His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And the leaders among them went forth, saying, 'Walk away and be patient over your gods. Indeed, this is a thing intended.'" "We have not heard of this in the last religion. This is nothing but a fabrication." "Has the reminder been sent down upon him from among us? Rather, they are in doubt about My reminder. Rather, they have not yet tasted My punishment." "Or do they have the treasures of the mercy of your Lord, the Exalted, the Bestower?" It has been narrated in the stories of this verse that the nobles of Quraysh and their group gathered at the time of the illness of Abu Talib, the uncle of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. They said, 'It is disgraceful for us that Abu Talib dies and we harm Muhammad after him, so that the Arabs say: They left him during the lifetime of his uncle. When he died, they harmed him. But let us go to Abu Talib, so that he may be fair to us regarding him, and let him establish a bond between us and him.' So they went to him and said, 'O Abu Talib, indeed Muhammad insults and belittles our opinions and the opinions of our forefathers, and we cannot agree with him on that. But separate between us and him in your lifetime, by letting him stay in his home worshipping his Lord whom he claims, and let him leave our gods and their insults, and let him not harm any of us with anything of this.' So Abu Talib sent for Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and said, 'O Muhammad, indeed your people have called you to fairness, which is that you leave them and worship your Lord alone.' He said, 'Is there anything other than that, O uncle?' He said, 'What is it?' He said, 'They will give me a word by which the Arabs will be bound to them and the non-Arabs will pay them tribute.' They said, 'What is it? For we hasten to it.' He said, 'There is no god but Allah.' So they fled at that and said, 'What do you want from us other than this?' He said, 'By Allah, if you were to give me the earth in gold and wealth...' In one narration: 'If you were to place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, I would not be pleased with anything other than it from you.' So they stood up at that, and some of them said, 'Has he made the gods one god? Indeed, this is a strange thing.' And they repeated this meaning, and 'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt said, "Walk away and be patient over your gods." The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: I have brought this report in full meaning, and in some of its narrations there are additions and omissions, but the purpose is similar. 'And when they went away, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: O uncle, say: There is no god but Allah, a word I will bear witness for you with before Allah.' He said: 'By Allah, if it were not for it to be a disgrace for my sons after me, I would have accepted it in your presence.' And he died while saying: 'Upon the religion of Abdul Muttalib.' So this was revealed: "Indeed, you do not guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He wills." (Al-Qasas: 56). So His saying, glorified and exalted is He, in this verse: "And the leaders among them went forth" is an expression of their departure from Abu Talib and their leaving that gathering. This is the saying of a group of the interpreters. And a faction said: It is an expression of their spreading these sayings, as if it were as people say: The people went forth in supplication for the prince, and so on, meaning: Their words spread with that. And "the leaders" refers to the nobles and chiefs who represent the entirety in opinions and so on.

And His saying: ﴿Walk﴾, "An" is an explanatory term that has no place here. It may be that it is in a position of accusative by dropping the preposition, meaning: by (that), so it is in the estimation of the source, as if he said: And the assembly among them departed with their saying: Walk. The meaning of the verse is that some of them said to one another: Walk and be patient regarding all matters of your deities. Some people went to the view that their saying: ﴿Walk﴾ is a call to gain livestock. This is weak; for it would have to be that the alif is separated, as it is said: "The man walked" when he became a possessor of livestock. Also, this meaning is not firmly established in the verse. Rather, the meaning is: Proceed on your way and continue in your walking, or it could mean a command to move one's feet, which they said at the time of their departure. And it is in the Mushaf of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: "And the assembly among them departed walking, saying: Be patient." And their saying: ﴿Indeed, this is a thing intended﴾, they intend the appearance of Muhammad ﷺ and his elevation in prophethood, meaning: we are intended to submit to him.

And their saying: ﴿We have not heard of this﴾, they mean by this saying that the deity is one. The interpreters differed regarding their saying: ﴿In the last religion﴾. Mujahid said: They meant their religion and their sect which the Arabs follow. It is said that whatever a nation follows is a religion. Ibn Abbas and Al-Suddi said: They meant the religion of the Christians.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is directed to the fact that it is a well-known religion in which there is trinity, and that the deity is not one. And a group said: The meaning of their saying: ﴿We have not heard﴾ is: We have not heard that there could be such a thing, nor that it is said in the last religion which we used to hear would be in the end of times.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is because before his prophethood, blessings and peace be upon him, people felt the emergence of a prophet and the occurrence of a religion and a faith. What has been narrated from the scholars of the monks indicates the validity of this, and what has been narrated from Shiq and Sati'h, and what the Children of Israel used to believe that it would be among them. And their saying: ﴿This is nothing but a fabrication﴾ refers to all that Muhammad ﷺ informs about Allah, the Exalted.

Then they said: In a manner of confirmation from some of them to others, and this includes denial, ﴿The reminder is upon him from among us, rather﴾. Meaning: We are the noble leaders, so why was this specified? And how can this be correct? So Allah, the Exalted, refuted their saying with what "rather" necessitates; for the meaning is not the specification of Allah and His grace running according to their desires, ﴿Rather, they are in doubt about My reminder﴾, meaning: in doubt that this reminder of Allah is true. Then He threatened them with His saying: ﴿Rather, they have not yet tasted the punishment﴾, meaning: if they had tasted it, they would have realized that this message is true, meaning: they, due to their ignorance, do not clarify for them the consideration, but rather the punishment itself clarifies for them. And Ibn Mas'ud read: "Or was it sent down" with a meem between the two hamzahs.

Then He made them stop as a proof against them. Do they have the mercy of Allah and its treasures, which contain guidance, prophethood, and every virtue? Will they have control over the message and other blessings of Allah? And 'or' here does not have an equivalent 'alif', as it is the disjoined one, which means a break from the first speech and a question. Sibawayh estimated it with 'rather and the alif', as the Arabs say: 'Indeed, it is for camels or for sheep.' The treasures of mercy are metaphorical, as if the meaning is: the place of gathering and preserving it, since the treasures of humanity need that. The mercy is addressed in a way that leans towards that. Al-Tabari said: He means by the treasures the keys. And Allah, the Exalted and Glorified, knows best.