Tafsir of Sad 38:6

{ الْمَلَأُ }: The nobles of Quraysh. It means: They departed from the gathering of Abu Talib after the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) silenced them with a ready response, saying to one another:

{ امْشُوا وَاصْبِرُوا }: "Walk on and be patient," for you have no stratagem to repel the affair of Muhammad.

{ إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَشَيْءٌ يُرَادُ }: That is, something that Allah Almighty wills and decrees to be carried out; and what Allah wills to exist, there is no turning it back, and nothing is of use against it except patience.

Alternatively, it means: This affair is one of the calamities of time intended for us, from which there is no escape. Or: Your religion is something that is "sought" (yurad), meaning it is being targeted to be taken from you and for you to be overcome in it.

The particle { أَن } (in "an isbiru") functions as "that" (ay). Since those departing from a council of debate must necessarily speak and deliberate on what transpired, their departure implies the meaning of speech. It is also permissible that "departure" (inṭilāq) refers to the outburst of speech.

"Walk on" (امشوا) may also mean: "Increase and gather," derived from the phrase "the woman walked" (mashat) when she has many children. From this comes the word māshiyah (livestock), used as an optimistic term, just as it is called fāshiyah (that which spreads). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Gather your livestock (fawāshīkum)."

{ وَاصْبِرُوا عَلَىٰ آلِهَتِكُمْ }: Be patient in worshipping them and holding fast to them, so that you do not deviate from them.

It is recited: "Wa-inṭalaqa al-mala'u minhum imshū" without the "an," implying a hidden verb of speech. Ibn Mas'ud recited: "Wa-inṭalaqa al-mala'u minhum yamshūna an iṣbirū."

{ فِي الْمِلَّةِ الْآخِرَةِ }: In the religion of Jesus, which is the last of the religions, because the Christians innovate in it, being Trinitarians, not monotheists. Or: In the religion of Quraysh upon which we found our forefathers.

Or: "We have not heard of this in the 'last religion'," treating "in the last religion" as a state (ḥāl) of "this" (hādhā), rather than connecting it to "we have heard" as in the previous two interpretations. The meaning is: We have not heard from the People of the Book nor from the soothsayers that the Oneness of Allah would occur in the last religion.

{ مَا هَٰذَا إِلَّا اخْتِلَاقٌ }: That is, fabrication and lying.

{ أَأُنزِلَ عَلَيْهِ الذِّكْرُ مِن بَيْنِنَا ۚ بَلْ هُمْ فِي شَكٍّ مِّن ذِكْرِي ۖ بَل لَّمَّا يَذُوقُوا عَذَابِ * أَمْ عِندَهُمْ خَزَائِنُ رَحْمَةِ رَبِّكَ الْعَزِيزِ الْوَهَّابِ * أَم لَهُم مُّلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا ۖ فَلْيَرْتَقُوا فِي الْأَسْبَابِ * جُندٌ مَّا هُنَالِكَ مَهْزُومٌ مِّنَ الْأَحْزَابِ }