Surah 31. Luqman

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Verses [Section]: 1-11[1], 12-19 [2], 20-30 [3], 31-34 [4]

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Quran Text of Verse 12-1931. Luqman Page 412وَ لَقَدْAnd verilyاٰتَیْنَاWe gaveلُقْمٰنَLuqmanالْحِكْمَةَthe wisdomاَنِthatاشْكُرْBe gratefulلِلّٰهِ ؕto Allahوَ مَنْAnd whoeverیَّشْكُرْ(is) gratefulفَاِنَّمَاthen onlyیَشْكُرُhe is gratefulلِنَفْسِهٖ ۚfor himselfوَ مَنْAnd whoeverكَفَرَ(is) ungratefulفَاِنَّthen indeedاللّٰهَAllahغَنِیٌّ(is) Free of needحَمِیْدٌ Praiseworthy وَ اِذْAnd whenقَالَsaidلُقْمٰنُLuqmanلِابْنِهٖto his sonوَ هُوَwhile heیَعِظُهٗ(was) instructing himیٰبُنَیَّO my son!لَا(Do) notتُشْرِكْassociate partnersبِاللّٰهِ ؔؕwith AllahاِنَّIndeedالشِّرْكَassociating partnersلَظُلْمٌ(is) surely an injusticeعَظِیْمٌ great وَ وَصَّیْنَاAnd We have enjoinedالْاِنْسَانَ(upon) manبِوَالِدَیْهِ ۚfor his parentsحَمَلَتْهُcarried himاُمُّهٗhis motherوَهْنًا(in) weaknessعَلٰیuponوَهْنٍweaknessوَّ فِصٰلُهٗand his weaningفِیْ(is) inعَامَیْنِtwo yearsاَنِthatاشْكُرْBe gratefulلِیْto Meوَ لِوَالِدَیْكَ ؕand to your parentsاِلَیَّtowards Meالْمَصِیْرُ (is) the destination وَ اِنْBut ifجَاهَدٰكَthey strive against youعَلٰۤیonاَنْthatتُشْرِكَyou associate partnersبِیْwith Meمَاwhatلَیْسَnotلَكَyou haveبِهٖof itعِلْمٌ ۙany knowledgeفَلَاthen (do) notتُطِعْهُمَاobey both of themوَ صَاحِبْهُمَاBut accompany themفِیinالدُّنْیَاthe worldمَعْرُوْفًا ؗ(with) kindnessوَّ اتَّبِعْand followسَبِیْلَ(the) pathمَنْ(of him) whoاَنَابَturnsاِلَیَّ ۚto MeثُمَّThenاِلَیَّtowards Meمَرْجِعُكُمْ(is) your returnفَاُنَبِّئُكُمْthen I will inform youبِمَاof whatكُنْتُمْyou used (to)تَعْمَلُوْنَ do یٰبُنَیَّO my sonاِنَّهَاۤIndeed itاِنْifتَكُit beمِثْقَالَ(the) weightحَبَّةٍ(of) a grainمِّنْofخَرْدَلٍa mustard seedفَتَكُنْand it beفِیْinصَخْرَةٍa rockاَوْorفِیinالسَّمٰوٰتِthe heavensاَوْorفِیinالْاَرْضِthe earthیَاْتِAllah will bring it forthبِهَاAllah will bring it forthاللّٰهُ ؕAllah will bring it forthاِنَّIndeedاللّٰهَAllahلَطِیْفٌ(is) All-Subtleخَبِیْرٌ All-Aware یٰبُنَیَّO my sonاَقِمِEstablishالصَّلٰوةَthe prayerوَ اْمُرْand enjoinبِالْمَعْرُوْفِ[with] the rightوَ انْهَand forbidعَنِfromالْمُنْكَرِthe wrongوَ اصْبِرْand be patientعَلٰیoverمَاۤwhatاَصَابَكَ ؕbefalls youاِنَّIndeedذٰلِكَthatمِنْ(is) ofعَزْمِthe matters requiring determinationالْاُمُوْرِۚthe matters requiring determination وَ لَاAnd (do) notتُصَعِّرْturnخَدَّكَyour cheekلِلنَّاسِfrom menوَ لَاand (do) notتَمْشِwalkفِیinالْاَرْضِthe earthمَرَحًا ؕexultantlyاِنَّIndeedاللّٰهَAllahلَا(does) notیُحِبُّlikeكُلَّeveryمُخْتَالٍself-conceitedفَخُوْرٍۚboaster وَ اقْصِدْAnd be moderateفِیْinمَشْیِكَyour paceوَ اغْضُضْand lowerمِنْ[of]صَوْتِكَ ؕyour voiceاِنَّIndeedاَنْكَرَ(the) harshestالْاَصْوَاتِ(of all) soundsلَصَوْتُ(is) surely (the) voiceالْحَمِیْرِ۠(of) the donkeys

