No. Quran 33:56 does not depict Allah performing worship. The Arabic verb yusalluna comes from the root associated with salat, but its meaning is determined by its subject and context: Allah honors and blesses, angels invoke blessings, and believers pray for blessings.
Why the objection sounds forceful
The objection is fair as a linguistic challenge. The verse uses one expression for Allah, the angels, and the believers, while salat often means the ritual prayer. If the word always meant worship directed toward a higher being, then Allah would appear to be worshipping someone. Translating the phrase as "Allah blesses" might therefore seem like an attempt to escape the difficulty.
Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O believers, ask Allah to bless him and grant him peace abundantly.
Quran 33:56
One root can have related meanings
The premise that salat has only one meaning throughout the Quran is not how Arabic works. The same root may express different but related actions according to the subject. Even in English, "bless," "pray," and "invoke" can describe related religious language without meaning the same thing in every sentence.
The Quran itself shows this range. Allah says:
He is the One who blesses you, and His angels pray for you, so that He may bring you out of darkness into light.
Quran 33:43
It would be unreasonable to understand Allah's action in this verse as ritual worship. Classical commentators explain Allah's salat as His praising, honoring, and showing mercy to His Prophet. The angels' salat is their supplication for him, while the believers' salat is their request that Allah honor and bless him. The final clause of 33:56 makes this distinction explicit: believers are commanded to ask Allah for blessings; they are not commanded to worship the Prophet.
What the verse does and does not establish
The verse establishes the Prophet's honored status and teaches Muslims to invoke Allah's blessings and peace upon him. It does not suggest that Allah is subject to anyone, needs intercession, or performs an act of worship. Worship is an act of a servant directed toward God. Allah's honoring His servant is an act of divine grace, not submission.
So translating Allah's salat as "blessing," "honoring," or "praising" is not inconsistent translation. It reflects the grammatical subject, the context, and the established Arabic usage. The shared root points to a connection between these acts, not to an identity between Allah's action and human ritual prayer.