Tafsir of An-Nasr 110:3

"So glorify the praise of your Lord" means: Declare His perfection, Exalted is He, with every mention that signifies declaring His transcendence, while praising Him—Glorified and Exalted is He—as an increase in His worship and in praising Him, the Exalted, due to the increase of His blessings upon you.

Tasbih (glorification) is declaring transcendence, not merely uttering the words "Subhan Allah." The ba (in bi-hamdi) is for mulabasa (accompaniment), and the prepositional phrase is in the position of a hal (state). Al-Hamd (praise) is the object in the genitive construction (idafa). The meaning is to combine declaring His transcendence—which is asserting His freedom from imperfections unworthy of Him—with praising Him—which is affirming the attributes of perfection that befit Him, offered by one who praises Him due to the greatness of what He has bestowed upon him, peace and blessings be upon him.

It is also said: It means, "Declare Him transcendent, Exalted is He, from any inability in delaying the manifestation of the victory, and praise Him for the delay, and describe Him, Exalted is He, as the One from whom the timing of affairs originates, solely for a wisdom known only to Him, Exalted is He." This is as you see. This is supported by what is in the two Sahihs (Bukhari and Muslim) from Masruq, from Aisha, who said: "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would often say in his bowing and prostration: 'Subhanaka Allahumma Rabbana wa bi-hamdika, Allahumma ighfir li' (Glory be to You, O Allah, our Lord, and with Your praise. O Allah, forgive me), acting upon the Quran," meaning this verse, along with the command of the Exalted: "and ask His forgiveness."

Likewise, as in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad and the Sahih of Muslim, from Aisha also, who said: "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say often at the end of his affair: 'Subhan Allah wa bi-hamdihi, astaghfirullaha wa atubu ilayh' (Glory be to Allah and with His praise, I seek Allah’s forgiveness and I repent to Him). And he said: 'My Lord had informed me that I would see a sign in my nation, and He commanded me that when I saw it, I should glorify Him with His praise and ask for His forgiveness,' and so on."

Ibn Jarir recorded via Hafs ibn Asim from al-Sha'bi, from Umm Salamah, who said: "At the end of his affair, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would not stand, nor sit, nor go, nor come, without saying: 'Subhan Allah wa bi-hamdihi.' He said: 'I have been commanded to do so,' and he recited the Surah." This is gharib (strange). In the Musnad, from Abu Ubaydah from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: "When [the Surah] 'When the victory of Allah and the conquest comes' was revealed to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, he would often, when he recited it and bowed, say: 'Subhanaka Allahumma Rabbana wa bi-hamdika, Allahumma ighfir li, innaka anta al-Tawwab al-Rahim' (Glory be to You, O Allah, our Lord, and with Your praise. O Allah, forgive me; You are indeed the Acceptor of Repentance, the Merciful), three times."

It is permitted that the ba indicates isti’anah (seeking aid), and al-hamd is attributed to the Agent (Allah), meaning: "Glorify Him with the praise by which He has praised Himself." Ibn Rajab said: "For not every glorification is praiseworthy; the glorification of the Mu'tazilah entails the negating of many attributes. Bishr al-Marisi used to say: 'Glory be to my Lord, the Lowest'—Allah is far exalted above that with a great exaltation." The apparent meaning is mulabasa (accompaniment).

It is also permitted that the glorification is a metaphor for astonishment due to the cause-and-effect relationship, for when one sees an astonishing matter, he says, "Subhan Allah." That is: "Be astonished at the facilitation by Allah, the Exalted, of that which never occurred to your mind nor to the mind of anyone—that anyone should overcome the people of the Sacred House—and praise Him, the Exalted, for His deed." This astonishment is the astonishment of one who contemplates and is grateful. It is valid to be commanded to do so; the command is not in the sense of a report stating that this story is of a nature to be wondered at, as Ibn al-Munayyir claimed. The objection is that a command in the form of astonishment is not a command; it is pointless. Yes, this view is of no weight, and the reports indicate that it was a command to him, peace and blessings be upon him, to prepare for turning to his Lord, the Exalted, and to prepare to meet Him after he had completed his religion and fulfilled what was upon him of conveying the message. Furthermore, the reports we mentioned earlier do not support that [view].

