وَلَقَدْ سَبَقَتْ كَلِمَتُنَا لِعِبَادِنَا ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ
Wa laqad sabaqat Kalimatunaa li'ibaadinal mursa leen
And olsun ki, peygamber kullarımıza söz vermişizdir.
And our word has already gone forth to our servants, the messengers:
Sabaqat places the promise ahead of the events in time, so the verdict stood before any of the prophets in this surah ever met their people. That ordering explains the shape of the whole chapter, which has just run through one deliverance after another, from Nuh to Yunus, each an instance of a decision already taken. The messengers are called servants first, with the title of messenger following it.