Tafsir of Surah Ash-Sharh - Verse 2

Which was revealed in Makkah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The Meaning of opening the Breast

Allah says,

أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ

(Have We not opened your breast for you) meaning, `have We not opened your chest for you.' This means, `We illuminated it, and We made it spacious, vast and wide.' This is as Allah says,

فَمَن يُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَن يَهْدِيَهُ يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُ لِلإِسْلَـمِ

(And whomsoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his breast to Islam.) (6:125) And just as Allah expanded his chest, He also made His Law vast, wide, accommodating and easy, containing no difficulty, hardship or burden.

A Discussion of Allah's Favor upon His Messenger Concerning Allah's statement,

وَوَضَعْنَا عَنكَ وِزْرَكَ

(And removed from you your burden.) This means

لِّيَغْفِرَ لَكَ اللَّهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِن ذَنبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ

(That Allah may forgive you your sins of the past and the future.) (48:2)

الَّذِى أَنقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ

(Which weighed down your back) Al-Inqad means the sound. And more than one of the Salaf has said concerning Allah's saying,

الَّذِى أَنقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ

(Which weighed down your back) meaning, `its burden weighed heavy upon you.'

The Meaning of raising the Fame of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)

وَرَفَعۡنَا لَكَ ذِكۡرَكَ

(And have We not raised high your fame?) Mujahid said, "I (Allah) am not remembered except that you are remembered with Me: I bear witness that there is no God worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah."

Qatadah said , "Allah raised his fame in this life and in the Hereafter. There is no one who gives a sermon, declares the Testimony of Faith (Shahadah), or prays a prayer (Salah) except that he proclaims it: I bear witness that there is no God worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah.

Ease after Difficulty

إِنَّ مَعَ ٱلۡعُسۡرِ يُسۡرً۬ا • فَإِنَّ مَعَ ٱلۡعُسۡرِ يُسۡرًا

(Verily along with every hardship is relief. Veriliy along with every hardship is relief)

Allah informs that with difficulty there is ease, and then He reaffirms this information (by repeating it)

The Command to remember Allah during Spare Time

فَإِذَا فَرَغۡتَ فَٱنصَبۡ • وَإِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ فَٱرۡغَب

( So when you have finished, devote yourself to Allah's worship. And to your Lord turn intentions and hopes. )

Meaning, 'when you have completed your worldly affairs and its tasks, and you have broken away from its routine, then get up to perform the worship, and stand for it with zeal, complete devotion and purify your intention and desire for your lord.' Similar to this is the Prophet's statement in a hadith that is agreed-upon to be authentic,

لَا صَلَاةَ بِحَضْرَةِ الطَّعَامِ, وَلَا هُوَ يُدَافِعُهُ الأَخْبَثَانِ

There is no prayer when the food is served, nor when the two foul things (excrement and urine) are pressing a person.

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) also said,

إِذَا أُقِيمَتِ الصَّلَاةُ وَحَضَرَ الْعَشَاءُ فَبْدَأُوا بِااْلْعَشَاءِ

When the prayer has started and the dinner has been served, then begin with dinner.

Mujahid said concerning this Ayah, "When you are free from the worldly affairs, and you have stood to pray, then stand up for your Lord."

وَوَضَعْنَا عَنكَ وِزْرَ‌كَ الَّذِي أَنقَضَ ظَهْرَ‌كَ (And We removed from you your burden that had [ almost ] broken your back...94:2-3). The word wizr literally denotes 'burden' and the phrase naqd-uz-zahr means 'to break one's back as for instance when a heavy load is put on one's back, it bends'. This verse signifies that Allah had relieved him of his burden that was breaking his back. What was that burden or heavy load? One answer to this question is that now and then the Holy Prophet ﷺ did certain permissible deeds, thinking that they were of benefit and in the interest [ of spiritual development ]. Later on he discovered that they were not in keeping with wisdom, or they were undesirable. The Holy Prophet was conscious of his high status and close proximity to Allah. He regarded even such things as serious infractions. This was naturally a very heavy load that made him grieved. But Allah relieved him of his burden in that a blanket pardon was granted to him and it was declared that he would not be held accountable for such things.

Some commentators say that wizr (burden) refers to the effect of revelation. It weighed heavily on him in the initial stages of the Prophethood. He was saddled with a nerve-racking and back-breaking task of raising [ a morally degenerated people ], through propagation of Tauhid and elimination of kufr and shirk, [ 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 ]. The task enjoined:

فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْ‌تَ

'So, stand firm - as you have been commanded [ 11:112] '

The Holy Prophet ﷺ used to feel the heavy weight of this task and responsibility. Some narration report that a few strands of his beard had turned grey as a result of this command. The Holy Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said that the following verse has made me old:

فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْ‌تَ

'So, stand firm - as you have been commanded [ 11:112] '

Verses [ 2-3] give the cheerful news that Allah will remove from him the load which was weighing down his back. The following verses show how the back-breaking load will be removed, and every difficulty will be followed by ease and relief. By means of expansion of bosom, Allah gave the Holy Prophet so much of courage that no instance of hardship seemed hardship, and no burden of any magnitude seemed a burden. And Allah knows best!

The Prophet Muhammad went tirelessly in the quest of knowledge about reality and Truth. God blessed him with this knowledge, which opened his heart to the deep realisation of Truth (ma‘rifah). Then he started preaching the oneness of God in Makkah, where he had to face stiff opposition, but it was thanks to this opposition, that he became known throughout the country. This is God’s law in the present world. Hence, a man has to face difficult conditions (‘usr) in the beginning, but if he perseveres with patience, this ‘usr or hardship becomes a stepping stone to new and easy circumstances (yusr). Therefore, a man should always look towards God and continue to struggle according to his capacity.