'Abasa · Makki · ayah 20 of 42

'Abasa 80:20

ثُمَّ ٱلسَّبِيلَ يَسَّرَهُۥ

“Then He eased the way for him;[1860]”

Saheeh International

Essence

The first narrow road you ever travelled was eased for you, and so is the road of guidance; walking it is yours to do.

A reflection

The first journey you did not plan

'Then He eased the way for him.' Many of the earliest commentators understood this way to be the way out of the mother's womb. One major commentator prefers that reading, because the ayat before and after are all about the body: the drop, the measuring, death and the grave. The middle, he argues, should match.

Another classical commentator marvels at it. Before birth, he writes, the baby's head is upward and its feet below. When the time comes, it turns. Who taught it to do that, if not Allah? And its coming out alive through so narrow a passage is among the greatest wonders.

The root of yassarahu carries a picture that fits this reading closely, and it is well established. The Arabs said their flocks yassarat when the ewes gave birth easily, with no lamb lost, and milk and young in plenty. Ease, in the root's own memory, is a birth that goes well.

Picture a hill farmer at lambing time, three in the morning, in a cold barn lit by one bulb. He has been up for nights. A ewe that worried him goes into labour. He kneels ready to help, and then does not need to. The lamb comes quickly, slick and steaming, and is on its feet within minutes. He sits back on his heels and says, quietly, 'Subḥān Allāh.' He has seen it hundreds of times. He did not make it happen. He only watched it being eased.

Now turn that onto yourself. The first journey you ever made was the most dangerous, and you made it without knowing. You did not plan the route or time your turn. Someone else eased the road.

Pride likes to tell the story of our lives as a series of roads we found for ourselves. This ayah begins further back. Before you chose any road, the first one was opened for you.

A sceptic may ask why Allah lists His favours like this; does He want repayment? He does not. 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you' (14:7). The reminder is an invitation to gratitude, and gratitude is for the grateful.

The full entry has 4 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.