the life of this world. In the world to come, it will be worse, as already stated in verses 24-26 above.