Opening up the chest (sharaha ṣadra)
يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُۥ
yashraḥ ṣadrahū — He opens up his chest
Across five verses, the verb sharaha with ṣadr forms a family: the chest is opened for submission (6:125, 39:22), for covering the truth (16:106), or in direct address: a request to Allah in (20:25) and Allah's question to the addressee in (94:1), so the expression names a widening of the inner self toward a particular stance rather than a fixed direction of good or bad.
In the verses given, the verb ش ر ح always takes صدر as its object, and the pairing carries a consistent sense of opening or widening the chest toward something. In (6:125) Allah opens up a person's chest for submission (لِلْإِسْلَٰمِ) when He intends to guide him; the opposite is a chest made tight and constricted (ضَيِّقًا حَرَجًا), so the opened chest is set against a narrowed one within the same verse. In (39:22) the same construction appears: one whose chest Allah has opened up for the submission is upon a light from his Lord, contrasted with those whose hearts are hardened away from the remembrance of Allah. In both verses the opening is Allah's act and its stated object is submission. (16:106) shows the expression is not tied to one direction: a person who opens up a breast for the covering of truth (شَرَحَ بِٱلْكُفْرِ صَدْرًا) draws anger and punishment, so the same verb and noun can mark acceptance of denial. (20:25) places the expression in a request addressed to Allah, while (94:1) is Allah's question to the human addressee: a speaker asks 'open up my chest for me' (ٱشْرَحْ لِى صَدْرِى), and Allah asks 'Have We not opened up your chest for you?' (أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ). Read together, the five occurrences show that opening the chest is an act attributed to Allah, requested from Him, or performed by a human (16:106), and that what the chest is opened for varies: submission in two verses, covering the truth in one, and an unspecified 'for me/for you' in the two addressed instances.
Where it occurs
- 6:125 Allah opens up the chest of one He intends to guide, for submission, set against the tight, constricted chest of one He intends to let go astray.
- 16:106 A person is said to open up a breast for the covering of truth, the only occurrence where the verb's subject is human and the opening leads to anger and punishment.
- 20:25 A speaker asks his Lord to open up his chest for him, the only occurrence in the first person and in the imperative.
- 39:22 One whose chest Allah has opened up for the submission is upon a light from his Lord, contrasted with those whose hearts are hardened.
- 94:1 Allah asks whether He has not opened up the addressee's chest for him, the only occurrence with a first-person-plural speaker.
All Qur'anic expressions