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Chapter 94

Openingal-Sharḥ ( الشرح )

8 verses • revealed at Meccan

»The surah that opens with a reassurance to the Prophet Muḥammad that his divine appointment to receive God’s revelation has been nothing less than the Opening of the breast to sacred wisdom and guidance, and that thereby he has been honoured for all time, made well-able to bear the mantle of prophethood, and that ultimately and inevitably he shall be eased unto success. It is named “opening” after the phrase “did We not open” (a lam nashraḥ) in verse 1. The surah is a continuation of the reassurance and encouragement given in the previous surah.«

The surah is also known as Broadened Breast, Comfort, Consolation, Relief, The Expanding, The Expansion, The Opening Up, The Opening of The Heart, The Opening-Up of the Heart

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

Yusuf Ali: In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

1
أَلَم نَشرَح لَكَ صَدرَكَ

Yusuf Ali

This short Sūra gives a message of hope and encouragement in a time of darkness and difficulty. It was revealed to the holy Prophet soon after the last Sūra (Dhuḥā), whose argument it supplements.
C. 274 | [94:1-8] The Prophet’s mind and heart had indeed been expanded and purified; the burden which pressed on his soul had been removed; and his name exalted in this world and the next. For the righteous man there is no trouble but is linked with ease and joy; he must strive at every stage, and look to God alone as the goal of all his hopes.
Have We not expanded thee thy breast?—1
  • Cf. the prayer of Moses in 20:25. The breast is symbolically the seat of knowledge and the highest feelings of love and affection, the treasure house in which are stored the jewels of that quality of human character which approaches nearest to the divine. The holy Prophet’s human nature had been purified, expanded, and elevated, so that he became a Mercy to all Creation. Such a nature could afford to ignore the lower motives of ordinary humanity which caused shameful attacks to be made on him. Its strength and courage could also bear the burden of the galling work which it had to do in denouncing sin, subduing it, and protecting God’s creatures from its oppression.