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Translation of Verse 12-19

(31:12) We¹⁷ bestowed wisdom upon Luqman, (enjoining): “Give thanks to Allah.”¹⁸ Whoso gives thanks to Allah, does so to his own good. And whoso disbelieves (let him know that) Allah is All-Sufficient, Immensely Praiseworthy.¹⁹

(31:13) And call to mind when Luqman said to his son while exhorting him: “My son, do not associate others with Allah in His Divinity.²⁰ Surely, associating others with Allah in His Divinity is a mighty wrong.”²¹

(31:14) We²² enjoined upon man to be dutiful to his parents. His mother bore him in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning lasted two years.²³ (We, therefore, enjoined upon him): “Give thanks to Me and to your parents. To Me is your ultimate return.

(31:15) But if they press you to associate others with Me in My Divinity, (to associate) those regarding whom you have no knowledge²⁴ (that they are My associates), do not obey them. And yet treat them well in this world, and follow the way of him who turns to Me in devotion. Eventually it is to Me that all of you shall return,²⁵ and I shall then tell you all that you did.”²⁶

(31:16) (Luqman said):²⁷ “Son, Allah will bring forth²⁸ everything even if it be as small as the grain of a mustard seed even though it be hidden inside a rock or (anywhere) in the heavens or earth. Allah is Most Subtle, All-Aware.

(31:17) Son, establish Prayer, enjoin all that is good and forbid all that is evil, and endure with patience whatever affliction befalls you.²⁹ Surely these have been emphatically enjoined.³⁰

(31:18) Do not (contemptuously) turn your face away from people,³¹ nor tread haughtily upon earth. Allah does not love the arrogant and the vainglorious.³²

(31:19) Be moderate in your stride³³ and lower your voice. Verily the most disgusting of all voices is the braying of the donkey.”³⁴

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Commentary

17. After advancing a weighty and rational argument to repudiate polytheism, the people of Arabia are being told that this reasonable doctrine of monotheism was not being expounded to them for the first time in history by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). Sages of the past had also expounded much the same truth. Luqman, who was well known to them, was an illustrious instance in point. The people of Arabia, therefore, had no truly valid reason to reject the Prophet Muhammad’s summons to monotheism on the grounds that even if it was a reasonable proposition, nobody had articulated it before.

As for Luqman, he was widely acclaimed as a paragon of wisdom throughout Arabia. Pre-Islamic poets such as Imra’ al-Qays, Labid, al- A‘sha and Tarafah all refer to him in their poetry. Some well-read Arabs even possessed a copy of his collection of wise sayings. According to some traditions, the first Madinan who was impressed by the Prophet (peace be on him) about three years before the Hijrah was Suwayd ibn Samit. He had gone to Makkah in connection with Hajj. The Prophet (peace be on him) used to visit the camps of pilgrims who came from different parts of the Peninsula and preached Islam to them. When Suwayd heard the Prophet's discourse, he said to him: “Perhaps you have something like that which I have.” “And what is that?” the Prophet (peace be on him) asked. “Luqman’s scroll”, he replied. At the Prophet's request Suwayd recited from his scroll. The Prophet (peace be on him) remarked: “This discourse is fine, but what I have is still better”, and then he recited some verses from the Qur’an. Thereupon Suwayd acknowledged it to be decidedly better than Luqman’s wisdom. (Ibn Hisham, Sirah, Vol. 2, pp. 67-68 and Usd al-Ghabah, Vol. 2, p. 378.) Historians of the time state that in view of his talents, bravery, poetic skills and social prestige, Suwayd was popularly known in Madinah as al-kamil, “the perfect one”. Suwayd returned to Madinah after meeting the Prophet (peace be on him). Thereafter he was slain in the Battle of, Buath. His tribesmen generally thought that after meeting the Prophet (peace be on him) he had embraced Islam.

There is wide divergence of opinion regarding the historical Luqman.

During the dark centuries of Jahiliyah, history was not committed to writing. Historical information was based on an accumulation of oral reports which had been in circulation for centuries. In light of these reports, some scholars tend to regard Luqman as a member of the ‘Ad and one of the kings of Yemen. In his Ard al-Qur’an Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi considers him, on the basis of these reports, to be a descendant of the believers who, along with the Prophet Hud (peace be on him), had survived God’s scourge that struck Hud’s nation. Reportedly, Luqman’s people had established a kingdom in Yemen and he was one of that nation’s kings. However, other reports narrated on the authority of some leading Companions and Successors sharply conflict with this report and depict him quite differently. ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abbas, for instance, was of the opinion that Luqman was an Abyssinian slave. Abu Hurayrah, Mujahid, ‘Ikrimah and Khalid al-Ruba‘I also held the same opinion.

