Imām Aḥmad (1) relates: “Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us; Shuʿbah narrated to us; from ʿAmr ibn Murrah; from Abū al-Bukhturī al-Ṭāʾī; from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

‘When this noble sūrah was revealed—
“When the help of Allah comes and the victory, and you see the people entering the religion of Allah in multitudes, then glorify the praise of your Lord and seek His forgiveness; indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance.” (Sūrat al-Naṣr 1–3)—

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited it to the end and then declared, “People have separated into one camp, while I and my Companions are in another camp.” He also said, “There is no migration after the Conquest; what remains is jihad and intention.”’

Marwān retorted, ‘You have lied!’ Sitting beside him on the couch were Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj and Zayd ibn Thābit. Abū Saʿīd replied, ‘Had these two wished, they would have narrated the same to you; but this man fears you will strip him of the leadership of his clan, and that one fears you will remove him from his post over the alms.’ Marwān thereupon raised the whip to strike him, and when the two men saw that, they said, ‘He has spoken the truth.’ This report is unique to Aḥmad.

Al-Bukhārī (2) narrates: “Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl told us; Abū ʿAwānah told us; from Abū Bishr; from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr; from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

‘ʿUmar used to admit me into the gatherings of the elders who fought at Badr. Some of them felt uneasy and said, “Why do you bring in this youth when we have sons like him?” ʿUmar replied, “He is one whose merit you know.” One day he invited them and included me in their company—I realized he had done so only to show them something. He asked, “What do you say about Allah’s statement: ‘When the help of Allah and the victory come’?” Some of them said, “We are commanded to praise Allah and seek His forgiveness when He grants us victory.” Others remained silent. ʿUmar then said to me, “Is this how you understand it, Ibn ʿAbbās?” I said, “No.” He asked, “How then do you understand it?” I replied, “It is the death-notice of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that Allah conveyed to him: ‘When the help of Allah and the victory come’—that is the sign of your approaching end—‘then glorify the praise of your Lord and seek His forgiveness; indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance.’” ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said, “I know of no interpretation other than what you have said.”’ Al-Bukhārī alone transmitted this version.

This same understanding is reported through various chains from Ibn ʿAbbās—that the sūrah announced the impending death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Mujāhid, Abū al-ʿĀliyah, al-Ḍaḥḥāk, and many others held the same view, following Ibn ʿAbbās and ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb—may Allah be pleased with them all.

As for the ḥadīth in which Imām Aḥmad (3) said: “Muḥammad ibn Faḍl narrated to us; ʿAṭāʾ narrated to us; from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr; from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: When ‘When the help of Allah and the victory come’ was revealed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘My death has been announced to me,’ meaning that he would be taken that very year”—this report is found only in Aḥmad. In its chain is ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Muslim al-Khurasānī, who is weak; several leading scholars have criticized him. Moreover, its wording is highly problematic, for it claims that the Prophet ﷺ would die that same year, which is untenable: the Conquest took place in Ramaḍān of the eighth year AH, as has already been established, and there is no disagreement on that point.