31:1. Alif. Lam. Meem.^{1Groups of letters (al-huroof al-muqatta‘ah) appear at the beginning of several soorahs. The most correct scholarly view states that we are required to believe in them as they appear to be, without delving into their meaning, knowledge of which we should leave to Allah. We believe that they were not revealed in vain, and that there is wisdom behind them of which we are not aware.}

31:2. These are the verses of the Book of wisdom,

31:3. guidance and mercy for those who do good,

31:4. those who establish prayer and give zakah, and who believe w ith certainty in the hereafter.

31:5. It is they who are following guidance from their Lord and it is they who will prosper.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) refers to respect and veneration for ﴾the verses of the Book of wisdom﴿, for its verses are precise and come from One Who is Most Wise, All-Aware. One aspect of its being wise and precise is that the wording of its verses is most sublime, eloquent, clear, precise in meaning and beautiful. Another aspect of its being wise and precise is that it is protected from changes, alterations, additions, omission and distortion. Moreover, everything in it of stories of the past and future, and matters of the unseen, are all in accordance with reality, and reality is in accordance with it. None of the divinely revealed Books differs with it and no Prophet differed concerning it. There has never been and never will be any knowledge based on the science of sound reasoning that will contradict any of these verses.

Another aspect of it being wise and precise is that it never enjoins anything but that thing serves a clear interest, and it never forbids anything but it is bad and harmful. It often connects a command to the wisdom behind it and the benefits it brings, and it connects a prohibition to the reason behind it, mentioning the harm it causes.

It combines encouragement, warning and clear exhortation, by means of which people with good inclinations will be guided and will follow that exhortation and apply it, which will strengthen their resolve to implement it.

You will find that the meanings of its verses are repeated, such as the stories and rulings that it contains. All of it is in harmony and in agreement, and there are no contradictions or discrepancies in it. The more the one with understanding reflects upon it and ponders it, the more amazed he will be at the level of harmony and agreement, and he will become certain, beyond any doubt, that it is a revelation from One Who is Most Wise, Most Praiseworthy.

But, although it is wise and precise, and it calls to every noble characteristic and forbids every ignoble characteristic, most people are deprived of being guided by it, and they turn away from believing in it and acting upon it, except those whom Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) guides and protects from misguidance. They are the ones who do good by worshipping their Lord and showing kindness to others.

Indeed it is ((guidance﴿ for them; it guides them to the straight path and warns them against the paths that lead to hell.

﴾and mercy﴿ for them, by means of which they may attain happiness in this world and the hereafter, much good, great reward and joy; and misguidance and misery may be warded off from them.

Then Allah describes those who do good as being people of sound knowledge, which is certain faith that requires one to strive and fear the punishment of Allah, so they refrain from disobeying Him. And He describes them as people who take action, singling out two good deeds for mention: prayer which involves devotion, conversing with Allah 0&) and other actions of the heart, words and physical movements, and which helps them to do all kinds of good deeds; and zakah which purifies the giver of bad characteristics, benefits his Muslim brethren and meets his needs, and by means of it a person demonstrates clearly that he gives precedence to love of Allah over love of wealth, and that he gives away what he loves of wealth for the sake of that which is dearer to him, which is attaining the pleasure of Allah.

﴾It is they﴿ namely those who do good, combining proper knowledge with action

﴾who are following guidance﴿ the word translated here as ﴾guidance﴿ appears in the indefinite form, which indicates that it is great. This guidance comes to them ﴾from their Lord﴿ Who always cares for them, bestows different kinds of blessings on them and wards off harm from them.

This guidance that was sent to them is part of Allah’s special care for His close friends, and it is the highest level of care.﴾and it is they who will prosper:﴿ - for it is they who will attain the pleasure of their Lord and His reward in this world and the hereafter, and they will be safe from His wrath and punishment, because they follow the path of success, to which there is no other path.

Having mentioned those who are guided by the Qur’an and are focused on it, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) now mentions those who turn away from it and pay no attention to it, stating that they will be punished for that, because by focusing on all kinds of frivolous talk, they have shunned the most sublime of words and the best of speech, replacing it with the lowest and ugliest of speech. Therefore Allah says:

0-1

31:6. But among people are some who resort to frivolous talk^{1This verse was revealed concerning an-Nadr ibn al-Harith, who acquired books of tales from the Persians. He would narrate these stories to Quraysh and say: If Muhammad is telling you the stories of‘Ad and Thamood, I am telling you the stories of Rustam, Esfandiyar and Chosroes. Frivolous talk refers to spending one's time listening to baseless tales and stories, jokes and idle talk; it may also include singing and music, according to many commentators.} in order to mislead others from the path of Allah without knowledge and to make a mockery of it. For such there will be a humiliating punishment.

