Surah Az-Zumar

Chapter 39 · Verse 22 · Revealed in Makkah

أَفَمَن شَرَحَ ٱللَّهُ صَدْرَهُۥ لِلْإِسْلَٰمِ فَهُوَ عَلَىٰ نُورٍۢ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦ ۚ فَوَيْلٌۭ لِّلْقَٰسِيَةِ قُلُوبُهُم مِّن ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ فِى ضَلَٰلٍۢ مُّبِينٍ

So is one whose breast Allah has expanded to [accept] Islam and he is upon a light from his Lord [like one whose heart rejects it]? Then woe to those whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of Allah. Those are in manifest error.

Translation: Saheeh International

Listen to recitation

Mishary Rashid Alafasy

Reflection — Ibn Kathir

The Parable of the Life of this World

Allah tells us that water originates in the sky. This is like the Ayah:

وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مَآءً طَهُوراً

Reflection — Maarif ul Quran

In the first sentence of verse 22, it was said: أَفَمَن شَرَ‌حَ اللَّـهُ صَدْرَ‌هُ لِلْإِسْلَامِ فَهُوَ عَلَىٰ نُورٍ‌ مِّن رَّ‌بِّهِ (So I ask about a person whose heart Allah has opened up for Islam, and consequently he proceeds in a light from his Lord.). The word: شَرَ‌حَ (sharh) literally means to open, enlarge or extend. The expression: شرح الصدر (sharh-us-sadr) means the capacity or capability of the heart (to receive and accommodate input). The sense is that one's heart is capable of learning lessons and receiving benefits by deliberating into Divine signs of creation in the heavens and the earth, particularly so by deliberating in his own creation. Similar is the case with other signs of Allah revealed in the form of scriptures and injunctions. One's heart also has to have the ability to deliberate in them and be benefited by them. In contrast, there is a heart that is straightened or hardened. The statement in a verse of the Qur'an: يَجْعَلْ صَدْرَ‌هُ ضَيِّقًا حَرَ‌جًا He makes his heart narrow, much too narrow - Al-An am, 6:125) and the one in the next verse at this place: لِّلْقَاسِيَةِ قُلُوبُهُم "woe to those whose hearts are too hard to remember Allah - 39:22" has appeared in contrast to this very 'sharh-us-sadr' (a heart opened to acceptance of truth and at ease with it).

According to a narration from Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ ، when the Holy Prophet ﷺ recited this verse: أَفَمَن شَرَ‌حَ اللَّـهُ صَدْرَ‌هُ (Is it not that, a person for whom Allah opens up his heart...), we asked him about the meaning of 'sharh-us-sadr'. He said, "when the light of 'iman (faith) enters the human heart, it enhances its capacity (which makes the comprehension and implementation of Divine commandments easy on the person concerned)." We submitted, 'ya rasulallah, what is the sign of it (that is, of 'sharh-us-sadr' )?' Then, he said:

What does this verse bring up for you today?

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