Eloquence and Ease of Affairs
رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي، وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي، وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي.
رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي
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“My Lord, expand for me my breast, and ease for me my affair, and untie a knot from my tongue, that they may understand my speech.”
Form: Four consecutive imperative verbs: “ishrah” (اشْرَحْ), “yassir” (يَسِّرْ), “uhlul” (احْلُلْ) and “yafqahu” (يَفْقَهُوا). The principal Quranic prayer for eloquence, tranquility of spirit and the easing of difficult matters.
Tafsir of Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Saadi
Sheikh as-Saadi writes: “The opening of the breast means the granting to the believer of tranquility, resolve and courage in the face of a tyrant. The easing of the affair is the removal of obstacles, and the untying of the knot is the removal of impediment in speech.”
Tafsir of Imam Ibn Kathir
Ibn Kathir notes: “Musa asked Allah for everything necessary for the fulfilment of the great mission of calling Pharaoh. And Allah immediately answered him: ‘You have already been granted what you asked for, O Musa!’ (20:36).”
Tafsir al-Baghawi
“…He said…” Musa.
“My Lord, expand my breast…” and make it spacious for the truth. Ibn ‘Abbas said: He meant, “so that I would fear no one but You.” This was because Musa greatly feared Pharaoh, on account of his large and armed army. He felt burdened in his heart by the task of confronting Pharaoh and his army, so he asked Allah to expand his heart for the truth, so that he would know that no one could harm him except by Allah’s permission.
When he came to know this, he no longer feared Pharaoh and his large, armed army.
“…and make my task easy for me…” that is, make easy for me what You have commanded me to do, namely, to convey the truth to Pharaoh. “…and untie the knot that is on my tongue,
“…so that they may understand my speech…” that is, Musa said: Untie the knot, so that they may understand my speech.
In Tafsir Ibn Kathir the necessity of reciting this prayer before important speeches, lessons and khutbahs is emphasized.