Surah Luqman – Mahmoud El Sheimy

Luqman is the 31st surah of the Quran, named after the sage whose advice to his son it records. A Meccan surah of 34 verses in the twenty-first juz, it is counted 57th in the traditional order of revelation, after As-Saaffat. It presents the Quran as guidance for those who do good, sets out the wisdom of Luqman, and ends with the things whose knowledge belongs to God alone.

Luqman the Wise

God gave Luqman wisdom and taught him gratitude (31:12); most scholars regard him as a righteous sage rather than a prophet. His counsel to his son (31:13–19) is one of the best-known passages of the Quran: do not associate anything with God, "for association is a tremendous wrong" (31:13); even a deed the weight of a mustard seed, God will bring it forth (31:16); establish prayer, enjoin good, forbid evil and be patient (31:17); do not turn away from people in pride, be moderate in your pace and lower your voice (31:18–19).

When verse 6:82 worried the Companions, the Prophet explained, citing 31:13, that the "wrong" it mentions is associating partners with God (al-Bukhari and Muslim). Within this counsel, verses 14–15 enjoin gratitude to parents, recalling the mother who carried her child "in weakness upon weakness", but forbid obeying them in associating partners with God; Muslim links this passage to Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas.

Other themes

The surah also denounces those who buy "idle talk" to lead others astray (31:6) and blind imitation of forefathers (31:21). Were all the trees pens and the sea ink, with seven more seas, the words of God would not run out (31:27).

The last verse (31:34) names the knowledge of the Hour, the rain, what is in the wombs, what one will earn tomorrow and where one will die. The Prophet called these "the keys of the unseen" and recited this verse (al-Bukhari). Luqman is followed by As-Sajda.