Verses 12–19
These verses say that Luqmān was given wisdom and present a small sample of his teachings and advice to his son. The Qur’an only mentions him in this sūrah, which is apposite in this context as it contrasts his story, which is full of wisdom and good advice, to the speech of those who buy diversionary talk in order to lead others astray from God’s way without knowledge and take it in derision.
Commentary
وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا لُقْمَانَ الْحِكْمَةَ أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِلَّهِ ۚ وَمَنْ يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ ۖ وَمَنْ كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ ١٢
(31:12) Certainly We gave Luqmān wisdom, to give thanks to Allah; and whoever gives thanks, gives thanks only for his own sake. And whoever is ungrateful, Allah is indeed all-sufficient, all-laudable.
Based on how the term is used here and elsewhere, “wisdom” (ḥikmah) signifies useful knowledge, as opposed to ignorance (jahl) or pretence (jurbuzah).
Some say that to give thanks to Allah implies that God told him this, namely: “And we said: give thanks to Allah.”
However, it appears that this is actually an explanation of what it means for God to grant him wisdom. This is because the essence of thanksgiving (shukr) is to make proper use of a blessing in such a way that points to the Source of this blessing. Accomplishing this in the manner God deserves depends on one having both knowledge of both the Source and the blessing, namely in what sense is it a blessing and how to make proper use of it in this way. So when God says He gave Luqmān wisdom, this means He inspired him to give thanks. This means that giving Luqmān wisdom includes bidding him to give thanks.
To give thanks to Allah contains a transition from the first-person (“We”) to the third-person (“He”). This is because when a speaker talks to another person in the first-person plural, this displays his greatness by speaking on behalf of himself and his servants. However, if he said “to give thanks to Us”, this would clearly not suit divine unity in thanksgiving.
And whoever gives thanks, gives thanks only for his own sake. And whoever is ungrateful, Allah is indeed all-sufficient, all-laudable: Here, God says He does not need people to give Him thanks, because the benefits of the act of thanksgiving actually return to the person giving thanks. Equally, ingratitude only harms the one who is ungrateful—it does not harm God in the slightest. Therefore, whoever gives thanks only does so for his own benefit, as God does not benefit from it—because He is absolutely self-sufficient (ghanī)—for the same reason, whoever is ungrateful only harms himself. In other words, God derives no benefit or harm whether people give thanks or not. He is All-laudable (ḥamīd) because he is praised for the blessings He gives, regardless of how people receive them.
The Qur’an uses the present tense for thanksgiving to show that it is something continuous and the past tense for ingratitude to show that it happens on occasion. This implies that thanksgiving is only of benefit if it is continuous but that ingratitude is harmful even if it only happens once.
وَإِذْ قَالَ لُقْمَانُ لِابْنِهِ وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ١٣
(31:13) When Luqmān said to his son, as he advised him: O my son! Do not ascribe any partners to Allah. Polytheism is indeed a great injustice.
An action becomes great through the greatness of its effects, so the gravity of a misdeed comes from the gravity of its punishment. Therefore, the greatest of misdeeds is to disobey God because of His own unparalleled greatness and magnificence. He has no partner. Therefore the greatest act of disobedience against God is to ascribe to Him a partner.
Polytheism is indeed a great injustice (zulm ʿazīm)—because the Qur’an uses “great” (ʿazīm) without any qualification, this means it is great compared to all other sins. In other words, its gravity is immeasurable.
وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ وَهْنًا عَلَىٰ وَهْنٍ وَفِصَالُهُ فِي عَامَيْنِ أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيْكَ إِلَيَّ الْمَصِيرُ ١٤
(31:14) We have enjoined man concerning his parents: His mother carried him through weakness upon weakness, and his weaning takes two years. Give thanks to Me and to your parents. To Me is the return.
This is an aside in between the sayings being related from Luqmān and not part of Luqmān’s own speech. It is only included here to indicate that the duty to be grateful to one’s parents is like the duty to be grateful to God. In fact, it is part of giving thanks to God because this is something He has enjoined people to do. Therefore, giving thanks to one’s parents is worshipping God, and worshipping God is giving thanks to Him.
His mother carried him through weakness upon weakness (wahnan ʿalā wahnin), and his weaning is in two years: Here God mentions some of the pain and hardship a mother endures in bearing and raising a child to motivate people to give thanks to their parents, especially their mothers.
