110. An-Nasr

An-Nasr ('Divine Support'), 3 verses, is widely held to be the last complete surah revealed, in Medina. It foretells the help of God and the victory when 'people enter the religion of God in crowds,' and commands glorification and seeking forgiveness (110:3), read by many as a signal that the Prophet's mission was drawing to its close.

A well-known tradition reports that Ibn Abbas, still young at the time, was asked by the caliph Umar to interpret this surah before an assembly of older companions, and gave the reading that it foretold the Prophet's own approaching death rather than simply commanding celebration of the victory it describes, an interpretation Umar is said to have confirmed as his own understanding as well; the surah is accordingly traditionally connected to the year of the Farewell Pilgrimage, shortly before Muhammad's death in 11 AH (632 CE). Its instruction to seek forgiveness even at the moment of triumph (110:3) is read by commentators as a deliberate check against the spiritual complacency victory can produce. An-Nasr is reported in hadith to have moved the Prophet's uncle al-Abbas to weep openly upon hearing Ibn Abbas's interpretation of it as foretelling Muhammad's death, since the assembled companions had until then read the surah simply as a celebration of victory rather than as a veiled farewell, a reaction classical sources cite as confirming how unexpected Ibn Abbas's reading was even among those closest to the Prophet. The surah's brevity, three verses moving directly from triumph to an instruction to seek forgiveness, is read by commentators as modelling humility precisely at the moment of greatest apparent success rather than at a moment of hardship, where such instruction might seem more expected.

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.