31:7. When Our verses are recited to such a person, he turns away arrogantly, as if he did not hear them, as if there were deafness in his ears. So give him the tidings of a painful punishment.

31:8. But for those who believe and do righteous deeds, there will be gardens of delight,

31:9. to abide therein forever. [This is] a true promise from Allah, and He is the Almighty, Most Wise.

﴾But among people are some﴿ who are deprived and left to their own devices. They presort top that is, they choose and prefer ﴾frivolous talk﴿ that is, talk that distracts people’s minds and prevents them from attaining sublime goals. This includes all kinds of prohibited speech and all kinds of idle talk, falsehood and nonsense that encourages disbelief, evildoing and sin; as well as the talk of those who oppose the truth and argue on the basis of falsehood in order to undermine the truth; backbiting, malicious gossip, lying, reviling, insulting, singing and musical instruments of the Shaytan, and foolish talk in which there is no benefit in either religious or worldly terms.

This type of people choose idle talk over guidance ﴾in order to mislead others from the path of Allah without knowledge﴿ that is, after going astray by their actions, they lead others astray, because misguidance of others stems from being misguided themselves.

This frivolous talk misguides others by distracting them from beneficial talk, beneficial deeds, clear truth and the straight path.

Such a person cannot achieve that unless he criticises guidance and truth, makes a mockery of the verses of Allah, and ridicules them and the one who brought them. If he combines praise and promotion of falsehood with casting aspersions upon the truth and ridiculing it and its followers, he will lead astray those who have no knowledge and are deceived by what he tells them of arguments and statements in which that misguided person can see no flaws and does not know what he is really talking about.

﴾For such there will be a humiliating punishment﴿ for going astray, leading others astray, ridiculing the revelations of Allah and rejecting the clear truth.

﴾When Our verses are recited to such a person﴿ so that he may believe in them and submit to them

﴾he turns away arrogantly﴿ that is, he turns away, rejecting them, because he is too arrogant to believe in them; they do not enter his heart or have any impact on it. Rather he turns away ﴾fas if he did not hear them﴿ and indeed ﴾as if there were deafness in his ears﴿, such that no sound could reach his ears. There is no way that such a person can be guided.

﴾So give him the tidings﴿ that is, tidings that will fill his heart with grief and distress, and will reflect on his appearance, making him look gloomy and dusty

﴾fof a painful punishment﴿, which will cause both psychological and physical pain, and no one can estimate how painful or how great it will be. These are the tidings to be given to the evildoers, and what bad tidings they are.

As for the tidings that will be given to those who do good, Allah says:

﴾But for those who believe and do righteous deeds﴿ thus combining inward worship in the sense of faith and outward worship in the sense of complying with Islamic teachings in their conduct, and doing righteous deeds,

﴾there will be gardens of delight﴿. This is glad tidings to them for their righteous deeds.

﴾to abide therein forever﴿ in gardens that will be filled with delights psychological, spiritual and physical.

^[This is] a true promise from Allah﴿ that cannot be broken, changed or altered

6﴾and He is the Almighty, Most Wise﴿ - He is perfect in might and perfect in wisdom. By His might and wisdom He guides some andforsakes others, according to what His knowledge and wisdom dictate.

31:10. He created the heavens without any pillars that you can see; He set on the earth mountains standing firm, lest it shake with you; and He scattered throughout [the earth] creatures of all kinds. We send down rain from the sky and cause to grow therein all kinds of beneficial plants.

31:11. This is Allah’s creation; so show Me what others [whom you worship] besides Him have created. Nay, the wrongdoers are clearly misguided.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) highlights to His slaves some of the signs of His might and some of the wonders of His precise creation and blessings, which are signs of His mercy.

﴾He created the heavens﴿ that is, the seven heavens, in all their greatness, vastness, profundity and great height ﴾without any pillars that you can seej2 that is, they have no pillars, for if they did have pillars they would be visible. Rather they only remain firm and stable by the might of Allah (tfe).

﴾He set on the earth mountains standing firm﴿ that is, great mountains which He has set in various regions and parts of the earth,

﴾lest it shake with you﴿. Were it not for the mountains standing firm, the earth would shake and it would not be stable for its inhabitants to settle on it.﴾and He scattered throughout [the earth] creatures of all kinds﴿ that is, He scattered throughout the vast earth all kinds of creatures that are made to be of service to the sons of Adam, to serve their interests and benefit them. As He scattered them throughout the earth, He knew that there should be provision to sustain these creatures so He sends down from the sky blessed water,

﴾fand cause[s] to grow therein all kinds of beneficial plants﴿ that are beautiful to behold and are beneficial and blessed. So the creatures that are scattered throughout the earth graze on them and animals turn to them for food and shelter.

