And there followed them successors who inherited the Scripture [while] taking the commodities of this lower life and saying, "It will be forgiven for us." And if an offer like it comes to them, they will [again] take it. Was not the covenant of the Scripture [i.e., the Torah] taken from them that they would not say about Allāh except the truth, and they studied what was in it? And the home of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Allāh, so will you not use reason?
Sahih International
فَخَلَفَ
fakhalafa
Then succeeded
Word breakdown
فَ
Harf · Resumption particlethen
خَلَفَ
Fi'l · VerbThen succeeded
to come after, succeed, replace; successor, opposition
127× in the Quran · Common
Grammar rules
فَخَلَفَ (Then succeeded) is a past tense verb — the action already happened and is complete.
We translate it in past tense — "did", "created", "said", etc.
Lesson 8 · Verbs — Past & Present