According to Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Ansari, he hailed from Nubia. Sa Id ibn al-Musayyib considered Luqman to be a person of black complexion who belonged to Egypt. (See Tabari, Tafsir, comments on Luqman 31:12 and Shawkani, Fath al-Qadir, comments on Luqman 31:19 — Ed.) All of these opinions are more or less alike. This because the Arabs of the time referred to persons belonging to Egypt, Abyssinia or Nubia as blacks.

Nubia lay to the south of Egypt and to the north of the Sudan. Hence, there is no substantial difference in calling Luqman Egyptian, Nubian or Abyssinian. Suhayli, in his Rawd al-Unuf and Musudi in his Muruj al-Dhahab explain how the sayings of this black slave gained currency in Arabia. It appears from Suhayli’s and Masudi’s statements that Luqman was originally a Nubian. However, he lived in the region of Madyan and Aylah (present-day ‘Aqabah). His mother tongue was Arabic and therefore his sayings first gained currency in Arabia. However, Suhayli has also expressed the view that Luqman, the wise, and Luqmdan of the ‘Ad were two different historical figures and that it would be wrong to consider the two as the same (See Rawd al-Unuf), Vol. 1, p. 266 and Muruj al-Dhahab, Vol. 1, p. 57.) Another point worth clarifying is that the Orientalist scholar Derenbourg’s Fables de Logman le Sage, published from the Library of Paris, is a fictitious work which has nothing to do with the collection of Luqman’s sayings. These Fables were rather compiled by someone during the thirteenth century. Furthermore, the compiler displays a pitiably poor knowledge of Arabic. After reading this work it appears that it is undoubtedly a translated version of some other work which the compiler ascribes to Luqman. Orientalists are quite adept at producing such fabricated materials. By so doing, they merely seek to discredit the Qur’anic narratives, showing them to be legends devoid of all historical value. All this is well illustrated by B. Heller’s article on Luqman in The Encyclopedia of Islam. (See B. Heller [N.A. Stillman], art. “Lukman”, EP, vol. V, pp. 811-813 — Ed.)

18. God has endowed man with intelligence, wisdom, reason and perspicacity. All these necessitate that he be grateful to God instead of thankless. In fact, thankfulness to God should embrace every aspect of man’s life. He should be cognizant in the deepest recesses of his being that he owes all that he has to God. He should also express his thankfulness verbally. This thankfulness should also manifest itself in behavior by his abstaining from sin. It should also be manifest in his sparing no effort to please God, by sharing with God’s creatures whatever God has bestowed upon him, and by striving against God’s rebels. All such actions testify that he is truly grateful to God.

19. Whoever disbelieves in God incurs his own loss. As for God, man’s disbelief causes Him no harm because He is self-sufficient and does not stand in need of anyone’s thanks. Man’s expression of gratitude to God adds nothing to His dominion. Nor does anyone’s denial of God's Divinity detract from the fact that He is the only source of all the bounties that human beings enjoy. God is Innately Praiseworthy regardless of whether others praise Him or not. Every particle of the Universe testifies to His perfection and magnificence, to His infinite power of creation and to His all-embracing Providence. In actuality, every living being, by the mere fact of its existence, celebrates God’s glory.

20. Out of all of Luqman’s wise counsels, this particular one is brought into sharp relief for two reasons. First, that this was what he had counselled his own son. It goes without saying that one acts with utmost sincerity towards one’s own children. One might deceive others or be hypocritical towards them. But not even the most wicked person will ever willfully mislead his own children. Hence, the advice that Luqman tendered to his son clearly demonstrates that he truly believed polytheism to be the worst kind of monstrosity. It was precisely because he sincerely believed that he counselled his son, the very apple of his eyes, to shun polytheism. Second, that the advice was especially relevant because many unbelieving Makkan parents were guilty of compelling their children to revert to polytheism and abandon the-Prophet Muhammad’s call to monotheism. This is indicated by the verses that follow.

The ignorant, unbelieving Makkans are being told that Luqman, the illustrious sage of their land, had admonished his son - and obviously for no other reason than sincere concern for his son’s well-being to give up polytheism. Is it not strange then that the Prophet's contemporaries in Arabia were forcing their offspring to embrace the very same polytheism? After all, one should consider whether compelling children to adopt polytheism is conducive to their well-being or whether it spells their doom.

