Sūrah Luqmān

Overview

Sūrah Luqmān is a Makkan sūrah with 34 āyāt. The word luqmān is a proper noun which refers to Luqmān the Wise, an ancient sage whom the Arabs knew. It is said that he was East-African in origin, and may have been a prophet of Allah. The sūrah begins with extolment of the Qur’an reminiscent to that in the opening of Sūrah al-Baqarah. Critically, it describes the Qur’an as ḥakīm—‘wise’; wisdom being a key theme of the sūrah, especially given the characteristic feature of Luqmān (31:1-5).

A transition sees the discussion revolve around those whom the Qur’an does not affect. The first few āyāt describe the Qur’an as ‘guidance and mercy for the muḥsinīn’; while these next two speak about those who cannot bear engaging with it honestly (31:6-7). Allah assures the believers of their noble end, and proceeds to discuss cosmic signs of His unique, unmatched ability to create. The heavens stand without pillars, and the earth is stable and full of flora and fauna—‘this is the creation of Allah; so show me then what those aside from Him created!’ (31-8-11).

The discourse centres on Luqmān and his timeless counsel to his son. Allah praises him, saying that He has endowed him with ḥikmah (wisdom), the immediate manifestation of which being gratitude to Allah. Luqmān exhorts his son to never associate anything with Allah, giving him and us poignant, universal advice, resonating throughout the ages (31:12-19). The continuation of the sūrah is a further exposition concerning the aforementioned core themes: the cosmic signs in creation, their inexorably pointing to the Almighty, and the disbelievers’ denial being the result of spiritual defects as opposed to rational argumentation (31:20-34). An evocative image is drawn: if every tree were to have its timber transformed to pens, and all the oceans were multiplied sevenfold to serve as these pens’ ink, it would still not be sufficient to encompass the words of Allah (31:27).

Finally, and after directly commanding mankind to be wary of Him and prepare for the Last Day, Allah highlights His exclusive ownership of the ghayb by listing five matters: “Indeed, Allah has knowledge of the Hour, sends down rain, and knowns what is in the wombs; and no soul knows what it will gain in the morrow, and no soul knows in what land it will perish. Indeed, Allah is knowing, aware” (31:34).

Context

Sūrah Luqmān was revealed after Sūrah al-Isrāʾ, before the Hijrah. It is said its revelation was in response to Quraysh quizzing the Prophet ﷺ about Luqmān, his son, and his wisdom. There are certain āyāt that were revealed with specific references. A man by the name of al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith used to trade in Persia. He would purchase the news of their people and the ancient lore of their kings and narrate them to the pagan Arabs. He would say, “Muḥammad speaks to you about ʿĀd and Thamūd, while I relay to you the tales of Rustum, Isfindiyār, and the Khosrows.” They would thus favour his tales over the Qur’an. Allah revealed: “Among mankind is one who trades in distracting tales to misguide from the way of Allah without knowledge, and to take it for a mockery; for those is a demeaning punishment.” (31:6)

Themes

• Wisdom as a divine attribute and a gift from Allah to His chosen slaves.
• The cosmic signs in the creation of Allah, and the deniers’ blindness.
• Allah’s power and knowledge, especially of the ghayb.

Unique Features

• According to those who do not believe Luqmān was a prophet, the sūrah is the only one in the Qur’an that bears the name of a non-prophet.
• It holds the second qur’anic reference to the oceans as ink being insufficient for Allah’s words (31:27). The first is in Sūrah al-Kahf (18:109).
• It is the fifth sūrah to begin with alif-lām-mīm in the Qur’an, and the third in this particular section (Sūrah al-ʿAnkabūt to Sūrah al-Sajdah).

Lessons

• Luqmān’s mawʿiẓah to his son more than suffices as timeless lessons for us all:

“Verily, We endowed Luqmān with wisdom: ‘Give thanks to Allah.’ For whoever is thankful is only thankful to his own benefit, and whoever has denied, then Allah is indeed self-sufficient, praiseworthy. Recall when Luqmān said to his son, as he was admonishing him, ‘O my dear son, do not associate anything with Allah. Indeed, polytheism is such a great injustice.’ We have enjoined upon man concern for his parents. His mother carried him with hardship upon hardship, besides weaning him in two years. So give thanks to Me and to your parents; to Me is the ultimate return. But if they strive to have you associate with Me whatever you have no knowledge of, do not obey them. Yet accompany them in the worldly life with goodness, and follow the way of the one who has turned to Me in penitence. Then to Me is your return, and I will inform you of what you used to do. ‘O my dear son, if it be the weight of a mustard-seed, and be it in a rock or in the heavens or in the earth, Allah brings it forth; indeed, Allah is subtle, aware. O my dear son, establish the prayer, command common good and forbid the deplorable, and be patient over what has befallen you; indeed, that is a resolve to aspire to. Do not turn your cheek away from people in pride, nor walk about the earth merrily; indeed, Allah does not love every self-admiring boaster. Moderate your stride and lower your voice; indeed, the most deplorable of voices is the voice of the donkey.’” (31:12-19)

Virtues and Valuable Information

• It is reported that al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would lead us in the ẓuhr prayer, and we would hear him recite an āyah among the āyāt of Luqmān and al-Dhāriyāt.”