110
Muhammad Asad
AN-NASR (SUCCOUR)
THE HUNDRED-TENTH
SURAH
Total Verses: 3
Introduction
REVEALED at Mina
during the Prophet's Farewell Pilgrimage in the month of Dhu
'l-Hijjah, 10 H. - that is, a little over two months
before his death - this is unquestionably the last complete surah
conveyed by him to the world. It was preceded one day earlier (on Friday,
the 9th of Dhu 'l-Hijjah)
by the revelation of the words, "Today have I perfected your religious law
for you, and bestowed upon you the full measure of My blessings, and willed
that self-surrender unto Me (al-islam) shall
be your religion'" (5:3); and since those words were almost immediately
followed by the present surah, some of
the Prophet's Companions concluded that his mission was fulfilled, and that he
was about to die (Bukhari). As a matter of fact, the
only revelation which the Prophet received after An-Nasr
was verse 281 of Al-Baqarah.
IN THE NAME OF
GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE:
(1) WHEN GOD'S SUCCOUR comes, and victory,
(2) and thou seest
people enter God's religion 1 in hosts,
(3) extol thy Sustainer's limitless
glory, and praise Him, and seek His forgiveness: for, behold, He is ever an
acceptor of repentance. 2
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1 I.e., the religion of self-surrender
to God: cf.
2 Implying that even if people
should embrace the true religion in great numbers, a believer ought not to grow
self-complacent but should, rather, become more humble and more conscious of
his own failings. Moreover, the Prophet is reported to have said, "Behold,
people have entered God's religion in hosts - and in time they will leave it in
hosts" (Ibn Hanbal, on
the authority of Jabir ibn Abd Allah; a similar Tradition, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, is found in the Mustadrak).