Verses 1–8
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful
This sūrah was revealed in either Mecca or Medina, and consists of 8 verses. It begins by mentioning God’s favor upon the Prophet, and then commands him to strive hard in the way of God and ardently seek Him. The sūrah could either be Meccan or Medinan, although the context better suits the Meccan chapters.
Some narrations from the Imams say that Sūrah al-Ḍuḥá (Chapter 93) and Sūrah al-Inshirāḥ (Chapter 94) are a single sūrah. Al-Rāzī relates this claim from Ṭāwūs and ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, and then says:
They have favored this view because the verse, Did we not expand for you your breast? () is almost a follow-up on the verse, Did We not find you an orphan? (). However, this cannot be so, for Sūrah al-Ḍuḥá was revealed while the Prophet was distressed due to being harassed by those who rejected him. It was revealed at a time of trial, when his chest felt constricted. In contrast, Sūrah al-Inshirāḥ was revealed when the Prophet was in a state of expansion and elation. So how could these two chapters be connected?
The problem with al-Rāzī’s view is that “expanding the Prophet’s breast” does not mean “being in a state of expansion and elation.” It means widening his breast so that it can accommodate the teachings and truths being revealed to him. The purpose, again, is that he would not feel constricted by the revelation, or by the way that people harass him when he spreads the message.
The connection between the two chapters can be corroborated by a narration where the Messenger of God says:
I asked my Lord something that I wished I had not asked. I said: “O Lord, there were some prophets before me for whom You subjugated the winds. And there were some who could bring the dead back to life.”
He said: “Did I not find you an orphan, and shelter you?” [].
“Yes.”
“Did I not find you wandering, and guide you?” [].
“Of course, my Lord.”
“Did I not expand for you your breast and remove your burden?” [].
“Yes, O Lord.”
More shall be said about this in our exposition of Sūrah Quraysh (Chapter 106), God-willing.
Commentary
أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ ١
(94:1) Did We not expand for you (nashraḥ, from sharḥ) your breast?
Al-Rāghib says:
The root meaning of sharḥ is to open meat and similar things. When one carves the meat, one says sharaḥtu or sharraḥtuhu. Sharḥ al-ṣadr (the expansion of the chest) is when one’s breast opens up with divine light, tranquility from God, and comfort from Him. God says [narrating from Moses]: O Lord! Expand for me my breast (). He also says: Did We not expand for you your breast? (); Whomever Allah expands their breast for… ().
The first three verses, in their arrangement as well as their content, correspond to the beginning, middle, and end of the Prophetic mission, respectively. This is confirmed by how these verses are justified: Thus indeed with hardship comes ease (), which is then repeated. Then the last two verses draw a conclusion. Based on this analysis, “expanding the Prophet’s breast” means giving him the capacity to encompass divine revelation and the travails associated with spreading the message among the people, as well as their harassment. In other words, it means that his sacred soul was fully prepared for accepting what God poured therein.
وَوَضَعْنَا عَنكَ وِزْرَكَ ٢ الَّذِي أَنقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ ٣
(94:2-3) And lower your burden (wizr), which weighed down (anqaḍa, from inqāḍ) your back (ẓahraka)?
Wizr means “a heavy load.” Inqāḍ al-ẓahr means “breaking one’s back” in a way that it makes a noise, much like when a heavy weight is placed on a bed or something similar. Here, it means having a very noticeable burden on one’s back. “Removing the weight” means “taking away the feeling of being burdened.”
As we already explained [under the last verse], the context shows that “lowering or removing the burden” means aligning the chain of causes such that the Prophet succeeds in his mission and efforts. The weight he had to carry was the message that he brought, his call of the people, and consequences of that. God consigned this load to the Prophet only after expanding his breast.
There is an account where two angels descended upon the Prophet, split his chest open, took out his heart, washed it, and then put it back. Some exegetes have matched the “removal of burden” with this account. We will discuss this in our examination of narrations below.
Here are some other suggested opinions concerning burden:
- The inappropriate actions that the Prophet had done before his mission.
- His ignorance of the religious laws and teachings which had to be acquired through revelation and his inquiry.
- His bewilderment in the face of certain things, such as fulfilling the prophetic mission.
- Revelation and the weight that it initially placed upon him.
- Seeing his people going astray and facing their defiance, while being unable to guide them.
- The people going to extreme measures to oppose and persecute him.
