سُوْرَةُ الشَّرْحِ
Surah Ash-Sharh (94) — Ayah 1
أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ ﴿1﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
Have We not opened your breast for you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم)?
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
أَلَمْ
alam
Have not
نَشْرَحْ
nashraḥ
We expanded
لَكَ
laka
for you
صَدْرَكَ
ṣadraka
your breast
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
Did We not expand your chest for you [1]?
[1]
Two Meanings of Sharh Sadr:
The word "Sharh Sadr" is used in two senses. One is that a person fully understands a matter, ideology, belief, or issue. There remains no doubt, suspicion, or ambiguity, and the person attains certainty and satisfaction regarding what he has understood, as it is said: ﴿فَمَنْ يُّرِدِ اللّٰهُ اَنْ يَّهدِيَهٗ يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهٗ لِلْاِسْلَامِ﴾ [126:2] "That is, whomever Allah intends to guide, He opens his chest for Islam," meaning he attains the certainty and satisfaction that the beliefs presented by Islam are indeed correct. The second meaning of this word is that when a person considers a task to be very difficult and feels burdened to accomplish it, his nature becomes willing to undertake and bear this burden, as when Allah Almighty granted prophethood to Sayyiduna Musa ؑ and commanded him to go to Pharaoh and deliver His message. At that time, he prayed: ﴿قَالَ رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِيْ صَدْرِيْ﴾ [20:25۔26] "That is, O my Lord, open my chest for me and make this (difficult) task easy for me." In this verse, an interrogative style has been adopted, which sheds light on its background. The fact is that when you ﷺ began the work of inviting to Islam, the very people who used to sing your praises and you were the beloved of the entire nation, became your enemies. This was both painful and astonishing for you ﷺ, but in these circumstances, Allah Almighty granted such great courage to the Prophet of Islam and the Muslims who embraced Islam that, despite enduring the persecutions of the disbelievers of Makkah, they neither bowed before them nor were subdued. And above all, the greatest courage was granted to you ﷺ, because the main target of the disbelievers was your blessed person. Mocking you ﷺ, your prophethood, the verses of Allah, and your words was the favorite pastime of the disbelievers, and what could be a greater extent of physical torment than the fact that, during the Makkan period, the disbelievers made seven assassination attempts on you. (For details, see the footnote of Surah Al-Ma'idah, verse 67.) In addition, whenever any Muslim was subjected to oppression and persecution, you equally shared in that pain. In this verse, Allah Almighty has reminded of this favor: Have We not granted you courage as strong as a rock to endure these hardships? For further details, refer to my book "Muhammad ﷺ... The Embodiment of Patience and Steadfastness."
[1]
Two Meanings of Sharh Sadr:
The word "Sharh Sadr" is used in two senses. One is that a person fully understands a matter, ideology, belief, or issue. There remains no doubt, suspicion, or ambiguity, and the person attains certainty and satisfaction regarding what he has understood, as it is said: ﴿فَمَنْ يُّرِدِ اللّٰهُ اَنْ يَّهدِيَهٗ يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهٗ لِلْاِسْلَامِ﴾ [126:2] "That is, whomever Allah intends to guide, He opens his chest for Islam," meaning he attains the certainty and satisfaction that the beliefs presented by Islam are indeed correct. The second meaning of this word is that when a person considers a task to be very difficult and feels burdened to accomplish it, his nature becomes willing to undertake and bear this burden, as when Allah Almighty granted prophethood to Sayyiduna Musa ؑ and commanded him to go to Pharaoh and deliver His message. At that time, he prayed: ﴿قَالَ رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِيْ صَدْرِيْ﴾ [20:25۔26] "That is, O my Lord, open my chest for me and make this (difficult) task easy for me." In this verse, an interrogative style has been adopted, which sheds light on its background. The fact is that when you ﷺ began the work of inviting to Islam, the very people who used to sing your praises and you were the beloved of the entire nation, became your enemies. This was both painful and astonishing for you ﷺ, but in these circumstances, Allah Almighty granted such great courage to the Prophet of Islam and the Muslims who embraced Islam that, despite enduring the persecutions of the disbelievers of Makkah, they neither bowed before them nor were subdued. And above all, the greatest courage was granted to you ﷺ, because the main target of the disbelievers was your blessed person. Mocking you ﷺ, your prophethood, the verses of Allah, and your words was the favorite pastime of the disbelievers, and what could be a greater extent of physical torment than the fact that, during the Makkan period, the disbelievers made seven assassination attempts on you. (For details, see the footnote of Surah Al-Ma'idah, verse 67.) In addition, whenever any Muslim was subjected to oppression and persecution, you equally shared in that pain. In this verse, Allah Almighty has reminded of this favor: Have We not granted you courage as strong as a rock to endure these hardships? For further details, refer to my book "Muhammad ﷺ... The Embodiment of Patience and Steadfastness."
