So truly with hardship comes ease,He said:God, Exalted is He, has magnified the state of hope (rajāʾ) in this verse out of His generosity (karam) and His hidden grace (khafī luṭfihi), and thus He mentions ease twice. Indeed, the Prophet said, ‘Hardship (ʿuṣr) will not overwhelm the two eases.’ By this he meant: the discernment of the heart (fiṭnat al-qalb) and the intellect (ʿaql) are the two ‘eases’ which take control of the natural self, and return it to the state of sincerity (ikhlāṣ). This is [also]the inner meaning of the verse, namely that along with the hardship (shidda) of the natural self (nafsal-ṭabʿ), in its need for God Himself (dhāt al-Ḥaqq), Mighty and Majestic is He, [and] for the spiritual self (nafs al-rūḥ), ⸢[there comes] the ease (suhūla) of the spiritual self⸣, the intellect (ʿaql) and the discernment of the heart (fiṭnat al-qalb), and this, in its inner meaning, [signifies]the confident abandonment (taskīn) of the heart of Muḥammad to the [divine] succour (iʿāna) in fear. So He [God] said, ‘Truly, We gave ascendancy (sallaṭnā) over your dense natural self, to the subtle [substances] (laṭāʾif) of your spiritual self, intellect, heart and understanding(fahm), all of which pre-existed as a momentous gift (mawhiba jalīla) before the creation appeared by a thousand years, and thus did they subdue the natural self.’
said, ‘Hardship (ʿuṣr) will not overwhelm the two eases.’ By this he meant: the discernment of the heart (fiṭnat al-qalb) and the intellect (ʿaql) are the two ‘eases’ which take control of the natural self, and return it to the state of sincerity (ikhlāṣ). This is [also]the inner meaning of the verse, namely that along with the hardship (shidda) of the natural self (nafsal-ṭabʿ), in its need for God Himself (dhāt al-Ḥaqq), Mighty and Majestic is He, [and] for the spiritual self (nafs al-rūḥ), ⸢[there comes] the ease (suhūla) of the spiritual self⸣, the intellect (ʿaql) and the discernment of the heart (fiṭnat al-qalb), and this, in its inner meaning, [signifies]the confident abandonment (taskīn) of the heart of Muḥammad