﴾This﴿ namely the creation of the upper and lower realms, inanimate objects and animate beings, and the provision of sustenance to them

﴾fis Allah’s creation﴿ that is, created by Him alone, with no partner; everyone acknowledges that, even you, O polytheists, ﴾so show Me what others [whom you worship] besides Him have created﴿ that is, those whom you describe as partners of Allah, and you call upon them and worship them, which would imply that they should have a creation like His and grant provision like His. If they have any of that, then show it to me in order to prove your claim that they deserve to be worshipped.

But it is well known that they are not able to show him anything that these so-called “partners” have created, because they acknowledge that all the things mentioned here were created by Allah alone, and there is nothing else known other than what is mentioned here. Thus it is established that they are unable to prove anything that their gods created, for which they would deserve to be worshipped.

In fact they worship them without knowledge or understanding; rather it is based on ignorance and misguidance. Hence Allah says: ﴾Nay, the wrongdoers are clearly misguided﴿ that is, they are obviously misguided, because they worshipped that which has no power to bring benefit or cause harm, or to cause death, give life orresurrect, and they failed to show sincere devotion to the Creator, the Provider, the Sovereign of all things.

31:12. Indeed We granted wisdom to Luqman, [saying]: Be grateful to Allah. Whoever is grateful, his gratitude is to his own benefit, and whoever is ungrateful, then surely Allah is Self-Sufficient, Worthy of all praise.

31:13. And [remember] when Luqman said to his son as he was advising him: O my son, do not associate anything in worship with Allah, for associating others in worship with Him is indeed grievous wrongdoing.

31:14. We have enjoined upon man kindness to his parents. In travail upon travail his mother bears him, and his weaning takes placewithin two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents. Unto Me is the return [of all].

31:15. But if they endeavour to make you ascribe partners to Me of which you have no knowledge, then do not obey them. But keep company with them in this world kindly, and follow the way of those who turn to Me. Then to Me you will all return, and I will inform you about what you used to do.

31:16. [Luqrnan said:] O my son, even if [a deed] is the weight of a grain of mustard seed, and it is hidden in a rock, or in the heavens, or in the earth, Allah will bring it forth. Verily Allah is the Knower of subtleties, the All-Aware.

31:17. O my son, establish prayer, enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong; be patient and steadfast in the face of whatever befalls you; that is something that must be adhered to, [as it is enjoined by Allah].

31:18. Do not turn your face away from people [in contempt], and do not walk on the earth with insolence. Verily Allah does not love anyone who is conceited and boastful.

31:19. Be moderate in your gait and lower your voice; verily the most hideous of sounds is the voice [braying] of the donkey.

Here Allah te) tells us of the blessing of wisdom that He bestowed upon His virtuous slave Luqrnan, which refers to attaining proper knowledge concerning the truth and understanding the wisdom behind different issues of knowledge. That is knowledge of rulings and learning the subtle reasons behind them and how precise and proper they are. A man may be knowledgeable without being wise. Wisdom is based on knowledge and also on actions. Hence wisdom is described as being beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds.

Having bestowed this great blessing upon him, Allah instructed him to give thanks for what He had given him, so that He might bless it for him and increase him in virtue. He told him that the benefit ofgratitude comes back to the grateful, but if a person is ungrateful and does not give thanks to Allah, the negative consequences of that will come back to him. Allah has no need of such a person, and He is praiseworthy in all that He decrees and ordains for the one who goes against His command. Among His essential attributes. He has no need of anyone and He is praiseworthy for all His perfect attributes and praiseworthy for all His beautiful actions. Each of these two attributes is an attribute of perfection, and adding one of them to the other is perfection upon perfection.

The commentators differed as to whether Luqman was a Prophet or a righteous slave. Allah Ofe) only tells us that He gave him wisdom and told us something about his exhortation of his son which is indicative of his wisdom, namely the foundations and main pillars of wisdom.

And [remember] when Luqman said to his son as he was advising him﴿, or he said some words to him, exhorting him with commands and prohibitions, encouragement and warnings. He instructed him to show sincere devotion to Allah alone, and forbade him to ascribe partners to Him, explaining to him the reason for that by saying: c»ffor associating others in worship with Him is indeed grievous wrongdoing;﴿. The reason why it is grievous is that there is nothing more horrendous or abhorrent than one who regards that which was created from dust as equal to the Sovereign of all things, and he regards the one who has no control over anything as equal to the One Who has control over all things, and he regards one who is lacking in all ways as equal to the perfect Lord Who is self-sufficient in all respects, and he regards the one who does not bestow even an atom’s weight of blessings as equal to the One Who bestows every single blessing that is bestowed upon humankind in terms of their spiritual and worldly affairs, and Who wards off evil from them. Can there be any wrongdoing more grievous than this?

