[2278] In this instance, given the context, it means the Makkan Deniers (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[2279] For a refutation and a detailed discussion of their argument cf. 6: 8-9 and 17: 94-95.
[2280] Qadama ṣidq (lit. a foot of truthfulness); qadam is a sending forth (taqdimah) of good deeds; a person who pulls ahead of others, for good or for bad, was figuratively called qadam (lit. foot) by Arabians (cf. Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah, 2: 489, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt). Here it means that for the Believers is felicity as has been earlier decreed by God and written in the Preserved Tablet for their sending forth of good deeds and Believing in Muhammad (ﷺ) who guided them to the path that leads to Paradise (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Saʿdī).
[2281] They could only rationalize the Message’s bewildering effect by saying that it bewitches people (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, Riḍā, Ibn ʿĀshūr).