It is said that the intent of "glorification" is prayer, as it contains it. Ibn al-Jawzi narrated this from Ibn Abbas, meaning: "Pray to Him, the Exalted, praising Him for His favors." It is reported that when he, peace and blessings be upon him, entered Makkah, he prayed eight units in the house of Umm Hani. Some claim he prayed them inside the Ka'bah, but this is not correct. Regardless, this is the Prayer of Victory (Salat al-Fath), a Sunnah that Sa'd prayed on the day of the conquest of al-Mada'in. It is also said it is the Duha (forenoon) prayer. It is also said: four of them are for the victory, and four are for the Duha. In any case, there is no evidence in this that the intent of "glorification" is prayer; rather, the reports support the opposite.

His, peace and blessings be upon him, seeking forgiveness: It is said it is because he was always in a state of ascension, so when he ascended to a rank, he sought forgiveness for the rank before it. It is said [it is for] what is in his noble sight contrary to the best in light of his elevated station. It is said it is for what occurred of inadvertence, even if it is said [it were] prophethood. It is said it is for teaching his nation, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him. It is said it is intercession for his nation.

Some permit that the address in "you see" is general. It is said here: "It is then permissible for the command to seek forgiveness to be for those other than him, peace and blessings be upon him, and his inclusion, peace and blessings be upon him, in the command is by way of precedence (taghlib)." This is very contrary to the apparent meaning. You know that everyone is short of fulfilling the rights of Allah, the Exalted, as they should be fulfilled, and of performing them in a manner befitting His Majesty—may His Majesty be glorified—and His Greatness. He only performs them according to the extent of his knowledge, and the rank of Allah, the Exalted, is higher and more majestic than that. Therefore, he feels shy of his own work and sees that he is deficient. The more a person knows Allah, the Exalted, the more he fears Him and the more clearly he sees his own deficiency.

Kahmas used to pray a thousand units every day; then, when he finished, he would take hold of his beard and say to his own soul: "Rise, O home of every evil! By Allah, I have not pleased you for Allah, the Exalted, for the blink of an eye." And from Malik ibn Dinar: "I have intended to instruct, when I die, that I be led as a runaway slave is led to his master; when He asks me, I will say: 'O Lord, I have not pleased myself for You for the blink of an eye.'"

Thus, it is possible that his, peace and blessings be upon him, seeking forgiveness is because of his knowledge of the immense majesty and greatness of Allah; he sees that his worship, even if it is more majestic than all the worship of the worshippers, does not befit that Majesty and that Greatness, which are beyond what crosses the mind. So he feels shy and rushes to seek forgiveness. It is authenticated that he, peace and blessings be upon him, used to seek the forgiveness of Allah in a day and a night more than seventy times. To point to the worshipper's shortcoming in bringing what befits the majesty of the Worshipped, and that he exerts his effort, seeking forgiveness was legislated after many acts of worship. They mentioned that it is legislated for the performer of the obligatory prayer to seek forgiveness three times after it; for the striver in the hours before dawn to seek forgiveness as much as Allah, the Exalted, wills; and for the pilgrim to seek forgiveness after Hajj, for the Exalted has said: "Then depart from where the people depart and ask forgiveness of Allah. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." It is reported that it is legislated to conclude ablution. They also said it is legislated to conclude every gathering. He, peace and blessings be upon him, used to say when he stood from a gathering: "Subhanaka Allahumma wa bi-hamdika, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk" (Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise, I seek Your forgiveness and repent to You).

