Surat al-Sharh

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الإنشراح Al-Inshirāḥ The Solace
Arabic text · English translation
Classification	Meccan
Alternate titles (Ar.)	Sūrat al-Sharḥ (سورة الشرح)
Other names	Comfort, Consolation, Relief, The Expansion, The Expanding, The Opening-Up of the Heart
Position	Juzʼ 30
No. of verses	8
No. of words	27

Arabic text · English translation

Sūrat al-Inshirāḥ (Arabic: سورة الإنشراح‎‎, “Solace” or “Comfort”) is the ninety-fourth sura of the Qur'an with eight ayat and is a Meccan sura.

It is typically assumed that this sura is referring to the early days of the Muhammad's prophethood, when he would have been unsure about how his people would receive him. Because of subject matter, length, style, and placement in the Qur'an, this sura is often coupled with Sura ad-Dhuha. They are generally considered to have been revealed around the same time.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ

وَوَضَعْنَا عَنْكَ وِزْرَكَ

الَّذِي أَنْقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ

وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ

فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرً

إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا

فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانْصَبْ

وَإِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ فَارْغَبْ

[94:2] and We relieved you of your burden

[94:3] which weighed so heavily on your back,

[94:4] and elevated your reputation for you?

[94:5] so surely along the hardship there is ease.

[94:6] surely with ˹that˺ hardship comes ˹more˺ ease.

[94:7] So once you have fulfilled ˹your duty˺, strive ˹in devotion˺,

[94:8] turning to your Lord ˹alone˺ with hope.

[The Clear Quran]

The passage asks the reader, who is Muhammad specifically, if God has been a comfort and a remover of obstacles. In fact, whatever personal sorrows this may bring to mind, "Surely, with each difficulty there is ease". This may indeed be the key phrase of this sura; it is repeated in lines 5 and 6. Conversely, the reader is asked to continue their work diligently, even when it grows simple again - for God Himself is what you are working for.

Its subject matter so closely resembles that of Surah Ad-Duha that both these Surah seem to have been revealed in about the same period under similar conditions. According to Hadrat Abdullah bin Abbas, it was sent down in Makkah just after wad-Duha.

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Wikipedia