وَٱسْتَفْتَحُوا۟ وَخَابَ كُلُّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ
Commentary:
The expression, And they prayed for victory, may apply both to the Prophets and their opponents. The praying of the Prophets for God’s help and victory, after they had been vouchsafed definite Divine promises that they would succeed, in no way reflects on Divine promises or on the Prophets’ belief in the Divine origin of those promises. In fact, the Divine promise given to a Prophet about the final triumph of his cause does not mean that he should give up making necessary efforts for the success and triumph of his mission or soliciting Divine assistance. On the contrary, it becomes all the more incumbent on a Divine Messenger to do his best lest, through some lapse on the part of some of his followers or a weakening of his own efforts, the final victory may be delayed. That Muslims are enjoined to pray for the assistance of God even after definite and positive Divine promises of victory are given to them is clear from the Quran (3:195). Nor are these two things contradictory to each other. The Holy Prophet was given a clear promise of his triumphant return to Mecca (28:86), yet he continued to pray and work hard for the fulfilment of this Divine promise.
If, however, the words, they prayed for victory, be applied to disbelievers, they would mean that they sought by all means to win victory over the Prophets, but it was foolish on their part to do so, for those who oppose the Prophets of God never meet with success. Their prayers are doomed "to come to naught."