washington irving [1] said, in his book (life of muhammad), to indicate compassion in the character and morals of the prophet (peace be upon him) by his attitude when capturing mecca, while he was a victorious leader:

"the acts of the messenger (peace be upon him) in the aftermath of capturing mecca (ramadan the 8^th hijra year / 630 ac) indicated that he was a prophet entrusted with a message, rather than a victorious leader. he treated his fellow citizens (of mecca) with mercy and deep sympathy, in spite of the strong position he attained. he topped his successes and victories by mercy and forgiveness"

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[1] washington irving "life of muhammad" p. 72.