Tafseer of Luqman · Luqman · 31:12
And We had certainly given Luqman wisdom [and said], "Be grateful to Allah." And whoever is grateful is grateful for [the benefit of] himself. And whoever denies [His favor] - then indeed, Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: En voorzeker, Wij gaven Luqmān de wijsheid: Wees dankbaar jegens Allah. En wie dankbaar is, is slechts dankbaar voor zichzelf; en wie ondankbaar is — voorwaar, Allah is Zelfgenoegzaam, Geprezen (12).
The Exalted, whose remembrance is sublime, says: and indeed, We gave Luqmān understanding in religion, intelligence, and the attainment of what is correct in speech.
And in the spirit of what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Mohammed ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: En voorzeker, Wij gaven Luqmān de wijsheid. He said: understanding, intelligence, and the attainment of what is correct in speech, without prophethood.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: En voorzeker, Wij gaven Luqmān de wijsheid, that is to say: understanding in Islam. Qatāda said: and he was not a prophet, nor was anything revealed to him.
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Yūnus informed us, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: En voorzeker, Wij gaven Luqmān de wijsheid. He said: the wisdom is what is correct; and someone other than Abū Bishr said: what is correct in something other than prophethood.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, Mohammed ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, that he said: Luqmān was a righteous man, and he was not a prophet.
Naṣr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Awdī and Ibn Ḥumayd related to me, both of them saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd al-Zubaydī, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: Luqmān the Wise was an Ethiopian slave (ʿabd ḥabashī), with thick lips and flat feet, and a judge (qāḍī) over the children of Israel.
ʿĪsā ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿĪsā al-Ramlī related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: Luqmān was a black slave (ʿabd aswad), with large lips and cracked feet.
ʿAbbās ibn Mohammed related to me, saying: Khālid ibn Makhlad related to us, saying: Sulaymān ibn Bilāl related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to me, saying: I heard Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab say: Luqmān the Wise was a black man from the Sudanese of Egypt.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: Luqmān was an Ethiopian slave (ʿabd ḥabashī).
Al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Walīd related to us, saying: my father informed us, saying: al-Awzāʿī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥarmala related to us, saying: a black man came to Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab to ask, and Saʿīd said to him: do not be grieved because you are black, for among the best of people were three of the blacks: Bilāl, and Mihjaʿ the freedman of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, and Luqmān the Wise, who was a black Nubian with thick lips.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Ashhab, on the authority of Khālid al-Rabaʿī, he said: Luqmān was an Ethiopian slave (ʿabd ḥabashī), a carpenter. His master said to him: slaughter this sheep for us. He slaughtered it. He said: take out the two most delicious pieces of meat from it. Then he took out the tongue and the heart. After that he waited as long as Allah willed, and then he said: slaughter this sheep for us. He slaughtered it. He said: take out the two worst pieces of meat from it. Then he took out the tongue and the heart. His master said to him: I commanded you to take out the two most delicious pieces of meat, and you took those out; and I commanded you to take out the two worst pieces of meat, and you took those out. Then Luqmān said to him: there is nothing more delicious than these two when they are good, and nothing worse than these two when they are bad.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: al-Ḥakam related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Qays related to us, saying: Luqmān was a black slave (ʿabd aswad), with thick lips and flat feet. A man came to him, while he was sitting in a gathering of people whom he was addressing, and said to him: are you not the one who herded the sheep with me at such-and-such a place? He said: yes. He said: what then has brought you to what I see? He said: speaking the truth, and keeping silent about what does not concern me.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid: En voorzeker, Wij gaven Luqmān de wijsheid. He said: the Qurʾān.
He said: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: the wisdom is trustworthiness (al-amāna).
And others said: he was a prophet.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: Luqmān was a prophet.
And His saying: Wees dankbaar jegens Allah. The Exalted, whose remembrance is sublime, says: en voorzeker, Wij gaven Luqmān de wijsheid, namely: praise Allah for the favor He has bestowed upon you. And He made His saying Wees dankbaar an explanation of the wisdom; for among the wisdom he had been granted was that he was thankful to Allah for what He had given him. And His saying: En wie dankbaar is, is slechts dankbaar voor zichzelf. He says: and whoever thanks Allah for His favors which he enjoys, is only thankful for himself, because Allah rewards him abundantly for his thankfulness toward Him and thereby saves him from ruin. En wie ondankbaar is — voorwaar, Allah is Zelfgenoegzaam, Geprezen. He says: and whoever denies the favor of Allah toward him has wronged himself, because Allah will punish him for his ingratitude toward Him; and Allah has no need of his thankfulness toward Him for His favors, He is independent of that, because his thankfulness toward Him adds nothing to His dominion, and his ingratitude toward Him diminishes nothing from His kingship. And by His saying Geprezen He means: praised in every state; to Him belongs the praise for His favors, whether the servant denies His favor or thanks Him for it; and it is derived from the passive form to the form faʿīl.
