Tafseer of The Consolation · Ash-Sharh · 94:7
So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up [for worship].
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
And His word: ( So when you are free, then strive ) — The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed over the interpretation of this. Some of them said: the meaning is: when you are free from your prayer (ṣalāh), then strive toward your Lord in supplication, and ask Him for your needs.
* Mention of those who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: ( So when you are free, then strive ) — he says: in supplication.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: ( So when you are free, then strive ) — he says: when you are free from what has been prescribed for you of prayer, then ask Allah, desire Him, and strive toward Him.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Waraqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: ( So when you are free, then strive ) — he said: when you rise for prayer, then strive toward your Lord with your need.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying, concerning His word: ( So when you are free, then strive ) — he says: from the prescribed prayer, before you perform the taslīm, then strive.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: ( So when you are free, then strive * and to your Lord direct your longing ) — he said: He commanded him that, when he was free from his prayer, he should strive fully in his supplication.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: ( So when you are free ) from your prayer ( then strive ) in supplication.
And others said: no, the meaning of it is: ( So when you are free ) from the struggle (jihād) against your enemy ( then strive ) in the worship of your Lord.
* Mention of those who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: al-Ḥasan said concerning His word: ( So when you are free, then strive ) — he said: He commanded him that, when he was free from his military campaign (ghazwa), he should strive in supplication and worship.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: ( So when you are free, then strive ) — he said, on the authority of his father: when you are free from the struggle, the struggle against the Arabs, and their struggle has come to an end, then strive in the worship of Allah ( and to your Lord direct your longing ).
And others said: no, the meaning of it is: when you are free from the affairs of your worldly life, then strive in the worship of your Lord.
* Mention of those who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: ( So when you are free, then strive ) — he said: when you are free from the affair of the worldly life, then strive; he said: then perform the prayer.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: ( So when you are free, then strive ) — he said: when you are free from the affair of your worldly life, then strive, perform the prayer.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: ( So when you are free ) — he said: when you are free from the affair of the worldly life, and you rise for prayer, then direct your longing and your intention toward Him.
And the most correct of the statements concerning this is the statement of the one who said: that Allah — exalted is His mention — commanded His Prophet ﷺ that, when he was free from all that with which he was occupied of the affairs of his worldly life and his Hereafter — to which the occupation brought him and with which He commanded him to occupy himself — he should strive in His worship, occupy himself with what brought him near to Him, and ask Him for his needs. And in this He did not single out any one of his states of being free above another state. So all the states of his being free are equal: whether his being free was from prayer, or from the struggle, or from a worldly affair with which he was occupied — because of the generality of the condition therein, without the one state of being free being specified above the other.
