Luqman · Makki · ayah 19 of 34

Luqman 31:19

وَٱقْصِدْ فِى مَشْيِكَ وَٱغْضُضْ مِن صَوْتِكَ ۚ إِنَّ أَنكَرَ ٱلْأَصْوَٰتِ لَصَوْتُ ٱلْحَمِيرِ

“And be moderate in your pace and lower your voice; indeed, the most disagreeable of sounds is the voice of donkeys."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Walk like an arrow flies, straight and unhurried, and take the edge off your voice: loudness for its own sake is a donkey's bray.

A reflection

Lower, not silent

'Lower your voice' is easily heard as 'be quiet'. Some take it to mean that a good person mumbles, never speaks firmly and never raises a point. That reading turns gentleness into timidity.

The Arabic is more precise. Wa-ghḍuḍ min ṣawtik: take something off your voice. The little word min matters. The Word Dictionary pictures the root with a rider easing back on the bit. He does not stop the horse. He takes the edge off its pull.

One commentary explains it plainly. Do not strain to raise your voice; take from it what you need. Speaking louder than the need, it says, is an affectation that hurts others. Another commentary adds that lowering the voice is praised unless a religious reason calls for the opposite.

And Luqman has just told his son, two ayat earlier, to enjoin good and forbid evil (31:17). That cannot be done in silence. The son is to speak, and speak the truth. He is only to stop using volume as a weapon.

A primary teacher has thirty seven-year-olds coming in from a wet playtime. She never raises her voice. When the room is at its loudest, she drops hers to almost a whisper. Within a minute the class has fallen silent to hear what she is saying.

That is the ayah's kind of strength. The voice is not removed. It is reined in, so that what it carries can be heard.

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.