A Phrase the Prophet Began Repeating

Aisha is reported, in hadith preserved by al-Bukhari and Muslim, to have observed that after An-Nasr was revealed the Prophet noticeably increased his repetition of a specific formula in bowing and prostration during prayer, 'glory be to You, our Lord, and praise, O God, forgive me,' understanding this as his own practical enactment of the surah's closing instruction to glorify God and seek forgiveness once victory had come. Aisha's report connects the surah's general command directly to an observed, specific change in the Prophet's own private devotional habit rather than leaving the instruction as abstract counsel addressed only to others.

Classical commentators read Aisha's testimony as corroborating the wider tradition, discussed in this surah's first article, that read An-Nasr as veiled notice of Muhammad's approaching death, since increased personal seeking of forgiveness at a moment of triumph is treated as consistent with someone preparing for an imminent final reckoning rather than settling into prolonged worldly success, a reading the reported change in his own prayer habit is cited as quietly supporting. Later devotional writing frequently pairs Aisha's report with the surah's own text specifically to argue that seeking forgiveness belongs at every stage of a life of service, not only at moments of evident failing.