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Sura 11
Aya 20
20
أُولٰئِكَ لَم يَكونوا مُعجِزينَ فِي الأَرضِ وَما كانَ لَهُم مِن دونِ اللَّهِ مِن أَولِياءَ ۘ يُضاعَفُ لَهُمُ العَذابُ ۚ ما كانوا يَستَطيعونَ السَّمعَ وَما كانوا يُبصِرونَ

Muhammad Asad

Never can they elude [their final reckoning, even if they remain unscathed] on earth:1 never will they find anyone who could protect them from God. [In the life to come] double suffering will be imposed on them2 for having lost the ability to hear [the truth] and having failed to see [it].3
  • The above interpolation is, I believe, necessary in view of the highly elliptic character of this phrase. According to Tabari, Zamakhshari and Ibn Kathir, the meaning is that whereas God's punishment may befall the sinners referred to during their life on earth, it will certainly befall them in the hereafter. Cf. also 3:185 - "only on the Day of Resurrection will you be requited in full for whatever you have done."
  • For an explanation of the "double suffering", see surah 7, note 29.
  • Lit., "they were unable to hear and they did not see": cf. 2:7 and the corresponding note 7, as well as 7:179.