21. Injustice consists in denying a person his due, in acting in contravention of the dictates of right and equitableness. Polytheism is a “mighty wrong” precisely because a polytheist elevates to the status of the Creator and the Provider of all bounties those who have neither any share in creation, nor in the provision of sustenance or of the bounties that man enjoys.

This is the worst kind of wrong that one can conceive of. Being one of His creatures, it is God’s right that His creatures exclusively serve and worship Him. By serving others besides God, one denies God His due.

Worse, whenever one embraces polytheism one uses one’s faculties, both mental and physical, as well as myriad objects of the heavens and the earth that have been created by the One True God. For this reason, a person has no right to use these in serving anyone other than Him. Moreover, a person’s own being has the right that it should not court degradation or incur God’s wrath. However, when someone worships a created being in disregard of the One True God, he degrades himself as well as invites punishment upon himself. In sum, a polytheist’s entire life becomes a constant series of wrongs and injustices. There is not even a moment when he is not engaged in committing this “mighty wrong”.

22. The statement beginning with “We enjoined upon man” till “two years”, is a parenthetical one. The words are from God and are intended to further elucidate and elaborate upon Luqman’s statement.

23. Imam ShafiI, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan infer from these words that a child’s suckling period comes to an end at the expiry of two years. Hence, if a woman suckles a child within this period, this gives rise to the prohibition of marriage on the grounds of suckling. However, if a woman continues to suckle a child after it has attained more than two years of age, this does not give rise to the usual matrimonial prohibitions on the grounds of suckling. A statement by Imam Malik has also been reported in support of this doctrine. By way of precaution, however, Imam Abu Hanifah proposes that this period be of two and a half years. Furthermore, he made the additional observation that if a child was weaned within two or less years and if it did not subsist just on the breast milk of the suckling woman, the mere fact of suckling the child does not give rise to matrimonial prohibitions on that account. However, if the milk of the foster-mother’s breast was the child’s staple diet, the suckling of the child - would entail matrimonial prohibitions even though occasionally the child might have been fed other things as well. (Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur’an, comments on al-Baqarah 2:233 - Ed.) This, because the verse does not require, ina mandatory sense, that the child must necessarily be breast fed until two years of age. In this regard, another related Qur’anic command seems pertinent: “If they (fathers) wish that the period of suckling for their children be completed, mothers may suckle their children for two whole years” (al-Baqarah 2:233).

‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abbas’s inference, which has been endorsed by other scholars, is that the minimum period of conception is six months. (See Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur’an, comments on Luqman 31:14 — Ed.) It is for this reason that it has been laid down elsewhere in the Qur’an: “The carrying of the child to his weaning is a period of thirty months”, (al-Ahqaf 46:15).

This is an important legal injunction which settles the issue about whether a child’s birth was legitimate or not.

24. Those regarding whom you have no knowledge”, that is, those regarding whom you have no categorical knowledge that they are _God’s associates in His Divinity.

25. That is, their parents, their children, and, in fact, everybody will return to God.

26. For details see al-‘Ankabut 29: nn. 11-12.

27. Other pieces of Luqman’s advice are recounted here in order to stress that his views regarding morality, as also his views regarding matters of belief, were no different from the Prophet's. People should, therefore, not be astonished at the Prophet's teachings for these were not at all outlandish for the people of Arabia.

28. Nothing escapes God’s. knowledge and nothing is beyond His grasp. A grain hidden in a rock might be beyond man’s ken, but God knows it. Again, for man, a particle in the heavens might be too distant, but for God it is very close. Anything buried deep under the soil might be invisible to man, but to God it is clearly visible. In sum, whatever man does, be it good or bad, publicly or secretly, is not hidden from Him. God is not only aware of all man’s deeds but He will also present him with a record of all these deeds on the Day of Reckoning.

29. What is subtly implicit here is the message that anyone who embarks on enjoining good and forbidding evil is bound to encounter hardship. This, because others become upset with such a person and obstinately try to hurt him. The result being that he has to face a host of hardships on their account.

30. This can also be translated as follows: “Surely this is a thing requiring great resolve.” Those who undertake to reform their fellow beings when they themselves are lacking firm resolve will find the task daunting, for the accomplishment of the task calls for enormous courage and determination.

