Sūrat al-Sharḥ

Meccan. It consists of 8 verses. (Revealed after Sūrat al-Ḍuḥā).

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

1. Have We not expanded for you your breast?

2. And removed from you your burden,

3. Which weighed down your back?

4. And raised high for you your repute?

The Interrogative: It is an inquiry regarding the negation of the expansion, intended as a denial (of the negation), which results in the affirmation and necessity of the expansion. It is as if it were said: "We have indeed expanded your breast for you." For this reason, the following clause, "And We removed," is conjoined to it, taking the meaning into account.

The Meaning of "We expanded your breast":

• We widened it until it encompassed the universality of Prophethood and the call to both mankind and jinn.
• Or, until it could bear the hardships to which the disbelievers of your people and others subjected you.
• Or, We widened it with the knowledge and wisdom We deposited within it, removing the constriction and distress that accompany blindness and ignorance.
• Al-Hasan said: "It was filled with wisdom and knowledge."
• Regarding Abu Ja'far al-Mansur, who read a-lam nashraḥ (with a fatḥah on the ḥā'): It is said he perhaps articulated the ḥā' clearly and emphasized its articulation point, leading the listener to think he had opened it (fatḥah).

"And the burden which weighed down your back":

• Anqaḍa (weighed down) refers to the sound of cracking or breaking due to its heaviness. This is a metaphor for what burdened the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and distressed him—whether from his anxieties before Prophethood, his ignorance of the rulings and laws, or his intense longing and grief for the conversion of the stubborn among his people.
• "Removing it" means: He forgave him, or taught him the laws, or established his excuse after he had reached and conveyed the message.
• Anas read: wa-ḥalalna (and We loosened/unburdened). Ibn Mas'ud read: wa-ḥalalna 'anka wiqraka (and We loosened your load from you).

"And raised high for you your mention":

• This means He coupled your mention with the mention of Allah in the Shahada, the Adhan, the Iqama, the Tashahhud, the sermons, and in many places in the Quran (e.g., "Allah and His Messenger are more worthy that they should please Him," "Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger," "Obey Allah and obey the Messenger").
• It also includes naming him the Messenger of Allah and the Prophet of Allah, his mention in the scriptures of the ancients, and the covenant taken from the Prophets and their nations to believe in him.

A Question and Answer:

• Question: What is the benefit of the addition "for you" (laka), when the meaning is complete without it?
• Answer: The addition of "for you" employs the method of ambiguity followed by clarification. It is as if it were said: "Have We not expanded for you?"—one understands that there is something expanded. Then it is said: "your breast," clarifying what was previously ambiguous. The same applies to "your mention" and "your burden."