| This Surah (Revealed) Meccan, except for verses 27, 28 and 29, which are Medinese; it consists of 34
verses revealed after [sūrat] al-Sāffāt.(Luqmân)
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| بِسْم ِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ | | Ayah First 1 الأية الأولي |
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Tafseer
Alif lām mīm: God knows best what He means by these [letters].
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Tafseer
Those, namely, these signs, are the signs of the wise Book, the Qurâān, the one
containing wisdom (the genitive annexation [āyātuâl-kitābiâl-hakīm] has the [partitive] meaning of min,
âfromâ);
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Tafseer
it is, a guidance and a mercy (read nominative rahmatun; the popular accusative
reading [rahmatan] would make it a circumstantial qualifier referring to āyāt, âsignsâ, the operator of
which being the implicit demonstrative import of tilka, âthoseâ) for the virtuous,
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Tafseer
who maintain the prayer (alladhīna yuqīmūnaâl-salāta, an explication of
al-muhsinīna, âthe virtuousâ) and pay the alms and who are certain of the Hereafter (the repetition of hum, âtheyâ
[here translated âwhoâ] is for emphasis).
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Tafseer
Such follow guidance from their Lord and it is they who are the successful, the
winners.
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Tafseer
And among people there is he who purchases idle talk, in other words, that [part
of it] which diverts [people] from its [true] significance, that he may lead [people] astray (read
li-yadilla; or li-yudilla) from the way of God, the religion of Islam, without knowledge and take it (read
[subjunctive] wa-yattakhidhahā as a supplement to yudilla, âthat he may lead astrayâ; or [indicative]
wa-yattakhidhuhā as a supplement to yashtarī, âwho buysâ) in mockery, as something to be mocked. For such there will
be a humiliating chastisement, one of abasement.
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Tafseer
And when Our signs, in other words, [in] the Qurâān, are recited to such [a one]
he turns away disdainfully as though he never heard them, as though there were a deafness in his ears (both
comparisons constitute two circumstantial qualifiers referring to the subject of [the verb] wallā,
âturns awayâ; or it is that the second [comparison] is an explication of the first). So give him tidings of, inform him
of, a painful chastisement. The 470 use of [the expression] âgood tidingsâ meant derisively against such [a person]
â this was al-Nadr b. alHārith. He used to visit al-Hīra for commerce and purchase books containing the stories
of the non-Arab peoples and then recount these to the people of Mecca. He would say, âMuhammad
recounts to you the stories of âĀd and Thamūd, whereas I relate to you the stories of the Persians
and the Byzantines!â They would thus [go to] enjoy his stories and neglect to listen to the Qurâān.
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Tafseer
Surely those who believe and perform righteous deeds, for them there shall be
Gardens of Bliss,
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Tafseer
abiding therein (khālidīna fīhā, is a circumstantial qualification [of a future
status]), in other words, their abiding therein will have been ordained once they enter it â a promise of God in
truth, that is to say, God promised them this and realised it in truth; and He is the Mighty, Whom nothing
can overwhelm and so prevent Him from fulfilling His promise and His threat [of chastisement], the
Wise, the One Who assigns all things to their rightful places.
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Tafseer
He created the heavens without any pillars that you can see (âamad is the plural
of âimād, which is an ustuwāna, âa columnâ) â this is the truth since there are no actual pillars â
and cast high mountains into the earth, lest it shake with you, and He dispersed therein all kinds beasts. And We
sent down (there is a shift from the third [to the second] person) water from the heaven and We caused to
grow in it of every splendid kind, [every] fair specimen.
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Tafseer
This is Godâs creation, in other words, what is created by Him. Now show me,
inform me, O people of Mecca, what those [you worship] besides Him, [those] other than Him, have
created, namely, your gods, so that you have associated them with Him, exalted be He (mā is an interrogative of
denial and a subject; dhā has the significance of alladhī, and what follows it of the relative clause is
the predicate [of the subject mā]; arūnī glosses âthe actionâ, and what follows it stands in place of two direct
objects). Nay (bal, is for transition) but the evildoers are in manifest error, [error] that is evident
because of their ascribing partners to God: and you are like them.
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Tafseer
And verily We gave Luqmān wisdom, comprising knowledge, religiousness, and
right-mindedness in speech; his many wisdoms are well-known. He used to give legal opinions [in matters of
religion] before David was summoned [to prophethood], but lived on into the latterâs summoning. He then
took to acquiring knowledge from him [David] and refrained from giving [any more] legal opinions, explaining
this thus: âShould I not be content if someone [like the prophet David] has spared me the trouble?â He was
once asked, âWhat is the worst kind of person?â He said, âThe one who does not care that people should
see him doing evilâ. In other words, [We gave him wisdom] and We said to him: âGive thanks to God, for the
wisdom that He has given you. Whoever gives thanks only for his own sake, because the reward for his
gratitude shall be his, and whoever is ungrateful, for a grace, then surely God is Independent, [without
need] of His creation, Praisedâ, in what He does.
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Tafseer
And, mention, when Luqmān said to his son, when he was admonishing him, âO my
son (yā bunayya is an affectionate diminutive [of yā ibnī]) do not ascribe partners to God: idolatry
is truly a tremendous wrongâ, so return to him [in repentance] and submit [to Him].