In the command to seek forgiveness, there is a hint in this regard—as it is said—to what is understood from the announcement of death. The well-known view is that this is to indicate the nearing of the completion of the call and the perfection of the religion. Even if the speech includes the connection, placing glorification and then praise before seeking forgiveness is said to be according to the method of descending from the Creator to the creation, just as it is said: "I have not seen anything except that I saw Allah, the Exalted, before it," because all things are mirrors of His manifestation. This is because glorification and praise are directed, in essence, toward the majesty and perfection of the Creator, while seeking forgiveness is directed, in essence, toward the state of the servant and his shortcomings. It is also possible that the postponement of seeking forgiveness to after them is due to what we indicated regarding the legislation of following an act of worship with seeking forgiveness. It is also said that placing them before it is a lesson in the etiquette of supplication, which is not to ask suddenly without praising the One from whom one is asking.

"Indeed, He is ever Accepting of Repentance"—meaning, since He created the accountable beings—meaning, He is exaggerating in accepting their repentance. So let the one who seeks forgiveness and repents expect acceptance. The sentence is in the position of being a justification for what preceded it. The selection of Tawwab (Acceptor of Repentance) over Ghaffar (Forgiver)—even though istaghfirhu (ask His forgiveness) seemingly calls for it—is to alert, as some eminent scholars have said, that seeking forgiveness only benefits when it is accompanied by repentance. Ibn Rajab mentioned that seeking forgiveness alone is repentance with the request for forgiveness through supplication, and [when] coupled—"I seek the forgiveness of Allah and I repent to Him"—it is only requesting forgiveness through supplication.

He also said that the individual [act of seeking forgiveness] is seeking protection from the evil of the past sin through supplication and remorse for it, and protection from the evil of the expected sin by resolving to abandon it. This prevents persistence, as it came: "He has not persisted who has sought forgiveness, even if he returns seventy times a day." There is no minor sin with persistence, and no major sin with seeking forgiveness. [The act] coupled with repentance is specific to the first type; if remorse for the past sin does not accompany it, then it is purely supplication, and if remorse accompanies it, then it is repentance. End quote.

The apparent meaning is that that pure supplication is not accepted, and it contains bad etiquette toward Allah, the Exalted. Some of the virtuous said that in the verse there is ihtibak (ellipsis of correlated elements), and the original is: "Seek His forgiveness, for He is Ghaffar (Forgiver), and repent to Him, for He is Tawwab (Acceptor of Repentance)." This is supported by what we presented of the hadith of Imam Ahmad and Muslim from Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her.

Interpreting the past time as the time of the creation of the accountable beings is what more than one has agreed upon. Al-Maturidi said in the Ta'wilat: "It means He has never ceased being the Acceptor of Repentance; it is not that He, the Exalted, became the Acceptor of Repentance due to a matter He acquired and brought into existence, as the Mu'tazilah say—that He, the Exalted, became the Acceptor of Repentance when He created the creation, so they repented and He accepted their repentance, but before that, He was not the Acceptor of Repentance." This was refuted by stating that accepting repentance is one of the sifat idafiyyah (relational attributes), and there is no dispute regarding its occurrence. Some chose what al-Maturidi leaned toward, that the intent is that He, the Exalted, has never ceased being in such a state as to accept repentance, and its outcome is the pre-eternity of the origin of His acceptance as being of the attributes befitting Him, Glory be to His Majesty. In that, the hope in Him, Exalted is He, is strengthened.

It is authenticated: "If you did not sin, Allah would have taken you away and brought people who would sin, then seek forgiveness, and He would forgive them." Regarding the good of the world and the Hereafter, Imam Ahmad recorded from the hadith of 'Atiyyah from Abu Sa'id, in marfu' form: "Whoever says when he goes to his bed, 'I seek the forgiveness of Allah, He other than whom there is no god, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting, and I repent to Him,' his sins will be forgiven even if they were like the foam of the sea, even if they were like the sand of 'Alij, and even if they were the number of the leaves of the trees." He also recorded from the hadith of Ibn Abbas: "Whoever increases in seeking forgiveness, Allah will grant him from every anxiety a relief."

And I say: "Subhan Allah wa bi-hamdihi, astaghfirullaha ta'ala wa atubu ilayh," and I ask Him to grant me from every anxiety a relief, and from every tightness a way out, by the sanctity of His Book and the Master of His beloveds, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him.