Ash-Sharh

Surah 94 of the Quran

الإنشراح‎ Al-Inshirāh The Solace
English text
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

Al-Inshirāḥ (Template:Lang-ar, “Solace” or “Comfort”), or al-Sharḥ (Arabic: الشرح, "The Opening-Up of the Heart") is the ninety-fourth chapter (surah) of the Qur'an with eight verses (ayat).

۝ HAVE we not opened thy breast;

۝ and eased thee of thy burden,

۝ which galled thy back;

۝ and raise thy reputation for thee?

۝ Verily a difficulty shall be attended with ease.

۝ Verily a difficulty shall be attended with ease.

۝ When thou shalt have ended thy preaching; labor to serve God in return for his favours;

۝ and make thy supplication unto thy LORD.

It's a subject matter seems a continuation of the reassurance and encouragement given in the previous chapter so closely resembles that of Quranic chapter 93 (ad-duha) that both these Surah seem to have been revealed in about the same period under similar conditions. According to Abdullah bin Abbas, it was sent down in Makkah just after wad-Duha.

Regarding the timing and contextual background of the supposed revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl), it is an earlier "Meccan surah", which means it is believed to have been revealed in Mecca, instead of later in Medina. It is typically assumed that this sura is referring to the early days of 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 Surah ad-Dhuha. They are generally considered to have been revealed around the same time.

Summary

A map of Mecca, circa 1790. Sura Ash-Sharhh was revealed in Mecca, around 611 CE.

The passage asks the reader, who is Muhammad specifically, if God has been a comfort and a remover of obstacles. 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.

Theme and subject matter

The aim and object of this Surah too are to console and encourage Muhammad. Before his call, he never had to encounter the conditions which he suddenly had to encounter after it, when he embarked on his mission of inviting the people to Islam. This was by itself a great revolution in his own life of which he had no idea in his life before prophethood. No sooner had he started preaching the message of Islam than the same society which had esteemed him with unique honor, turned hostile to him. The same relatives and friends, the same clansmen and neighbors, who used to treat him with the highest respect, began to shower him with abuse and invective. No one in Makkah was prepared to listen to him; he began to be ridiculed and mocked in the street and on the road, and at every step, he had to face new difficulties. Although gradually he became accustomed to the hardships, even much severer ones, yet the initial stage was very discouraging for him. That is why first Surah Ad-Duha was sent down to console him, and then this Surah.

In it, at the outset, Allah says: "We have favored you, O Prophet, with three great blessings; therefore you have no cause to be disheartened. The first is the blessing of Sharh Sadr (opening up of the chest), the second of removing from you the heavy burden that was weighing down your back before the call, and the third of exalting your renown the like of which has never been granted to any man before." Further below in the notes, we have explained what is implied by each of these blessings and how great and unique these blessings indeed are!

After this, Allah has reassured Muhammad that the period of hardships which he is passing through, is not very long, but following close behind it, there is also a period of ease. This same thing has been described in Surah Ad-Duha, saying: "Every later period is better for you than the former period, and soon your Lord will give you so much that you will be well pleased."

The Surah also repeats the phrase "surely with hardship comes ease," setting a precedent that appears throughout the Quran that any single difficulty faced by Muhammad or his followers would be rewarded twice over (or more).

In conclusion, Muhammad has been instructed, so as to say, "You can develop the power to bear and resist the hardships of the initial stage only by one means, and it is this: `When you are free from your occupations, you should devote yourself to the labor and toil of worship, and turn all your attention exclusively to your Lord'."This same instruction has been given to him in much greater detail in Surah Al-Muzzammil 1-9.