بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم

In times of sadness

In a previous post, I mentioned Surah Ash-Sharh and the popular verse, “Verily, with hardship, there will be ease.” [94:6]. I shared how the verse states that “with hardship” comes ease, as opposed to “after hardship”, which means that with one trial that Allah s.w.t. sends upon us, He gives us ease.

Last week, I attended a tafsir class that focuses on the same surah. It is truly fascinating how so much unpacking is required for one short surah, subhanAllah. Ustaz emphasised the differences in the way “hardship” and “ease” are written. In both verses 5 and 6, ‘hardship’ is written as ‘ٱلْعُسْرِ’, while ‘ease’ is written as ‘يُسْرًا.’. The addition of ال in the beginning of ‘hardship’ renders the noun definite. ال is the equivalent of the word “the” in English. ‘ٱلْعُسْرِ’, thus, refers to ‘the hardship‘. On the other hand, ‘ease’ is written without ال, rendering the noun indefinite. According to ustaz, a definite noun is specific and numbered. Conversely, an indefinite noun is not specific and unnumbered. Therefore, in verse 6, when ‘the hardship’ is repeated, Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) is referring to the same hardship as in verse 5, while the ‘ease’ in verses 5 and 6 refers to different eases. This is important because it means that with just one hardship, Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) grants us many eases. Ustaz also mentioned an opinion in which the two eases refer to ease in dunya (an immediate consequence) and ease in akhirah, subhanAllah. How Merciful Allah is 🥺

It is without a doubt that this surah is emotionally healing, as is the nature of the Book of Allah. However, Ustaz raised the importance for us – while reading and contemplating upon its meanings – to recognise its effects on healing us spiritually and intellectually (i.e., through acts of obedience and seeking knowledge). In agreement with the first Revelation in which the Prophet ﷺ was told to ‘read’ (ٱقْرَأْ), it is our duty as slaves of Allah to read/ seek knowledge 🥺 Alhamdulillah for the knowledge that have reached me through Allah’s will. May He (سبحانه و تعالى) make me and you among those who continuously seek knowledge and practice what we have learned, inshaAllah.

And Allah knows best 🤍