Exegesis of Surat al-Sharh up to the saying of Allah the Exalted: "…and We raised for you your mention."

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
This is the seventy-ninth of the weekly gatherings that take place every Thursday, and this Thursday is the twenty-first of the month of Jumada al-Thani in the year 1415. In it, we will first speak about what is facilitated from Surat al-Tin, where we previously concluded by finishing the recitation of al-Inshirah.
So, we begin from Surat , where we ended in our previous session after having started from Surat al-Naba. We chose this portion of the Book of Allah the Mighty and Majestic because the surahs that are frequently recited are those from which people benefit; their recitation is frequent in prayer. This is because the scholars say: The Sunnah in prayer is to recite from the long surahs of the final part of the Qur'an in the Fajr prayer, from the short surahs of the final part in the Maghrib prayer, and from the middle surahs in the rest. The long surahs of the final part are from Surat Qaf to Surat 'Amma, the short ones are from Surat al-Duha to the end of the Qur'an, and the middle ones are from Surat al-Naba to Surat al-Duha.
This is the general rule, and there is no harm in reciting from the long surahs of the final part in the Maghrib prayer, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) sometimes used to recite from them.
Allah the Exalted and Sublime says, clarifying His grace upon His Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): The scholars say that this interrogative is an interrogative of affirmation. An interrogative of affirmation is frequently found in the Qur'an, and the verb is estimated to be a past tense verb accompanied by the particle "qad."
So, in His saying: And so it is with all interrogatives of affirmation that you encounter; they are estimated to be a past tense verb accompanied by "qad." As for why it is estimated to be a past tense verb, it is because it has been completed and occurred.
As for why it is accompanied by "qad," it is because "qad" conveys realization when it enters a past tense verb, and it conveys diminution when it enters a present tense verb. "Qad" can convey realization, as in the saying of people: "The miser may be generous." Here, "qad" is for diminution. But in the saying of Allah the Exalted: , this "qad" is for realization, without doubt.
Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: , meaning: We expand it. This opening is a spiritual opening, not a physical opening. Opening the chest means that it is spacious for the ruling of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: the ruling of Allah in the Shari'ah, which is the religion, and the ruling of Allah in the divine decree, which are the calamities that befall a person. This is because the Shari'ah involves opposing one's desires. The Shari'ah involves opposing one's desires, so a person finds heaviness in carrying out the commands of Allah and heaviness in avoiding the prohibitions of Allah. Why? You have the answer: because it is contrary to the desire of the soul that commands evil. It does not open up to the commands of Allah or to His prohibitions.
You find that prayer is heavy for some people, as Allah the Exalted said regarding the hypocrites: . And there are people for whom prayer is light; rather, they long for it and anticipate its occurrence, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
So, the Shari'ah involves heaviness for souls in avoiding prohibitions. Some people desire things that are forbidden to them, such as zina, drinking intoxicants, and the like, so it becomes heavy for them. And there are people whose chests open up to leaving that and distancing themselves from what Allah has forbidden.
Look at Yusuf (peace be upon him) when the wife of the Aziz called him after she had locked the doors and said, "Come here," and prepared for him with the best clothing and the best appearance, and the place was empty and safe for anyone to enter; she had locked the doors. What did he say? He sought refuge in his Lord, because this is a critical situation: a young man and the wife of the Aziz, in an empty and safe place. A human being is a human being, and perhaps his soul may suggest to him to do so. Therefore, he said: .
In the authentic hadith, it is reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said: . The point of relevance here is his saying: .
So, I say: Opening the chest for the Shari'ah ruling means accepting the Shari'ah ruling, being pleased with it, and implementing it, and saying: "We hear and we obey." And you yourself, sometimes, find your heart open to worship, performing it with ease, submission, tranquility, and satisfaction. And sometimes, it is the opposite; if not for your fear of sin, you would not have done it. If this difference exists in one person, what about multiple people? Opening the chest for the divine decree: we will precede speaking about it with a question:
Are all the cosmic rulings of Allah suitable for human nature, or not? No. Health is suitable, wealth is suitable, security is suitable, satiety is suitable, marriage is suitable. But illness is not suitable, fear is not suitable, hunger is not suitable, and many other things. The person whose chest Allah has opened for the cosmic ruling is found to be pleased with the decree and destiny of Allah, reassured by it, saying: "I am a servant, and Allah is my Lord; He does what He wills." This man in this state will always be in joy; he will not be sad or worried. He suffers, but it does not reach the point of carrying worry or grief. Therefore, it came in the authentic hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: .
So, opening the chest means its expansion and preparation for the rulings of Allah: the Shari'ah and the divine decree. He does not feel constrained by the rulings of Allah at all.
Our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) has the greatest share of that. Therefore, you find him to be the most God-fearing of people, the most steadfast in obeying Allah, and the most patient with the decrees of Allah. What did people do to him when he stood up for the call? And what illnesses did he suffer, until he would be stricken with fever as two of us would be stricken with fever, meaning from illness? It was severe for him, like for two of us. And even when he was dying, it was severe for him (peace and blessings be upon him), until he left the world, and he was the most patient of the patient. And patience is known to be a high degree that is not attained except by the presence of something to be patient with. As for a cold thing, there is no patience in it. For this reason, we find the prophets to be the most tested of people, then the righteous, the best of the best. I return once more: What is the meaning of ? It means: We expand it for the acceptance of the decree of Allah, the Shari'ah ruling, or the divine ruling. And this is achieved in the most perfect manner for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Allah the Exalted said: . You might say: There is a contradiction between the two sentences; the first sentence is a present tense verb "We open," and the second is a past tense verb "We placed." But based on the affirmation I mentioned, which is that "Alam Nashrah" means "We have opened," the conjunction "and We placed" is a conjunction with its counterpart and equivalent.
"We placed it" means: We cast it away, and We pardoned, and We forgave, and We overlooked. means: your sin. means: its burdens and its pains. Because the back is the place of carrying. If there is a load that tires the back, then tiring something else is even more so, because the strongest of your organs for carrying is the back. Look at the difference between carrying a bag on your back or carrying it in your hands; there is a difference between them. So the meaning is that Allah the Exalted forgave the burden and the sin of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), until it remained forgiven for him.
Allah the Blessed and Exalted said: . Read, my brother, read what comes after it.

