110- Surat Alnasr/Tafseer
3 Verses Medinan (revealed in Medina)
A'auzu Bellahi mena alshaiytani alrajeem
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan
Besmi Ellahi Alrhmani Alraheem
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Idha ja-a nasru Allahi wal-fat-h (1).
When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest.
Wa ra-aytaa alnasa yadkhuluna fi deeni ellahi afwaja (2).
And You see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes.
Fa sabbih bi-hamdi rabbika wa-staghfirhu innahu kana tawwaba (3).
Then Glorify with the praise of your Lord, and ask His forgiveness, indeed, He is Ever accepting of repentance.
Simplified interpretation:
Although the companions of Allah's Messenger (PBUH) disagreed about the last Surah and the last verse that was revealed from the Holy Quran, but it was said that Surat Alnasr was the last Surah revealed in the Quran as a whole, as Ubaidullah Bin Abdullah Bin Utba reported: "Ibn Abbas said to me, Do you know, and in the words of Harun, Are you aware of the last Surah which was revealed in the Quran as a whole?, I said yes {When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest}. Thereupon he said: you have told the truth, and in the narration of Abu Shaiba, the words are Do you know the Surah, and he did not mention the words the last one" (Sahih Muslim 3024). And there are numerous narrations confirming the revelation of various verses after Surat Alnasr.
And as narrated by Ibn Abbas: "Umar used to make me sit with the elderly men who had fought in the Battle of Badr, some of them did not like that, and said to Umar Why do you bring in this boy to sit with us while we have sons like him?, Umar replied because of what you know of his position. One day, Umar called me and made me to sit in the gathering of those people, and I think that he called me just to show them, Umar then asked them what do you say about the interpretation of the statement of Allah {When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest}, some of them said we are ordered to praise Allah and ask His forgiveness when Allah's help comes to us and the conquest, some other kept quiet and did not say anything, on that, Umar asked me Do you say the same O Ibn Abbas?, I replied no, He said What do you say then?, I replied that is the sign of the death of Allah's Messenger (PBUH) which Allah informed Him of, Allah said {When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest}, and that is the sign of Your death, so {Then Glorify with the praise of your Lord, and ask His forgiveness, indeed, He is Ever accepting of repentance}, on that Umar said I do not know anything about it other than what you have said" (Sahih Albukhari 4970).
Allah Almighty says in the first two verses (1,2) "When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest, and You see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes", that is, Allah addresses His Messenger Muhammad (PBUH) saying when the victory of your Lord comes to you over your people from Quraish and the conquest of Mecca, and You see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes, one group after another, from various Arabs tribes including the people of Yemen, as Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "The people of Yemen have come to you, and they are more gentle and soft-hearted, belief is Yemenite, and wisdom is Yemenite, while proud and haughtiness are the qualities of the owners of camels, calmness and solemnity are the characters of the owner of sheep" (Sahih Albukhari 4388). So the entry of the people into the religion of Allah has been associated with the victory over Meccans, as other tribes said if Muhammad (PBUH) is a true Prophet, He must defeat the people of Mecca after they expelled Him from Mecca, so after the conquest of Mecca in the eighth year of Hijrah, the Arab tribes hastened to declare their Islam, and began to enter into the religion of Allah in multitudes.
And as narrated by Amr bin Salama: "We were at a place which was a thoroughfare for the people, and the caravans used to pass by us and we would ask them, What is wrong with the people?, Who is that man?, they would say that man claims that Allah has sent Him, that He has been Divinely inspired, and that Allah has revealed to Him such-and-such, I used to memorize that talk, and feel as if it was inculcated in my chest, and the Arabs delayed their conversion to Islam till the conquest, they used to say Leave Him and His people, if He overpowers them, then He is a true Prophet, so when Mecca was conquered, then every tribe rushed to embrace Islam, and my father hurried to embrace Islam before my tribe. When my father turned to his tribe, he said By Allah! I have come to you from the Prophet for sure, the Prophet afterwards said to them Offer such-and such prayer at such-and-such time, and when the time for the prayer becomes due, then one of you should pronounce the Adhan, and Let the one amongst you who knows Quran best should lead the prayer, so they looked for such a person and found none who knew more Quran than me because of the Quranic material which I used to learn from the caravans. They therefore made me their Imam and at that time I was a boy of six or seven years, wearing a Burda (garment), whenever I prostrated, my body became partly naked. A lady from the tribe said Won't you cover the anus of your reciter for us?, so they bought and made a shirt for me, and I had never been so happy with anything before as I was with that shirt" (Sahih Albukhari 4302).
Allah Almighty says in the last verse (3) "Then Glorify with the praise of your Lord, and ask His forgiveness, indeed, He is Ever accepting of repentance", that is, Allah commanded His Messenger to glorify with the praise of His Lord and ask His forgiveness when His victory comes to Him and when the people enter into the religion of Allah in multitude, so when Mecca was conquered, and the people entered into the religion of Islam in multitude, the Prophet (PBUH) used to glorify with the praise of His Lord and seek His forgiveness until the time of His death, as Aisha, May Allah be pleased with her, reported: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) before His death recited often Subhanaka wa be-hamdeka astaghferuka wa atubu elaiyka: Gloty to be You and praise be to You, I seek forgiveness from You and turn to You, she said, I said Messenger of Allah! What are these words that I find You reciting?, He said there has been made a sign for Me in My Ummah, when I saw that, I uttered them {When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest}, to the end of the Surah" (Sahih Muslim 484 b).
And as narrated by Aisha: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) often said while bowing and prostrating Himself: Subhanaka Allahumma wa be-hamdeka, Allahumma eghfir lee: Glory to be You, O Allah, and praise be to You, O Allah, Forgive Me, thus complying with the Quran" (Sahih Muslim 484). Allah's Messenger (PBUH) urged people to glorify and praise Allah, and to seek His forgiveness constantly, when He (PBUH) said in narration of Abu Hurayrah: "Whoever says: Subhana Allahi wa behadehi: Glory to be Allah, and praise be to Him" one hundred times a day, will be forgiven all his sins even if they were as much as the foam of the sea" (Sahih Albukhari 6405), and as narrated by Abu Huraira: "I heard Allah's Messenger (PBUH) saying By Allah! I ask for forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in repentance more than seventy times a day" (Sahih Albukhari 6307).