Ghafir: (6) And thus the word of your Lord has come to pass...

"And thus the word of your Lord has come to pass upon those who disbelieved" (i.e., just as His Almighty decree of destruction was made obligatory upon those who banded together against the Prophets, so too has His Glorified decree of destruction become obligatory upon these who have banded together against you, namely the disbelievers of Quraysh).

"That they are the companions of the Fire" (i.e., because they are the companions of the Fire). The reason is unified, which is that they are obstinate disbelievers accused of attempting to kill the Prophet just as their predecessors were. Thus, "companions of the Fire" was placed in the stead of what was mentioned, as it is the final and worst of their attributes, which implies all the others. The phrase "that they are..." is in the position of the accusative case due to the omission of the lam of causality, as we have indicated.

It is permissible for it to be in the nominative case as a substitution (badal) for "the word of your Lord"—an exhaustive substitution (badal kull min kull) if the word is intended to mean His saying or decree that they are of the companions of the Fire; or a substitution of inclusion (badal ishtimal) if the word is intended in a broader sense. By "those who disbelieved," those specific confederates are meant. The meaning is: just as their destruction by a rooting-out torment was made obligatory in this world, their destruction by the torment of the Fire was also made obligatory in the Hereafter due to their disbelief. The first perspective is more apparent in the context.

The expression uses the title of Lordship with the addition of the pronoun referring to him—may Allah exalt him and grant him peace. "The word of your Lord" in this regard was interpreted by His Almighty's saying: "And it was incumbent upon Us to aid the believers" and similar verses. In the codex of ‘Abdullah [ibn Mas’ud], it reads "And thus it has preceded," which is, as has been said, an interpretation of the meaning and not a variant reading. Ibn Hurmuz, Shaybah, Ibn al-Qa’qa’, Nafi’, and Ibn ‘Amir recited it as "words" (plural).