An-Nasr النصر
The Divine Support
An-Nasr is three verses, revealed — by most accounts — near the very end of the Prophet's ﷺ life, after the conquest of Makkah when people were entering the new faith "in crowds." What it commands at that moment of clear victory is not celebration but its opposite instinct: glorify God, ask His forgiveness, because "He is always ready to accept repentance." Ibn Abbas, a companion known for his Quranic commentary, is reported to have understood the surah as a coded announcement of the Prophet's ﷺ approaching death — success completed is itself a signal that a mission is ending. Read that way, the surah's instruction is less about winning than about how to hold a win: with humility and repentance rather than triumph, at the exact moment triumph would feel most earned.
إِذَا جَآءَ نَصْرُ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلْفَتْحُ
When God’s help comes and He opens up your way [Prophet],
وَرَأَيْتَ ٱلنَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِى دِينِ ٱللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا
when you see people embracing God’s faith in crowds,
فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَٱسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ تَوَّابًۢا
celebrate the praise of your Lord and ask His forgiveness: He is always ready to accept repentance.
Arabic text and translation (M.A.S. Abdel Haleem) via the Quran.Foundation API.
Frequently asked
Three verses.
Medinan, revealed in Madinah, traditionally dated near the end of the Prophet's ﷺ life.
The conquest of Makkah and the wave of people entering Islam that followed it.
Commentators read it as a lesson that success should prompt humility and repentance rather than triumph — some, including the companion Ibn Abbas, also read it as a subtle sign of the Prophet's ﷺ approaching death.