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Tafseer
471 And We have enjoined man concerning his parents, We commanded him to be dutiful
towards them â his mother bears him, and weakens, in weakness after weakness, that is to say, she
is weakened by the pregnancy, the pains of labour and the delivery; and his weaning is in two
years, and We said to him [to man]: âGive thanks to Me and to your parents. To Me is the journeyâs end, the
return.
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Tafseer
But if they urge you to ascribe to Me as partner that whereof you have no
knowledge, that accords with [any] reality, then do not obey them. And keep them company in this world
honourably, in other words, with decency: dutifulness and kindness â and follow the way of him who returns to Me
[in penitence], with [acts of] obedience. Then to Me will be your return, and I will inform you of what you
used to do, and requite you for it (the [entire] sentence containing the âenjoinderâ [verse 14] and what
comes after it constitutes a parenthetical statement).
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Tafseer
âO my son! Even if it, namely, the evil trait, should be the weight of a grain
of mustard-seed, and [even if] it be in a rock, or in the heavens, or in the earth, in other words, in the most
concealed place therein, God will bring it forth, and He will call [that person] to account for it. Truly God is
Subtle, in bringing it forth, Aware, of its location.
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Tafseer
O my son! Establish prayer and enjoin decency and forbid indecency. And be
patient through whatever may befall you, as a result of such enjoining and forbidding. Truly that, which is
mentioned, is true constancy, in other words, that is one of those necessary things regarding which one must have
firm resolve.
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Tafseer
And do not turn your cheek disdainfully from people (tusaââir: a variant reading
has tusāâir) do not turn your face away in disdain, and do not walk upon the earth exultantly, in other words,
with haughtiness. Truly God does not like any swaggering braggart, strutting in his step, [boasting] in
front of people.
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Tafseer
And be modest in your bearing, being moderate in it, neither dragging slowly nor
rushing, but peaceful and dignified, and lower your voice; indeed the most hideous of voices is the
donkeyâs voiceâ, beginning [its hideous bray] with an exhalation and ending with an inhalation.
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Tafseer
Do you not see, do you [not] realise, O you who are being addressed, that God
has disposed for you whatever is in the heavens, such as the sun, the moon, and the stars, that you
may benefit from them, and whatever is in the earth, of fruits, rivers and animals, and He has showered, He
has made abundant and made complete, His favours upon you, [both] outwardly, namely, [by giving you
your] wholesome form, even limbs and otherwise, and inwardly?, that is, [by giving you] knowledge and
so on. Yet among people, that is, [people such as] the Meccan disbelievers, there are those who dispute
concerning God without any knowledge or guidance, from a messenger, or an illuminating scripture, revealed
by God, rather [they dispute] by [blindly] imitating [others].
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Tafseer
And if it is said to them: âFollow what God has revealedâ, they say, âWe will
rather follow what we found our fathers followingâ. He, exalted be He, says: What! Would they follow such
[things], even though Satan were calling them to the chastisement of the Blaze?, that is, to what will bring it
about necessarily? No! 472
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Tafseer
And whoever surrenders his purpose to God, that is, [whoever] takes to obeying
Him, and is virtuous, a believer in [His] Oneness, has certainly grasped the firmest handle, the
stronger end, which is not in danger of being severed, and to God belongs the sequel of all matters, their [ultimate]
return.
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Tafseer
And whoever disbelieves, then do not let his disbelief grieve you, O Muhammad
(s), do not be concerned with his disbelief. To Us shall be their return and We shall inform them of what
they did. Truly God knows [best] what is in the breasts, just as [He knows] other things, and so He will
requite [them] accordingly.
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Tafseer
We will give them comfort, in this world, for a little [while], for the
[duration of the] days of their lives, then We will drive them, in the Hereafter, to a harsh chastisement, namely, the
chastisement of the Fire from which they will find no escape.
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Tafseer
And if (wa-la-in, the lām is for oaths) you were to ask them, âWho created the
heavens and the earth?â, they will surely say, âGodâ (la-yaqūlunna, âthey will surely sayâ, the indicative nūn
has been omitted because of the like [sc. the nūn] coming after it, and likewise the wāw of the [plural] person,
because of two unvocalised consonants coming together). Say: âPraise be to Godâ, for the manifestation of
the definitive argument against them by the affirmation of the Oneness [of God]. Nay, but most of them
do not realise, that this [affirmation] is an obligation upon them.
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Tafseer
To God belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth, as possessions,
creatures and servants, and so none other than Him deserves to be worshipped in them. Indeed God, He is the
Independent, [without need] of His creatures, the Praised, in His actions.
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Tafseer
And if all the trees on earth were pens, and the sea (waâl-bahru is a supplement
to [mā] the subject of anna) replenished with seven more seas, were ink, the Words of God would not be
spent, [those words] expressing all the things He knows, written in those pens with that [amount of]
ink or with even more [ink] than that [would not be spent], for His knowledge, exalted be He, is infinite.
Truly God is Mighty, nothing being beyond Him, Wise, from Whose knowledge and wisdom nothing escapes.
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Tafseer
Your creation and your resurrection are only as [that of] a single soul, in
terms of creation and resurrection, because it is the result of the words kun fa-yakūn, ââBe!â and it is!â Truly God
is Hearer, hearing everything that may be heard, Seer, seeing everything that may be seen, nothing able to
distract Him from anything else.
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