31. The Qur’an’s words are: “Ia tusa ir khaddaka li al-nas”. Sa‘r is a disease that afflicts a camel's neck as a result of which its head is always turned in the same direction. An Arabic idiom states, “fulan sa‘ara khaddahi” (so and so turned his cheek away [like a camel]), meaning that he behaved arrogantly with people, talking to them but keeping his face turned away from them. The same idiom figures in a couplet of the Taghlibite poet ‘Amr ibn Huyayy: “Whenever we found a tyrant who arrogantly turned his face away, we fully removed his crookedness and he became straight.” (See Tabari, Tafsir, comments on Luqman 31:18 — Ed.)

32. The Qur’an here employs the words mukhtal and fakhir. The former denotes an arrogant person who thinks too highly of himself. The latter denotes someone who boasts about his greatness before others. A person’s gait manifests arrogance, overweening and haughtiness when he is puffed up with pride and superciliousness. Hence why he deliberately walks in a manner that impresses his greatness upon others.

33. Some Qur’anic scholars interpret this to mean that one’s walk should be neither too brisk nor too slow; rather, it should be at a moderate pace. It is clear from the context, however, that what is meant here is not walking in the physical sense of the term. The fact is that moral judgements regarding good and bad are not applicable to the pace at which one walks, be it fast or slow. Whenever a person has to finish some task quickly he is bound to walk fast. On the other hand, anyone who is on a stroll might well be inclined to walk slowly. There is nothing morally wrong about one or the other and it is difficult to lay down any universal rule as to. what constitutes a “moderate” pace of walking.

The real objective of this directive is to bring about reform in man’s inner state. As long as this state remains vitiated, man’s external behavior reflects it, even in the way he walks. If someone is arrogant, this inevitably manifests from his gait. Furthermore, a person's gait precisely betrays the kind of arrogance he suffers from. Wealth, power, beauty, knowledge, authority and such other things make man arrogant and each kind of arrogance gives rise to a particular kind of gait. On the other hand, manifestations of excessive humbleness and self-abasement in one’s gait also stem from a debased psychological state. At times, it is a person’s suppressed feeling of pride that prompts him to make a show of utter austerity and devotion to God and this is displayed in his gait.

In other cases a person is so overpowered by adverse circumstances in this worldly life that he feels utterly frustrated and loses self-esteem. As a result, his gait becomes devoid of all zest and energy. Luqman’s advice is that man should mend his mental and psychological state and walk in a dignified way, neither strutting with overweening nor parading an artificial display of meekness.

The way the Companions of the Prophet (peace be on him) felt about this issue is illustrated by the following incident. Once Umar saw someone walking with his head downcast. He said to him: “Come on! Walk with your head upright. Islam is not sick.” Likewise, he censured someone who was walking languidly: “O miscreant! Why are you deadening our faith?”

In Umar’s view, religiosity did not consist in walking listlessly as though one were sick. He resented anyone who wore a cloak of artificial humility. Indeed, he considered that this made-up meekness depicted a distorted image of Islam before others and further that it gave rise to an inert and sluggish attitude. among the Muslims.

A similar incident is also related with regard to ‘A’ishah. Once she spotted someone walking in a manner that suggested he was utterly debilitated. She asked what had happened to him and was told that he was one of the qurra ’. Thereupon she exclaimed: “Umar was the most prominent of the qurra’, and yet when he walked, he walked swiftly: when he spoke, he was heard; and when he thrashed, he caused pain.” (See Aliisi, Rah al-Ma Gini, comments on Lugqman 31:19— Ed.) (For further * and

We were unable to trace the source of these statements. However, a statement close in spirit to these statements is found in Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, comments on al-Furqan 25:63: It is narrated about Umar that he saw a young man walking sluggishly.

He said: ‘What's the matter with you? Are you sick?’ The man said: ‘No’. There upon he straightened him up with the whip and ordered him to walk with vigor - Ed.

details see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, Vol. V, Bani Isra‘il 17: n. 43, p. 44; and Vol. VII, al-Furqan 25: n. 79, pp. 37-38.)

34. The injunction to “lower your voice” does not mean that one must invariably speak in a low pitch and never speak loudly. The example of the donkey’s braying in the verse is meant simply to emphasize the point about speaking in a moderate voice. One is, of course, free to raise or lower one’s voice, depending on the situation. While talking to those around one and in close proximity, one is naturally expected to speak in a soft voice on the other hand, one has to raise one’s pitch when addressing those at a distance, or when speaking in public.

Tonal variations are naturally made in consonance with the context.

A word of praise is delivered differently from a word of a censure, and good-will is expressed in a different way from disapproval. There is obviously nothing wrong in this variation. Luqman did not counsel his son to altogether disregard the need for tonal variation and invariably speak in a low voice. What is reprehensible, however, is to cry at the top of one’s voice in order to humiliate others or to impress others with one’s superiority. This is what has been likened to a donkey’s braying.