The questioner : .

The Shaykh :. And it was said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) while he was standing in night prayer and prolonging his standing until his feet would swell or crack, that it was said to him, meaning: . So he affirmed this statement; he affirmed that Allah had forgiven him what had passed of his sin and what was to come. But he said: . So the forgiveness of the sins of the Messenger, both past and future, is established by the Qur'an and what? And the Sunnah; by the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
And this is among the characteristics of the Messenger (peace be upon him). No one among people is forgiven for what has passed and what is to come except the Messenger. As for others, they need to repent; they repent from the sin, and Allah the Exalted and Sublime may forgive them without repentance for anything less than shirk. But as for the Messenger (peace be upon him), we are certain that what has passed of his sin and what is to come has been forgiven for him. For this reason, he said: .
If someone were to say: This verse and what we have cited as evidence for it indicates that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) may commit a sin. Does the Prophet commit a sin? Yes?
The answer: Yes. And it is not possible for us to reject the texts. It is not possible for us to reject them merely to exclude the occurrence of a sin from him (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). And we do not say: The issue is that a person should not commit a sin. Rather, the issue is that a person should be forgiven. This is what is important: that he is forgiven. As for that a sin does not occur from him, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: . There must be a sin.
However, there are things that cannot possibly occur from the prophets, such as lying and betrayal. This is absolutely impossible for them, because if it were to happen, it would be a refutation of their message, and that is impossible.
Base moral traits, such as unlawful sexual intercourse and the like, are also impossible, because they contradict the essence of the message, which was sent to perfect noble character. As the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: .
The conclusion is that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has removed the burden from Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and made it clear that this burden had broken his back, meaning: it exhausted and wearied him. If this was the burden of the Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), how much more so are the burdens of others?
Our burdens exhaust our backs, break them, and weary them, yet it is as if we carried nothing, as if we carried nothing. This is due to the weakness of our faith and insight, and the abundance of our heedlessness. We ask Allah to treat us with forgiveness.
It is mentioned in some narrations: , meaning that he does not care. The believer is concerned about his sins, and worry follows him until he is rid of them through repentance and seeking forgiveness, or through great good deeds that erase the effects of this evil. And if you see in your heart heedlessness regarding your sins, know that your heart is sick, because a living heart cannot be pleased with sickness, and the sickness of hearts is sins. As 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"I saw that sins kill the hearts *** And their habitual practice begets humiliation
And leaving sins is the life of the hearts *** And the best for your soul is to disobey them"
In any case, I say: It is obligatory upon us, and I direct this statement to myself before you, and I ask Allah to help me with it. I direct it to myself before you, and we hope for Allah’s help for everyone. I say: It is obligatory upon us to care for ourselves and to account for them. If merchants do not sleep until they review their business ledgers—what they spent, what they paid out, and what they earned—then the merchants of the Hereafter should be even more concerned, because their trade is the greatest trade. What does the trade of the people of this world benefit them? The most it benefits them, if it benefits them at all, is the comfort of the body only. Moreover, this trade brings with it worry and grief. If he loses in a commodity, he is concerned about it. If there are fears of highway robbers or thieves in his land, he becomes even more anxious. But the trade of the Hereafter is the opposite of this: it saves from punishment, and Allah forgives sins through it, and through it one enters the Gardens, the Gardens of 'Adn, meaning: Gardens of permanent residence, dwellings that are good in their structure and in the material of their construction. Do you think that the construction of Paradise is of cement and gravel? No, as the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: . By Allah, if a person remained in prostration from the time he reached puberty until he died, this would be a small price compared to this great gain. And even if it were only that a person is saved from the Fire, that would be sufficient.
Sometimes a person thinks and says: I wish I had not been born, or it would be enough for me to be saved from the Fire. And here is 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) saying: . This is because a person fears; he may think he is safe now because he prays, fasts, gives charity, performs Hajj, is dutiful to his parents, and the like. But there may be in his heart, may Allah keep us safe and well, a flaw that leads to a bad ending, and refuge is sought in Allah from that. As the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , meaning a short period before his death. He is not an arm’s length in his work, because all his work is vanity, he is , as it came in the authentic hadith. But his saying: does not mean that his work brought him close to Paradise, nor does it mean that there is only a short period left in his life, . But this is in the case where a person’s work is for people, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
When a person passes through such texts, he fears for himself, he fears from showing off, he fears from self-admiration, he fears from displaying himself to Allah with his deeds.
So we ask Allah the Exalted to protect us and you from the evil of our deeds. O Allah, we seek refuge in You from the evils of our souls and from the evil of our deeds, and we seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance. And to the questions, we start from the right. What is possible? How much time do you have? A third of an hour is not enough for us.