Grammatically, wahnan is either a circumstantial modifier (hāl), meaning his mother was in a state of weakness, or it is an absolute object (mafʿūl mutlaq), in which case it means that she became weak.
“Weaning” (fiṣāl) means to stop suckling the child. Saying that it is in two years means that it takes two years; that is, suckling takes two years. If we consider this verse beside the verse and his gestation and weaning take thirty months (), it means the minimum term for carrying a child is six months, and we will discuss this when we come to the verse in Sūrat al-Aḥqāf.
To give thanks to Me and to your parents: This explains what God has enjoined man to do, namely, “We commanded them to give thanks to their parents just as We commanded them to give thanks to God.” To Me is the return is both a warning and an emphasis on the command to give thanks.
The transition in this verse from the first-person plural (“We”) to the third-person (“he”) has the same implication as in the verse above ().
وَإِنْ جَاهَدَاكَ عَلَىٰ أَنْ تُشْرِكَ بِي مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ فَلَا تُطِعْهُمَا ۖ وَصَاحِبْهُمَا فِي الدُّنْيَا مَعْرُوفًاۖ وَاتَّبِعْ سَبِيلَ مَنْ أَنَابَ إِلَيَّ ۚ ثُمَّ إِلَيَّ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَأُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ١٥
(31:15) But if they urge you to ascribe to Me as partner that of which you have no knowledge, then do not obey them. Keep their company honourably in this world and follow the way of him who turns to Me penitently. Then to Me will be your return, whereat I will inform you concerning what you used to do.
This means that if your parents put pressure on you to do something you have no knowledge about regarding God’s partners, then do not obey them and do not associate partners with God. The phrase, of which you have no knowledge shows that this partner is non-existent and therefore completely unknown because there can be no knowledge of what does not exist. In other words: “Do not associate with me that which is not a thing.” This is a summary of what has been mentioned in Tafsīr al-Kashshāf. This reading might find support with the verse: Will you inform Allah about something He does not know in the heavens or on the earth? ()
Some have said that “to ascribe a partner” (tushrik) means “to disbelieve” (takfur), such that the meaning becomes, “If they urge you to disbelieve in me in a way for which you have no argument, then do not obey them.” This reading is supported by the repeated disavowal of such a partner having any authority in the verse, You do not worship besides Him but names that you and your fathers have invented, for which Allah has not sent down any authority () and in other verses.
Keep their company honourably in this world and follow the way of him who turns to Me penitently: These two statements are almost a succinct explanation of everything that the two verses before have covered with regards to honouring one’s parents but not obeying them if they urge you to associate partners with God.
Here, God says: The human being must keep company with his parents in worldly matters aside from religion, which is the way of God. This must be done honourably and kindly, not harshly or unpleasantly. A person must bear the difficulties he faces on their account, for this world is but a fleeting number of days. If a person’s parents are of those who turn penitently to God, then he or she may follow their way, otherwise he or she must follow the path of someone else who does.
This brings out the subtlety in the phrase follow the way of him who turns to Me penitently as this could describe a person’s parents, in which case he or she should follow them, or it could not, in which case he or she must follow the way of someone else who does turn to God penitently.
Then to Me will be your return, whereat I will inform you concerning what you used to do: In other words: What I have said here is your responsibility in this world. When you come back to Me on the Day of Judgement, I will show you the reality of the deeds that you did in this world, and I will judge between you on the basis of these deeds.
The phrase, in this world (fī al-dunyā) in keep their company honourably in this world would appear to serve three purposes; first, it makes clear that this only applies to worldly affairs and not religious ones; second, if keeping them company is difficult, it makes this seem trivial as it is only in this world, which is a matter of a few fleeting days. Therefore, there is not a lot of difficulty in looking after them; third, it stands in juxtaposition with the day on which a person returns to God, referred to later in the verse by the phrase: Then to Me will be your return….
يَا بُنَيَّ إِنَّهَا إِنْ تَكُ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ فَتَكُنْ فِي صَخْرَةٍ أَوْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ أَوْ فِي الْأَرْضِ يَأْتِ بِهَا اللَّهُ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَطِيفٌ خَبِيرٌ ١٦
(31:16) O my son! Even if it should be (innahā in taku) the weight of a mustard seed, and though it should be in a rock, or in the heavens, or on the earth, Allah will produce it. Indeed, Allah is all-attentive, all-aware.
