before him as bleak and shadowed, causing him to shrink back and lose hope. Likewise, when someone attains a blessing you should congratulate him for the good that has already come to pass and give him glad tidings of the good still to come. Gladden your brother’s heart. If, for example, you see a person weighed down with sorrow, the world pressing in on him and problems gathering from every side, say to him, “Rejoice—relief is on its way!” The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “Know that victory comes with patience, relief with distress, and ease with hardship.” These are the words of the Messenger, who does not speak of his own accord.

So when you see your brother distressed, tell him, “Rejoice, for relief is near,” and when you find him in hardship, say, “Ease is close at hand.” Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with him, likewise said, “One hardship can never overcome two eases.” In Sūrah al-Sharḥ Allah says, “For indeed, with hardship comes ease; indeed, with hardship comes ease” (94:5-6). “Hardship” appears twice and “ease” appears twice, yet in reality the hardship is mentioned only once whereas the ease is mentioned twice. Why is that? The scholars explain that when a word is repeated with the definite article al- it refers to the same thing, but when it is repeated without al- it denotes two distinct things. Thus “the hardship” is repeated with the article, making the second instance identical to the first, whereas “ease” is repeated without the article, so the second ease is different from and in addition to the first.