Tafsir of Al-Inshirah 94:8

"And to your Lord, direct [your] longing."

Direct your longing to your Lord alone; be eager in your asking and do not ask anyone besides Him, Exalted be He, for He is the One capable of granting relief, and no one else, Glorified and Majestic be He.

Ibn Jarir and others have narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: "Meaning, when you have finished your prayer, exert yourself in supplication." A similar account is reported from al-Dahhak and Qatada. Ibn al-Mundhir narrated from Ibn Mas’ud: "Meaning, when you have finished your obligatory duties, exert yourself in standing for the night prayer." From al-Hasan, it is said: "Meaning, when you have finished the battle, strive in worship." Ibn Abi Hatim narrated a similar account from Zayd ibn Aslam.

Ibn Nasr and a group have narrated from Mujahid: "Meaning, when you have finished your personal affairs—or, in one wording, your worldly matters—then pray." Another narration from him aligns with what was reported from Ibn Abbas. It is more appropriate to interpret the verse according to what has preceded. As for the statement of Ibn Abbas and those with him, it is a specification of certain acts of worship—both in terms of leisure and occupation—by way of example, not that the wording is restricted to them; this is the most apparent view. The same applies to what is reported from Ibn Mas’ud. This is either because prayer is the mother of physical acts of worship and supplication is the marrow of worship—thus they are the two things [intended]—or because what al-Hasan stated aligns with the well-known saying of the Prophet (may Allah grant him peace and blessings): "We have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad." However, it has been objected that the Surah is Meccan, while the command for jihad came after the Hijra. Perhaps he holds the view that the Surah is Medinan, or this specific verse is, or that its ruling came after its revelation, as is the case with other verses.

As for the statement of Mujahid, he considered that "leisure" (faragh) is most frequently used for being free from worldly tasks, as in the Prophet’s (may Allah grant him peace and blessings) saying: "Seize your leisure before your occupation." This is the weakest of the opinions due to its distance from what the context requires and what the fa (in fainsab) indicates.

’Isam al-Din said: It is not appropriate to mean "If you are free from one hardship, exert yourself in another hardship, seeking two eases; so if you are in that state, be longing for your Lord." That is, do not bear the hardship of the world out of greed for two worldly eases, but rather bear the hardship of seeking the Lord and His closeness, Glorified be He, for the two eases. End quote. I swear by my life, this is contrary to what anyone whose mind is free of illness would understand from the wording.

The verse indicates that it is fitting for the servant to consume his time in worship, or to turn exclusively to worship after finishing his worldly matters, according to the statement of Mujahid mentioned regarding it. It is mentioned that for a person to sit idle without occupation, or to busy himself with what does not concern him in his religion or world, is a sign of poor judgment, shallowness of mind, and being overcome by heedlessness. It is related from Umar (may Allah be pleased with him): "I dislike seeing one of you idle (sabhallan), neither in the work of his world nor in the work of his afterlife." It is reported that Sharik passed by two men wrestling and said, "This is not what an idle person is commanded to do."

Abu al-Samal read faraghta with a kasra on the ra', which is a dialect; al-Zamakhshari said it is not of the highest eloquence. A group read fansab with a shadda on the ya (as fansabb), with a fatha, derived from insab (to set up/exert). The meaning is: Turn your attention to another act of worship with your full attention.

It is attributed to some of the Imamiyyah that they read fansib with a kasra on the sad, so it is said: "Meaning, when you have finished with the Prophethood, appoint Ali for the Imamate." But there is no evidence in the verse for the specificity of the object; thus, a Sunni may supply it as "Abu Bakr" (may Allah be pleased with him). If the Imamiyyah argues based on what occurred at Ghadir Khumm, the Sunni denies its indication for what is established with him regarding the appointment and its authenticity according to what he narrates. He argues for his interpretation by the Prophet’s (may Allah grant him peace and blessings) saying: "Order Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer." He says this is more consistent with "When you have finished," because it occurred during the Prophet’s final illness before his passing (may Allah grant him peace and blessings), unlike what happened at Ghadir, for it does not appear that that time was a time of "finishing with the Prophethood" in the same way that time of the command was.

If he retracts and says the meaning is: "When you have finished the Hajj, appoint Ali," he is refuted by the fact that the Surah is Meccan, along with what is not hidden. In al-Kashshaf, it is said: If that were valid for the Rafidi, it would be valid for the Nasibi to read it thus and make it a command for nasb (hostility), which is to hate Ali (may Allah honor his face). In this there is scrutiny. Some people have supplied the object as "a caliph," and the matter regarding that is trivial. Ibn ’Atiyyah said that this reading is shadh (irregular), weak in meaning, and has not been established from any scholar.

Zayd ibn Ali and Ibn Abi ’Ablah read farragh (with a shadda on the ghayn), meaning: "Exhort people to seek what is with Him, Exalted be He."