Commentators have said that the pronoun it (-hā) refers to good and evil, as suggested by the context, and that it is also the subject of kāna [“be”/taku in the verse], whose predicate is the weight of a mustard seed (mithqāl ḥabbah). Thought it should be in a rock refers to it being hidden inside a solid rock, or hidden in the heavens or the earth. Produce it means that he will bring it out to be counted in a person’s judgement and given recompense for.
The part of Luqmān’s speech immediately prior to this was concerned with God’s unity and disavowing any partner to Him. Therefore, this verse represents a different part of his speech that is concerned with the Resurrection and Judgement. It means: “O my son! Even if the slightest good or evil you have done is the most hidden and hard to find of things, like a single mustard seed, and that mustard seed is hidden inside a rock, or anywhere in the heavens or the earth, God will bring it out to be counted and He will recompense you for it, for God is supremely attentive—meaning His knowledge penetrates to the depths of things and reaches even that which is most hidden—and supremely aware—meaning He knows the essence of all things.”
يَا بُنَيَّ أَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ وَأْمُرْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَانْهَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَاصْبِرْ عَلَىٰ مَا أَصَابَكَ ۖ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ ١٧
(31:17) O my son! Maintain the prayer and bid what is right and forbid what is wrong and be patient through whatever may visit you. That is indeed the steadiest of courses.
This verse and those that follow deal with a selection of righteous deeds and virtuous morals. One such deed is prayer (ṣalāt), which is the pillar of the faith, and this is followed by enjoining the good and forbidding the evil. The virtues include patience (ṣabr) in times of affliction.
That is indeed the steadiest of courses: That refers to patience, and the distant form of demonstrative pronoun (as opposed to the near form, “this”) is used to magnify and elevate it. Some say that refers to everything mentioned before, including prayer, enjoining the good and patience. However, this is not the case, as God repeatedly describes patience as the steadiest of courses (min ʿazm al-amūr); see the verses: As for him who endures patiently and forgives that is indeed the steadiest of courses. () and …but if you are patient and Godwary, that is indeed the steadiest of courses ().
According to al-Rāghib, the Arabic word ʿazm means to set one’s heart upon accomplishing something. Patience (ṣabr), defined as restraining oneself from something, is a form of ʿazm insofar as so long as one’s heart is set upon a goal, a person will remain steadfast upon it. Therefore, patience—insofar as it is one of the abilities of the soul—is essential for keeping one’s heart set upon something.
Those who read min ʿazm al-umūr as meaning that “this is one of God’s resolute commands (ʿazīmah)” are off the mark, as are those who say that ʿazm is synonymous with jazm (“certainty”) in the dialect of Hudhayl.
وَلَا تُصَعِّرْ خَدَّكَ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَمْشِ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍ فَخُورٍ ١٨
(31:18) Do not turn your cheek askew (lā tuṣaʿʿir khaddak) from the people, and do not walk exultantly on the earth. Indeed, Allah does not like any swaggering braggart.
According to al-Rāghib, saʿar (“to be askew”) means to twist the neck and taʿṣīr (“to turn askew”) means to twist one’s neck to avoid looking at someone or something out of disdain, as in the above verse. “Exultance” (maraḥ) means to be excessively pleased with one’s self.
Based on this, the verse means: Do not turn your face away from the people disdainfully, nor walk upon the earth out of excessive happiness, for God does not like the conceited and the proud.
Some have suggested that Do not turn your cheek askew means not to bend one’s neck to them in humility when asking for something, but this does not fit with the rest of the verse.
وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ وَاغْضُضْ مِنْ صَوْتِكَ ۚ إِنَّ أَنْكَرَ الْأَصْوَاتِ لَصَوْتُ الْحَمِيرِ١٩
(31:19) Be modest in your bearing and lower your voice. Indeed, the ungainliest of voices is the donkey’s voice.
“To be modest” (qaṣd) in something means to be moderate, and “to lower” (ghaḍḍ)—according to al-Rāghib—means to diminish. Therefore “to lower one’s voice” means to diminish its volume.
Therefore, the meaning of the verse is: Take a moderate bearing when walking and lower your voice when speaking, for the most despised sound is that of a donkey because of its excessive volume.
Examining Narrations
- In al-Kāfī, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sinān narrates from Imām al-Ṣādiq:
It is a major sin to disrespect one’s parents, to despair of God’s kindness, or to feel safe from God’s devising.
It has also been narrated:
The greatest sin is to associate partners with God.
