Tafseer of The Forgiver · Ghafir · 40:6
And thus has the word of your Lord come into effect upon those who disbelieved that they are companions of the Fire.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of the Exalted: وَكَذَلِكَ حَقَّتْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّهُمْ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ("And thus was the word of your Lord fulfilled against those who disbelieved, that they are the inhabitants of the Fire") (6)
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And just as against the communities who denied their messengers — whose stories I have related to you, O Muḥammad (the Prophet ﷺ) — My punishment was fulfilled and My chastisement descended upon them on account of their denial of their messengers and their disputing with them by means of falsehood in order thereby to refute the truth, so too has the word of your Lord become obligatory against those who disbelieved in Allāh among your people, those who dispute concerning the signs of Allāh.
And His words: أَنَّهُمْ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ("that they are the inhabitants of the Fire"). The scholars of the Arabic language differed concerning the grammatical case-position of His words أنَّهُمْ ("that they"). Some of the grammarians of Baṣra said: its meaning is: the word of your Lord was fulfilled against those who disbelieved — "that they are the inhabitants of the Fire," that is to say: because they, or on account of the fact that they. "Annahum" here does not stand in the position of a direct object, as when you say: "I verified that they..."; were it so, then it would also be "I verified" (aḥqaqtu), because "li-annahum" (because they). Another said: "annahum" is an appositive (badal) to the word (al-kalima), as if it were: the word was fulfilled as a truth, namely that they are the inhabitants of the Fire.
And the correct judgment concerning this is that His words "annahum" are a further clarification (tarjama) of the word (al-kalima), in the meaning: and thus was fulfilled against them the punishment of the Fire, which Allāh promised to the people of disbelief.
