110. Succour
تفسير سورة النصر
This is a Madanī sūrah, giving the Prophet ﷺ glad tidings of the conquest of Makkah, the victory that strengthened the Muslims and enabled Islam to spread throughout the Arab lands. Less than a decade earlier such a victory was unimaginable: the Muslims were weak, boycotted by the polytheists, and the majority of their followers were slaves and the poor. Truly Allāh speaks the truth when He says that the assistance and succour of Allāh is near.1
This sūrah was also an indication that the death of the Prophet ﷺ was near. For this reason it is also called al-Tawdīʿ, the Farewell. Ibn ʿUmar mentions2 that this sūrah was revealed in Minā during the farewell pilgrimage, and that thereafter the last verse of the Qurʾān3 was revealed. The Prophet ﷺ lived for eighty days after this.
With the name of Allāh, the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful.
This is an address to the Prophet ﷺ reminding him of the blessing of Allāh: when Allāh helped you, O Muḥammad, against your enemies, and gave you victory over Makkah.
Some mufassirūn note that this sūrah spoke of the conquest of Makkah before it had occurred, and that this is among the signs of prophethood.
And you see the Arabs entering Islam in multitudes, one tribe after another, without war or bloodshed.
After the conquest of Makkah, the Arabs began to enter Islam in droves. Ibn Kathīr mentions that the Arabs had been waiting for the conquest of Makkah, saying that if the Prophet ﷺ could prevail over his own people then he must surely be a prophet. Once Makkah was conquered, the Arabs entered Islam in such numbers that within two years the whole of the Arab lands had become Muslim, with scarcely a tribe left in which most were not Muslims.
Pronounce, then, the purity of your Lord, the Great, and pronounce His praises. Give thanks for the victory over your enemies and for the conquest of Makkah. Seek forgiveness from Him, for yourself and for your ummah. He is the Most Forgiving to His believing slaves; His mercy has no bounds.