- In al-Faqīḥ, one of the rights (ḥuqūq) narrated from Imām Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn is:
God’s greatest right over you is that you worship Him and associate nothing with Him. If you do that with sincerity (ikhlāṣ), God will make it incumbent upon Himself to suffice you in the affairs of this world and the hereafter.
As for the right of your mother, it is for you to know that she carried you like no other, and gave you from the yield of her heart like no other, and protected you with all of her limbs. She went hungry to feed you. She went thirsty to quench you. She went naked to clothe you. She endured the sun to shade you. She stayed awake at nights for you. She shielded you from heat and cold so that you could be hers. So you can never thank her except by God’s grace and assistance.
As for the right of your father, it is that you know he is your progenitor. Were it not for him, you would not exist. So whenever you see something of yourself that pleases you, know that your father is the source of that blessing for you. So praise God and give thanks to him to the extent of that, and there is no strength save with God.
- In al-Kāfī, Hishām ibn Sālim narrates from Imām al-Ṣādiq:
A man came to the Prophet and said, “O Messenger of God! To whom should I be dutiful?”
He said, “Your mother.”
“Then to whom?”
“Your mother.”
“Then to whom?”
“Your mother.”
“Then to whom?”
“Your father.”
- In al-Manāqib, it is narrated:
Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī passed ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs, whereat the latter remarked, “Whoever desires to see the inhabitant of earth most beloved to the inhabitants of the heavens, let them look to this passer-by! I have not spoken to him since the nights of Ṣiffīn.”
Then Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī came to Ḥusayn, who asked him, “Do you fight my father and I at Ṣiffīn, although you know I am the most beloved inhabitant of this earth to the inhabitants of the heavens, and my father—by God!—is better than me.”
Abū Saʿīd tried to excuse his behavior by saying, “The Prophet told me to obey my father.”
Ḥusayn replied, “Have you not heard God’s words: But if they urge you to ascribe to Me as partner that of which you have no knowledge, then do not obey them ()? God’s Messenger also said: ‘Obedience is only in good things’ and ‘there is no obedience to the creation in disobeying the Creator!’”
- In al-Faqīh, we also read the short saying of the Prophet:
There is no obeying the created in disobeying the Creator!
- In al-Kāfī, Abū Baṣīr narrates he heard Imām al-Bāqir say:
Beware the sins that are thought trivial (al-muhaqqarāt min al-dhunūb) for they will be sought out. One of you might say, “I will sin and repent.” But God says: [We] record what they have sent forth and what they have left behind. And we have kept an account of all things in a clear registry (imām) (), and He says: Even if it should be the weight of a mustard seed, and though it should be in a rock, or in the heavens, or on the earth, Allah will produce it. Indeed Allah is all-attentive, all-aware. ()
- Also, in al-Kāfī, it is narrated from Muʿāwiyah ibn Wahb:
I asked Imām al-Ṣādiq, “What is the best means through which God’s servants can attain nearness to Him, and what is the dearest means to Him?”
He said, “I know nothing after knowledge (maʿrifah) better than this: prayer (ṣalāt).”
- In the same source, Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl narrates from Imām al-Riḍā:
Prayer is the offering (qurbān) of every pious person.
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, we read:
And be patient through whatever () difficulty (mashaqqah) or persecution (adhā) may visit you when enjoining the good and forbidding the evil—narrated from ʿAlī.
- In the same source, we read:
Do not turn your cheek askew from the people (), meaning do not turn your face away from a person completely and do not turn away from someone who is talking to you to belittle them. This interpretation is from Ibn ʿAbbās and Imām al-Ṣādiq.
- In al-Durr al-Manthūr, Ṭabrānī, Ibn ʿUdayy, and Ibn Mardawayh narrate from Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī that the Prophet was asked about the verse Do not turn your cheek askew from the people (). He said:
[It means: to expose] the side of your jaw [to them].
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, about the verse Indeed the ungainliest of voices is the donkey’s voice (), it is narrated from Imām al-Ṣādiq:
It is the sound of a loud and vulgar sneeze, or a man who raises his voice uncouthly when speaking, unless he is supplicating or reciting the Qur’an.
Author’s comments: There is an abundance of narrations on all of these topics, especially on disrespecting one’s parents.
Discourse
The discussion “A Discussion on the Story of Luqmān and his Wisdom, in Two Parts” appears here in the printed volume. Read it in the Al-Mizan App.