Tafsir of Al-Anfal 8:46

"And obey Allah and His Messenger..." That is, in everything you do and everything you leave. Included in this is what you have been commanded here.

"...and do not dispute..." Through a divergence of opinions, as you did at Badr and Uhud. It is also read as wa lā tanazza‘ū with a shaddah on the tā’.

"...lest you fail..." Meaning: lest you become cowardly before your enemy and weaken in fighting them. The verb is in the accusative case due to an implied an (to) in the answer to the prohibition. It is also possible that it is jussive, as a conjunction to it.

His saying, Exalted is He: "...and your wind depart," in the accusative, is conjoined to tafshalū (fail) based on the first possibility. Isa ibn Umar read it as wa yadhaba (and it departs) with a yā’ of the third person and the jussive mood; this is also a conjunction to it based on the second possibility.

As Al-Akhfash said, "the wind" is a metaphor for the state/dominion, because of their resemblance in the penetration of their command and its movement. Among their expressions is "So-and-so’s winds have blown," meaning the dominion has turned in his favor and his affairs proceed as he desires; and "His winds have stalled," meaning it has turned away from him and his affairs have retreated. He said: When your winds blow, seize the opportunity, For every moving thing has a stillness. Do not neglect to do good while they blow, For you do not know when the stillness will be.

According to Qatadah and Ibn Zayd, what is intended by it is "the wind of victory." They both said: There was never a victory except with a wind that Allah, Exalted is He, sends, striking the faces of the enemy.

Uthman ibn Muqarrin said: "I witnessed [battles] with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and when he did not fight at the beginning of the day, he would wait until the sun inclined and the winds blew." Upon this view, the "wind" is to be taken in its literal sense. It is also permitted that it is a metonym for victory, and Mujahid interpreted it as such.

"...and be patient..." Against the hardships of war.

"...indeed Allah is with the patient." By way of reinforcement and assistance, and what is understood from the word "with" regarding their precedence, based on the well-known view, is that since they are the ones who directly perform the patience, they are leaders from that perspective.