Promised Relief – Indeed, with Hardship Comes Relief.

Indeed, with Hardship Comes Relief: A Reminder of Allah’s Certain Promise

In this powerful reminder, Ustadh Abu Salih Adam reflects upon one of the greatest promises in the Qurʾān. Every believer experiences trials, but true comfort lies in knowing that the promise of Allah is certain. Listen, reflect, and share this beneficial reminder with others, so that they too may find hope, patience, and renewed trust in their Lord. May Allah make it a source of benefit for all who hear it.

The Promise

Allah says:

فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا ۝ إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا

“Verily, along with every hardship is relief. Verily, along with every hardship is relief.” ۞ [Q 94:5–6]

The promise is not stated once but twice. Allah does not leave His servant to infer that relief might come; He affirms it, then affirms it again, with the emphasis of inna (“verily”) in each verse.

Relief Accompanies Hardship

The verse says that relief is with hardship (maʿa), not merely after it. Ease is not a distant reward that arrives only once the difficulty has gone. Its seeds are already present within the trial: in the patience Allah places in the heart, in the reward being written, in the sins being expiated, and in the nearness to Allah that hardship often brings about.

One Hardship, Two Reliefs

The Arabic wording carries a subtle point that the scholars have long highlighted. The word al-ʿusr (hardship) appears with the definite article in both verses, which indicates that the same hardship is meant. The word yusran (relief) appears without it in both, which indicates two reliefs. It is reported from some of the early scholars, including ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110 AH/728 CE), that:

لَنْ يَغْلِبَ عُسْرٌ يُسْرَيْنِ

“One hardship will never overcome two reliefs.”

Trials Are the Lot of Every Believer

No one is exempt from difficulty. Allah says:

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ

“And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to the patient.” ۞ [Q 2:155]

The trial is real, but so is the glad tidings that accompany it. Hardship is not a sign that Allah has abandoned His servant. It is the ground on which patience is shown and reward is earned.

The Believer in Both Conditions

The Messenger of Allah said:

عَجَبًا لِأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ خَيْرٌ، وَلَيْسَ ذَاكَ لِأَحَدٍ إِلَّا لِلْمُؤْمِنِ، إِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ، وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبَرَ فَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ

“How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for all of his affair is good, and this is for no one except the believer. If something pleasing befalls him, he is grateful, and that is good for him. If something harmful befalls him, he is patient, and that is good for him.”

Reported by Muslim (d. 261 AH/875 CE) on the authority of Ṣuhayb (may Allah be pleased with him).

Relief Is Near

Allah says:

سَيَجْعَلُ اللَّهُ بَعْدَ عُسْرٍ يُسْرًا

“Allah will grant after hardship, ease.” ۞ [Q 65:7]

And Allah says:

أَلَا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللَّهِ قَرِيبٌ

“Verily! The Help of Allah is near!” ۞ [Q 2:214]

Allah’s promise does not fail, and its timing is perfectly wise. The believer’s task is to hold fast to patience, to keep a good opinion of his Lord, and not to despair.

Victory Comes with Patience

In the well-known advice of the Prophet to Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both), in a narration other than that of al-Tirmidhī, he said:

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ النَّصْرَ مَعَ الصَّبْرِ، وَأَنَّ الْفَرَجَ مَعَ الْكَرْبِ، وَأَنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا

“Know that victory comes with patience, that relief comes with affliction, and that with hardship comes ease.”

Turning to Allah in Hardship

The reminder, then, is to return to Allah in every trial: to pray, to remain patient, to renew trust in Him, and to remember that every hardship is accompanied by a relief that He has already decreed. We ask Allah to grant us patience in difficulty, gratitude in ease, and certainty in His promise.

References

• Al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, Sūrat al-Sharḥ (94:5–6), Sūrat al-Baqarah (2:155, 2:214), Sūrat al-Ṭalāq (65:7).
• Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (d. 261 AH/875 CE), Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Zuhd wa al-Raqāʾiq, ḥadīth of Ṣuhayb.
• Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241 AH/855 CE), al-Musnad, ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās.