Surah an-Nasr (Victory) 110 : 3

Explanatory Note

Seeking forgiveness at a moment of triumph also arouses feelings of weakness and imperfection at a time when an attitude of pride and conceit seems natural. All these factors guarantee that no tyranny will afflict the vanquished. The victorious leader is made to realise that it is God who has appointed him, a man who has no power of his own and who is devoid of any strength, for a predetermined purpose; consequently the triumph and the conquest as well as the religion are all His, and to Him all things ultimately return.

This is the lofty, dignified ideal the Qur’an exhorts people to toil towards, an ideal in which man’s exaltation is in neglecting his own pride and where his soul’s freedom is in his subservience to God. The goal set is the total release of human souls from their egoistic shackles, their only ambition being to attain God’s pleasure. Along with this release there must be exerted effort which helps man flourish in the world, promotes human civilisation and provides a rightly-guided, unblemished, constructive, just leadership devoted to God.

By contrast, man’s efforts to liberate himself while in the grip of egoism, shackled by his zest for worldly things, or overpowered by his cravings, turn out to be absolutely useless unless he frees himself from personal desires and ambitions. His loyalty to God must be made to override everything else, particularly at the moment of triumph and the collection of booty. Such behaviour, which God wants humanity to attain, was the characteristic feature of all the Prophets.

سَبِّحۡ  sabih - declare perfection - like sabaha - to float (tasbaha - floating on water). [Ref: Nouman Ali Khan, Dream Tafsir Notes]