Surah 94: Ash-Sharh

The Holy Qur’an with English Translation and Commentary (Five Volume Commentary)

[a]In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.

[a] See 1:1.

Have We not opened for thee thy bosom,[4770]

[4770] Important Words:

شرح (opened). شرح المسألة means, he explained the question. شرح الکلام means, he understood the talk. شرح الشیء means, he guarded the thing, he preserved it. شرح صدرہ للشیء means, he was pleased with the thing. The breast symbolically being the seat of knowledge and feelings, its expansion (in the present context) signifies its illumination with wisdom, divine light and peace and its vastness for the reception of what was to be revealed to the Holy Prophet (Lane, Aqrab & Muhit).

Commentary:

In view of different meanings of the word شرح, the verse may have one or all of the following interpretations: (1) God had protected the heart of the Holy Prophet from all harmful influences. It was impossible for evil to enter it. (2) God was the Prophet’s own Preceptor and Teacher and besides temporal knowledge He had opened his breast to comprehend the divine mysteries. (3) The Prophet never suffered from straitness of the heart and was endowed with patience and fortitude to such a degree that even the hardest tribulation could not disturb his peace of mind.

And removed from thee thy burden

Which had well-nigh broken thy back,[4771]

[4771] Commentary:

The Holy Prophet had been saddled with such a nerve-racking and back-breaking task as had never been entrusted to a human being, i.e. first to raise a degenerate people from the depths of moral turpitude to the peaks of spiritual excellence and, then through them to cleanse and purify the whole of mankind of the dross of iniquity, ignorance and superstition. This was indeed a very heavy responsibility which had almost crushed the Prophet under its weight, but God lightened his burden in that He gave him devoted and sincere Companions who shared his burden and helped him in the discharge of his manifold and hard duties.

And We exalted thy name?[4772]

[4772] Commentary:

The Surah was revealed in the second or third year of the Call, at a time when the Prophet was hardly known outside his immediate neighbourhood, but very soon he rose to be the best known and most respected and successful of all religious teachers. No leader, religious or temporal, has so commanded the love and respect of his followers as has the Holy Prophet.

Surely, there is ease after hardship.[4773]

[4773] Commentary:

The verse holds a message of hope and good cheer for the Holy Prophet. He is comforted with the assurance that whenever Islam would be in difficulty, God would raise a Reformer from among his followers who would restore to it its former glory and greatness. Pointing out the fact that one has to face difficulties and hardships in this life, the Prophet is assured that his tribulation would prove to be of short duration and would soon be followed by increasing ease, success and prosperity.

Aye, surely, there is ease after hardship.[4774]

[4774] Commentary:

Repetition of the words, "Surely, there is ease after hardship," signifies that Islam will have to pass through very hard times but on two occasions it will have to face a challenge to its very existence, first at its birth and then in the latter days,––and on both these occasions it will emerge from the ordeal with renewed strength. These verses also indicate that the hardships with which the Holy Prophet and Muslims are faced are temporary, but his successes would be permanent and ever-expanding.

So when thou art free from thy immediate task, strive hard,

[a]And to thy Lord do thou turn with full attention.[4775]

[a] 73:9; 110:4.

[4775] Commentary:

The Holy Prophet is told here that as endless vistas of spiritual progress lie before him, after he has conquered the difficulties that bar his way, he should not rest satisfied with his success, but having scaled one peak he should strive to climb the next, and his attention should be wholly directed towards regenerating the fallen humanity and towards establishing God’s kingdom on earth. The verse may also signify that when the Prophet has finished his day’s work of teaching and training his followers and other temporal affairs, he should turn to God as ever with all his heart, for his spiritual journey knows no end.