Tafseer of Luqman · Luqman · 31:19
And be moderate in your pace and lower your voice; indeed, the most disagreeable of sounds is the voice of donkeys."
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: وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ وَاغْضُضْ مِنْ صَوْتِكَ إِنَّ أَنْكَرَ الأَصْوَاتِ لَصَوْتُ الْحَمِيرِ (31:19) ("And be moderate in your gait, and lower your voice; verily, the most repugnant of voices is the voice of the donkeys.")
He says: and be humble in your gait when you walk, and be not arrogant, and do not hasten, but go deliberately.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the commentators have spoken, except that some of them said: He commanded him humility in his gait; and some of them said: He commanded him to abstain from speed therein.
The mention of who said: He commanded him humility in his gait:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: Abū Ḥamza related to us, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ, he said: humility.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ, he said: He forbade him arrogant self-conceit.
The mention of who said: He forbade him speed:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿUqba, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, concerning His saying وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ, he said: [restrain yourself] from speed.
His saying وَاغْضُضْ مِنْ صَوْتِكَ ("and lower your voice") — that is to say: and lower your voice, and make it moderate when you speak.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَاغْضُضْ مِنْ صَوْتِكَ, he said: He commanded him moderation in his voice.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying وَاغْضُضْ مِنْ صَوْتِكَ, he said: lower your voice.
The commentators differed concerning His saying إِنَّ أَنْكَرَ الأَصْوَاتِ لَصَوْتُ الْحَمِيرِ ("verily, the most repugnant of voices is the voice of the donkeys"). Some of them said: its meaning is: verily, the ugliest of voices.
* The mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār and Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, both saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba and Abān ibn Taghlib, both saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning إِنَّ أَنْكَرَ الأَصْوَاتِ, he said: verily, the ugliest of voices لَصَوْتُ الْحَمِيرِ ("is the voice of the donkeys").
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning إِنَّ أَنْكَرَ الأَصْوَاتِ لَصَوْتُ الْحَمِيرِ: that is to say: the ugliest of voices is the voice of the donkeys, whose beginning is a rasping bray and whose end is a panting snort; He commanded him moderation in his voice.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: I heard al-Aʿmash say: إِنَّ أَنْكَرَ الأَصْوَاتِ is the voice of the donkeys.
And others said: nay, the meaning thereof is: verily, the worst of voices.
* The mention of who said that:
It was related to me on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ, on the authority of Abū Ḥamza, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of ʿIkrima and al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba, concerning إِنَّ أَنْكَرَ الأَصْوَاتِ, he said: the worst of voices.
Jābir said: and al-Ḥasan ibn Muslim said: the harshest of voices.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying إِنَّ أَنْكَرَ الأَصْوَاتِ لَصَوْتُ الْحَمِيرِ, he said: If the raising of the voice were something good, then He would not have assigned it to the donkeys.
The most correct of the statements concerning this is the statement of the one who said: its meaning is: verily, the ugliest or the worst of voices. That is similar to their manner of speech, when they see an ugly face or a hideous appearance: "How repugnant is the face of so-and-so (mā ankara wajha fulān)," and "How repugnant is his appearance."
As for His saying لَصَوْتُ الْحَمِيرِ ("is the voice of the donkeys"), in which the voice (singular) is joined to the donkeys (plural) — that is for two reasons: if you wish, you say: "the voice" here has the meaning of a collective noun, as it was said لَذَهَبَ بِسَمْعِهِمْ ("He would have taken away their hearing"); and if you wish, you say: "the donkeys" has the meaning of the singular, for the singular in a place such as this expresses what the plural expresses.
------------------------ Footnotes: (4) It is possible that there is an omission herein, and the original is: "that is to say: the ugliest of voices is the voice of ... etc."
