'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Al-Sharh

It is unanimously agreed among the commentators that it is Meccan, with no disagreement among them in that.

His saying, glorified and exalted is He:

﴿Did We not expand for you, [O Muhammad], your breast?﴾ ﴿And We removed from you your burden﴾ ﴿Which had weighed upon your back﴾ ﴿And We raised high for you your mention.﴾ ﴿For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease.﴾ ﴿Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease.﴾ ﴿So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up [for worship].﴾ ﴿And to your Lord direct your longing.﴾

Allah enumerated His blessings upon His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in that He expanded his breast for prophethood and prepared him for it. The majority hold that the expansion of the breast mentioned is: illuminating it with wisdom and widening it to receive what is revealed to him. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and a group said: This refers to his breast being expanded by the splitting of it by Gabriel, peace be upon him, during his childhood and at the time of the Night Journey; for the expansion is the splitting of flesh. Abu Ja'far al-Mansur read: "Did We not expand" with the 'ha' in the accusative case, similar to the poet's saying:

'Ignore your worries as you would strike them with the sword, like the blow of a horse.'

And similar to it in the rarities of Abu Zayd:

'From which of my two days of death shall I flee? Is it a day that has not been decreed or a day that has been decreed?'

As if He, glorified and exalted is He, said: "Did We not certainly expand," then He replaced the 'noon' with an 'alif,' then omitted it for ease, and this reading is rejected.

And the "burden" that Allah removed from him is, according to some of the interpreters, the weight that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, felt and his confusion before the prophethood; for he saw the evil of what Quraysh was in regarding the worship of idols, and there was no clear command from Allah to him. So Allah, glorified and exalted is He, removed that burden from him with his prophethood and sending. Abu Ubaidah and others said: The meaning is: We alleviated the burdens of prophethood upon you and assisted you with the people. Qatadah, Ibn Zayd, al-Hasan, and the majority of the commentators said: The burden here refers to sins, the weight, and sins were likened to it. This verse is analogous to His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿That Allah may forgive for you what preceded of your sin and what will follow﴾ [Al-Fath: 2]. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, in the pre-Islamic period before prophethood, his burden was the companionship of his people and eating from their sacrifices, and similar to this. Al-Dahhak said, and in the book of al-Naqqash: His presence with his people in the gatherings that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, does not love.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

All of this was drawn from the origin, like his witnessing the battle of the Fujar, which weighed upon his uncles and his heart in that was inclined towards the truth. As for the worship of idols, he never mixed with it at all. Anas ibn Malik read: "And We removed from you your burden," and in the readings of Ibn Mas'ud: "And We lifted from you your weight," and in the reading of Ubayy: "And We removed from you your weight," and Abu Amr mentioned that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, approved all of them. Al-Muhasibi said: The sins of the prophets, peace be upon them, were described as burdens, and they are minor sins that are forgiven due to their concern over them and their regret for them.

'And 'anqada' means: he made it a breaking, that is, lean and defective from the weight. It was said: its meaning is: I hear it as a contradiction, which is the sound. It is like the contradiction of ships. Everything that you carry as a weight, it will break beneath it. And Abbas ibn Mirdas said:

'And my back was broken by what I bore of them, and I was compassionate and tender towards them.'

And His saying, exalted is He: 'And We raised for you your mention' means: We made your name known, and we took it everywhere on earth. This is while the Messenger of Allah was in Mecca. Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, al-Hasan, Mujahid, and Qatadah said: The meaning of His saying, exalted is He: 'And We raised for you your mention' is: We paired your name with Our name in the call to prayer and the sermons. It has been narrated in this context that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Indeed, Allah, exalted is He, said: When I am mentioned, you are mentioned with Me.' This indicates that the verse was revealed in Mecca long ago, while the call to prayer was legislated in Medina. The raising of the mention is a blessing upon the Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him. Likewise, it is beautiful and good for those who are in charge of the affairs of the people. And the obscuring of the mention and name is good for those who are solitary in worship. Allah, exalted is He, has divided the blessings according to what is suitable for each individual. In the hadith: 'Indeed, Allah, exalted is He, will stop a servant on the Day of Resurrection and say: Did I not do this and that for you?' He enumerates His blessings upon him, and He says in summary: 'Did I not carry your mention in the people?' The meaning of this enumeration directed to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, is: O Muhammad, We have made all of this, so do not concern yourself with the harm of Quraysh, for the One who has bestowed these blessings upon you will grant you victory over them and support you against them.

Then He strengthened his hope with His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'For indeed, with hardship comes ease.' That is, what you see of harm, relief will come to you. And He repeated this, exalted is He, for emphasis and clarification of the good. Some people said: The meaning is: Indeed, with hardship comes ease in this world, and indeed, with hardship comes ease in the Hereafter. Many scholars have gone to (the view) that with every hardship there are two eases in this verse, in that 'hardship' is known from the context, and 'ease' is unknown. The first is different from the second. It has been narrated in this interpretation a hadith from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: 'A hardship will not overcome two eases.' As for the saying of Umar about it, it is a text in al-Muwatta in his letter to Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, may Allah be pleased with them both. And 'Isa, Yahya ibn Waththab, and Abu Ja'far read: 'the hardship and the ease' with two dhammas. And Ibn Mas'ud read: 'Indeed, with hardship comes ease' as one without repetition.

Then, his Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was commanded that when he finishes a task from the duties of Prophethood and worship, he should strive in the end. The striving means to exert effort, so the meaning is that he should diligently continue in what he was commanded and not slacken. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The meaning is that when you finish your obligatory acts, strive in voluntary worship of your Lord. Ibn Mas'ud said: Strive in the night prayer. Mujahid said: When you finish your worldly affairs, strive in the worship of your Lord. It was said: The meaning is that when you finish the units of prayer, sit in the Tashahhud and strive in supplication. Ibn Abbas and Qatadah said: The meaning of the words is that when you finish worship, strive in supplication. Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan said: When you finish jihad, strive in worship. This interpretation is contradicted by the fact that jihad was made obligatory in Medina. Abu al-Samali read: 'Farighat' with a kasrah on the ra, which is a dialect. Some people read 'Fan-sabba' with a shaddah on the ba and a fathah, and its meaning is: When you finish jihad, 'fan-sabba' to Medina. Al-Naqqash mentioned it, noting that it is an error. Others from the Imamiyyah read 'Fan-siba' with a kasrah on the sad, meaning: When you finish the matter of Prophethood, strive to appoint a successor. This is a rare reading with a weak meaning that has not been established by any scholar. Al-Shuraih passed by two men wrestling and said: This is not the matter of finishing, and he recited this verse.

And His saying, exalted is He: 'And to your Lord, direct your desire' is a command to rely on Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and to turn one's desires to Him and not to anyone else. Ibn Abi Ablah read: 'Farghib' with a fathah on the ra and a shaddah on the ghain with a kasrah.

The interpretation of Surah [Al-Sharh] is complete, and all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.