- His grief at the loss of his uncle Abū Ṭālib and his wife Khadījah.
- Disobeying God, which makes the “lowering of burden” equivalent to infallibility.
- The sins of his nation, where “lowering ” means forgiveness.
Comment: Some of these views are absurd and others are weak given the context of the verses. Some of them are narrated [from early exegetes and Companions], while others are mentioned as mere possibilities.
وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ ٤
(94:4) And raise your fame?
An elegant literary point here is the appearance of raise after lower (). What is meant is elevating the Prophet’s reputation above that of other people. God has indeed done this for the Prophet. One way He has done it is by placing the name of the Prophet next to His in the two testimonies of faith, which are the foundation of His religion. Every Muslim must mention the Prophet as well as his Lord in each of the five daily prayers.
فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا ٥
(94:5) Thus indeed (fa-inna) with hardship (al-ʿusr) comes ease.
This is likely a justification and explanation for of what was said previously about removing the Prophet’s burden and elevating his name. The burden of the mission and the call to Islam—which are the heaviest burdens to bear for anyone—weighed heavily on the Prophet. Similarly, the people rejecting his call, disparaging him, and persisting to wipe out his name were burdensome on him. God eased that for him through inclining the people to accept his call; and elevated his name which they had sought to erase. This act of God was according to His ongoing custom of bringing ease after hardship. That is why in this verse He justifies His removal of the hardship from the Prophet by referring to His custom. And perhaps this can be matched with the law of impermanence: there is a constant flow of events, and everything is perpetually changing. For this reason, the definite article al- (the) in al-ʿusr [not translated in the English] indicates the genus of hardship in general (jins), not every hardship exhaustively (istighrāq).
According to al-Zamakhsharī, the verse’s theme is to comfort the Prophet by giving him a good promise. He writes in al-Kashshāf:
The polytheists used to taunt the Messenger of God and the believers for being poor and weak, until it crossed the Prophet’s mind that they kept away from Islam because of the low financial and social status of its adherents. So God reminded him of His splendid blessings, and then said: Thus indeed with hardship comes ease (). The effective meaning is: “We have bestowed upon you all these blessings, so do not despair of God’s grace, because the hardship that envelops you is accompanied by ease.”
His explanation implies two points: (1) The definite article (al-) in al-ʿusr indicates that the hardship in question is already known or introduced (ʿahd), as opposed to hardship in general (jins). (2) Ease here refers to the abundant war spoils that God bestowed upon the believers later on.
However, this interpretation is not acceptable due to the following reasons: (1) The Prophet’s mind was sharp enough to realize the state of the people—that they were avoiding the call to Islam due to disdaining the truth and defiance against God. (2) The people did not incline toward Islam even after its triumph and the enrichment of the believers [by God]. (3) God had already made His prophet despair of the masses believing in his message: The word has been realized against most of them; they shall not believe… It matters not whether you warn them or do not warn them; they shall not believe (); As for the faithless, it is the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not have faith (). Verses were revealed in Mecca, and verse in Medina.
A more plausible alternative is interpreting “ease after hardship” as the triumph and elevation of Islam after its abasement, assuming that the sūrah is Meccan.
إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا ٦
(94:6) Indeed with hardship (al-ʿusr) comes ease (yusran).
This is repeated for emphasis and affirmation. Some have said: It is an independent statement, and the two verses imply that there are two eases for each hardship. This is based on a linguistic rule that when a definite noun is repeated [such as al-ʿusr (the hardship) in these verses], it refers to the same thing; however, it is the opposite for when an indefinite noun is repeated [such as yusran (an ease) in these verses]. For instance, when one says: “If you earn a coin, then spend the coin” (fa-anfiq al-dirham), the second coin is the same as the first. In contrast, when one says: “If you earn a coin, then spend a coin” (fa-anfiq dirhaman), the second coin is not necessarily the same as the first. Nevertheless, this rule is not universal.
فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانصَبْ ٧ وَإِلَى رَبِّكَ فَارْغَبْ ٨
(94:7-8) So when (fa-idhā) you are free, exert yourself, and ardently seek your Lord.
These verses are addressed to the Prophet. The previous verses described how God has imposed the religious call and mission on the Prophet, has favored him by expanding his breast, has removed his burden and has elevated his fame—all of which indicate ease after hardship. Then the instructions in these verses are drawn as a conclusion to that discussion, shown by the letter fāʾ (so, then, therefore) at the beginning verse .
