Luqman · Makki · ayah 14 of 34

Luqman 31:14

وَوَصَّيْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُۥ وَهْنًا عَلَىٰ وَهْنٍ وَفِصَـٰلُهُۥ فِى عَامَيْنِ أَنِ ٱشْكُرْ لِى وَلِوَٰلِدَيْكَ إِلَىَّ ٱلْمَصِيرُ

“And We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents. His mother carried him, [increasing her] in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the [final] destination.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah breaks into a father's counsel to speak for parents Himself, remembering a load that grew heavier as its carrier grew weaker.

A reflection

Not the father's voice

Most people remember this ayah as part of Luqman's advice. The wise father, having warned his son against shirk, tells him to honour his parents. That is how it is usually taught to children, and it makes the ayah sound like a parent asking to be respected.

The grammar says otherwise. The speaker changes. Waṣṣaynā: We enjoined. The commentaries describe these two ayat as an interjection, a passage inserted in the middle of Luqman's counsel. One says plainly that it is Allah's own speech, placed there to reinforce the warning against shirk. Luqman speaks in 31:13. Allah speaks in 31:14–15. Luqman resumes in 31:16.

There is a tenderness in that arrangement, offered here as a reflection. A father asking his son to honour him can sound like self-interest. So the father does not say it. Allah says it instead, over the father's head, to every human being: al-insān. The son hears it not as his father's demand but as his Lord's.

A sixteen-year-old tunes out whenever his mother says 'respect your parents'. It is always her saying it, and always in an argument. When he reads this ayah properly for the first time, he notices that it is not her voice at all.

One commentary gives a further reason for the placement. Luqman has just forbidden worshipping anything besides Allah. Serving parents can look, outwardly, a little like worship: bowing to their wishes, devoting years to their care. So Allah clarifies at once that this service is not forbidden. It is commanded.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.