مَآ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ لِتَشْقَىٰٓ · إِلَّا تَذْكِرَةً لِّمَن يَخْشَىٰ
"We did not send the Qurʾān down on you that you should fall into distress. · Only as a reminder to whoever fears."
The root was treated in the series at al-Layl, al-Shams and al-Aʿlā in connection with the word ashqā — there it was discussed that the word is an elative (ism al-tafḍīl) on the afʿal pattern and stands opposed to atqā. I rely on that treatment; I do not repeat the discussion of the pattern here.
The core the lexicographers give for the root ش-ق-و / ش-ق-ي is: to undergo hardship, to grow weary, to struggle with difficulty. Two branches issue from this:
| Branch | Sense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| This-worldly | To be wearied, to toil, to suffer hardship | Shaqiya fī ʿamalihi — he wore himself out at his work |
| Otherworldly | To be wretched, to meet a bad end | Ashqā — the most wretched |
And its opposite is not saʿāda (happiness, the ease of one's affairs) but simply the absence of shaqāwa. The Qurʾān names the two together: fa-minhum shaqiyyun wa saʿīd (Hūd 11/105).
Which of the two branches is meant in this verse has been disputed, and the disagreement must not be concealed:
| Reading | What li-tashqā means |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bodily weariness — the Qurʾān was not sent down to load on you a burden you cannot carry |
| 2 | Grief — it was not sent down that you should consume yourself because they do not believe |
| 3 | General — hardship of every kind |
I do not impose a preference. But I record one indication, not as a preference: the answer given in the third verse is tadhkira — that is, the work of the Book. The sentence is speaking about why the Book came down; and so what is negated stands nearer to what the Book lays on the one addressed.
The sentence is built thus: mā anzalnā (we did not send down) + ʿalayka'l-Qurʾāna (on you the Qurʾān) + li-tashqā (that you should fall into distress).
The particle of negation (mā) enters upon the verb, but the real target of the negation is the purpose clause with lām. In Arabic this construction negates not the verb but the ground of the verb. That is, the sentence does not say "we did not send the Qurʾān down" — it says it was sent down, but not for this purpose.
This is what is most often lost in translation. The sentence "We did not send the Qurʾān down on you that you should suffer" grants that the sending down took place, and excludes one purpose only.
| Type | What it conveys | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| Lām al-taʿlīl | Purpose | "we did not send it down so that…" — the intention is negated |
| Lām al-ʿāqiba | Outcome | "we did not send it down so as to result in…" — the outcome is negated |
Both explanations are transmitted; both bring the sense of the sentence to the same place: shaqā is neither the aim nor the outcome of this Book.
The exception illā tadhkiratan is not made from the li-tashqā that precedes it — because "distress" and "reminder" are not of the same genus. The lexicographers count this a istithnāʾ munqaṭiʿ (disjunctive exception): its sense is "rather, only".
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the pronouns on the two sides: the subject of the rejected purpose is the one addressed himself (tashqā — you); the object of the purpose put in its place is someone else (li-man yakhshā). That is, the centre of gravity of the Book is shifted from the one who carries it to the one who hears it.
This sentence is the plainest expression of a boundary treated in many places in the series. The same line was treated at al-Shuʿarāʾ on 26/3 and at Fāṭir on 35/7-9, and I rely on those treatments:
| Place | Expression | How it says it |
|---|---|---|
| al-Shuʿarāʾ 26/3 | Laʿallaka bākhiʿun nafsaka allā yakūnū muʾminīn | Diagnosis — "you will all but destroy yourself" |
| Fāṭir 35/8 | Fa-lā tadhhab nafsuka ʿalayhim ḥasarāt | Prohibition — "do not waste away in grief" |
| al-Kahf 18/6 | Fa-laʿallaka bākhiʿun nafsaka | Diagnosis — again |
| Ṭāhā 20/2 | Mā anzalnā ʿalayka'l-Qurʾāna li-tashqā | Negation — the purpose itself is removed |
It was recorded at al-Shuʿarāʾ: the root ب-خ-ع is to take the knife in slaughtering beyond what is required, down to the bikhaʿ point at the base of the neck vertebrae — that is, "to the very end of the limit". I rely on that treatment.
And the difference is worth recording. al-Shuʿarāʾ and al-Kahf describe a state that exists; Fāṭir lays down a prohibition; Ṭāhā goes down to the source of the matter: it says that this state is not the purpose of the Book.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the verb forms of the three verses: the others take the behaviour of the one addressed as their subject, Ṭāhā takes the revelation itself. That is, the consolation is given not as a piece of advice but as a definition of the Book.
The root خ-ش-ي: to hold back because one knows the greatness of a thing. The lexicographers record a difference between khashya and khawf: khawf is fear in general, while khashya is a holding back grounded in knowledge. Indeed innamā yakhsha'llāha min ʿibādihi'l-ʿulamāʾ (Fāṭir 35/28) supports this distinction.
And it must be recorded that the sentence draws a boundary: the Book comes down to everyone, but its working as a tadhkira is made conditional. This distinction was treated at ʿAbasa (ammā mani'staghnā / wa ammā man jāʾaka yasʿā) and at Qāf on 50/37 (li-man kāna lahu qalb); I rely on those treatments.
And a link within the sūra is worth recording: the same root will be used in the forty-fourth verse of Pharaoh: laʿallahu yatadhakkaru aw yakhshā. That is, the condition of the third verse is left open even for the hardest addressee in the sūra. This is an overlap that can be verified from the text.