The meaning is: “Since ease comes after hardship, which is in the hands of God and none other, then whenever you have fulfilled your obligations [and you have some free time], exert yourself in His way through worship and prayer. Ardently strive toward Him so that He may bless you with rest which is embedded in exhaustion, and the ease which is latent in hardship.”
Other suggested meanings are:
- Exert yourself in doing recommended acts after completing the obligatory ones.
- Recite supplication (duʿāʾ) after you finish the ritual prayer (ṣalāh).
Comment: These are specific applications of the verses’ general purport.
- When you have returned from battle, exert yourself in worship.
- When you have finished dealing with worldly matters, strive for your hereafter.
Comment: There are other views as well, but they are implausible.
Examining Narrations
- Once Abū Hurayrah asked: “O Messenger of God! What was your first prophetic experience?”
Sitting up, the Prophet said, “You have indeed asked me a significant question, Abā Hurayrah. When I was twenty years and some months old, I was in the desert when I heard a voice above me. It was a man, saying to another man: ‘Is that him?’ Then they approached me.
I had never seen anything like their face, scent or clothes among the people. As they reached me, each one clasped one of my arms, but I could not feel either of them touching me!
One of them said: ‘Lie him down.’ So they lay me down with neither confinement nor a bent. One said: ‘Split open his breast.’ His partner grasped my breast and opened it, but I saw no blood and felt no pain. The first one said: ‘Remove any rancor or envy.’ The other one extracted something shaped like a leech, then tossed it away. The first one said: ‘Insert loving-kindness and compassion,’ and the second one put in something silvery. Then he tugged on the big toe of my right foot and said: ‘Go ahead in peace!’
So I left with that, and came to feel loving-kindness toward the youngsters and compassion toward the elderly.”
Author’s comment: There are several versions of this story. Some versions—as in Rūḥ al-maʿānī—say that he was ten years old. Some narrations link the story to the descent of Sūrah al-ʿAlaq (Chapter 96). Some narrations—as in al-Bukhārī, Muslim, al-Tirmidhī, and al-Nasāʾī—connect it with the Prophet’s nocturnal journey (isrāʾ). In any case, there is no problem in accepting this story allegorically, describing a form of tamaththul (appearance, resemblance, representation). Some scholars have undertaken great pains to interpret it literally. There is no point in addressing them since such interpretations are unfounded at their core.
- The Messenger of God said: Once Gabriel came to me and said: “Your Lord says: ‘Do you know how I have elevated your fame []?’”
I said: “God knows best.”
He said [relating from God]: “Whenever I am remembered, you are remembered with Me.”
- One day the Prophet was seen smiling with joy and saying: A single difficulty will never triumph over two eases. Thus indeed with hardship comes ease. Indeed with hardship comes ease ().
- Concerning So when you are free, exert yourself, and ardently seek your Lord () Imams al-Bāqir and al-Ṣādiq said: It means when you have completed the obligatory prayer (ṣalāh) then strive toward your Lord with supplication (duʿāʾ), and ardently seek Him through request.”
Ibn Abī Ḥātim, on the authority of Saʿīd b. Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās. ↩︎
The conjunction “and” at the beginning of verse shows that the verse conveys the same idea as the last verse: Did We not expand… (). (Auth.) ↩︎
He says that the letter fāʾ (so, then, therefore) at the beginning of the verse is fāʾ al-faṣīḥah (indicative, revelatory, clarifying). (Auth.)
See the footnote under verse for fāʾ al-faṣīḥah. The implied meaning is: “Now, if it is it is true that We expanded your breast and lifted your burden from your back, then it is also true that with hardship there comes ease.” (Ed.) ↩︎
The indefinite form of the word yusran (ease) implies “some type of ease”; it does not emphasize the magnitude of ease, as some exegetes have preferred. The preposition “with” (maʿa) here indicates sequence, not simultaneity. (Auth.) ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of ʿAbd-Allāh b. Aḥmad’s Zawāʾid al-zuhd, on the authority of Ubayy b. Kaʿb. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Abū Yaʿlá, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Ibn Ḥabbān, Ibn Mardawayh and Abū Nuʿaym’s al-Dalāʾil, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Razzāq, Ibn Jurayr, al-Ḥākim and al-Bayhaqī, on the authority of al-Ḥasan [Baṣrī]. ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān. ↩︎