Is there any wrongdoing greater than that of one whom Allah created to worship Him and affirm His oneness, yet he decides todegrade his noble soul and bring it down to the lowest of ranks by making it a worshipper of that which has no value, thus wronging himself greatly?

Having enjoined fulfilment of His rights by refraining from ascribing partners to Him, which means adhering to affirmation of His oneness, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) then enjoined fulfilment of the rights of parents:

﴾We have enjoined upon man kindness to his parents﴿ that is, We have commanded him and given him instructions to that effect, and We will question him as to how he did that and whether he complied or not. We said to him:

﴾Be grateful to Meb by worshipping Me, fulfilling My rights and not using My blessings to disobey Me

6jand to your parents﴿ by showing kindness to them, speaking gently to them, behaving nicely with them, being humble towards them, honouring them, respecting them, taking care of them, and avoiding mistreating them in any way, in word or deed.

We gave him this advice and We told him that ﴾Unto Me is the return [of all]b that is, you - O humankind - will all return to the One Who instructed you and enjoined these duties upon you, and He will ask you: did you fulfil them, so that He might reward you immensely? Or did you neglect them, so that He might punish you severely?

Then He tells us the reason why parents are to be honoured, which has to do with the mother:

﴾In travail upon travail his mother bears him﴿ that is, in hardship upon hardship; she continues to go through hardship, from the time when he is a sperm drop, faced with cravings, sickness, weakness, heaviness and changing moods, which is followed by the severe pain of childbirth.

Then c﴾his weaning takes place within two years﴿ and throughout these two years he enjoys the care of his mother Is it not appropriate that in the case of the one who bears all this hardship because of herchild, yet loves him dearly, the child is emphatically enjoined and instructed to show the highest level of kindness to that person?

﴾But if they﴿ namely your parents ﴾endeavour to make you ascribe partners to Me of which you have no knowledge, then do not obey them﴿ and do not think that this comes under the heading of kind treatment of them, because the rights of Allah take precedence over the rights of anyone else, and:

«There is no obedience to any created being if it involves disobedience towards the Creator.)) (Recorded by at-Tabrayzi; al-Albani graded it as sound)

Allah did not say “But if they endeavour to make you ascribe partners to Me of which you have no knowledge, then treat them badly or be defiant towards them.” Rather He said {(then do not obey them﴿ that is, by ascribing partners to Allah. As for honouring them and treating them kindly, one should persist in that. Hence Allah says: {(But keep company with them in this world kindly﴿ that is, keep them company in a kind way. As for following them, when they are in a state of disbelief and disobedience, do not follow them. t﴾and follow the way of those who turn to Me﴿ namely those who believe in Allah, His angels, His Books and His Messengers, those who submit to their Lord and turn to Him.

Following their path means behaving like them in turning to Allah, meaning that all one’s emotions and will are focused on Allah, which is then followed by physically taking action to do that which pleases Allah and brings one closer to him.

﴾Then to Me you will all return﴿ both those who obey Allah and those who disobey Him, those who turn to Him and those who do not ﴾and I will inform you about what you used to do﴿ for nothing is hidden from Allah of their deeds.

﴾[Luqman said:] O my son, even if [a deed] is the weight of a grain of mustard seed﴿ which is the smallest and most insignificant of things﴾and it is hidden in a rock﴿ that is, in the middle of it ﴾or in the heavens, or in the earth﴿ in any direction whatsoever, ﴾Allah will bring it forth﴿ because of His vast knowledge, perfect awareness and perfect might. Hence He says:

﴾Verily Allah is the Knower of subtleties, the All-Aware﴿ that is, He is subtle in His knowledge and awareness, to the extent that He is aware of all that is hidden and secret, and all that is hidden on land and in the sea.

The point of mentioning this is to urge people to remember that Allah is always watching and to do acts of obedience as much as possible; and to warn against doing evil deeds, small or great.

﴾(0 my son, establish prayer﴿ prayer is encouraged and singled out for mention because it is the greatest of physical acts of worship ﴾enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong﴿ - this requires one to have knowledge of what is right, so that he may enjoin it, and to have knowledge of what is wrong, so that he may forbid it. That without which one cannot enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong is also enjoined, such as kindness and patience. That is stated clearly in the words: ﴾fbe patient and steadfast in the face of whatever befalls you﴿ (31:17). He should do what he enjoins others to do and refrain from what he forbids them to do. Thus he will be striving to perfect himself by doing good and refraining from evil, and will be striving to perfect others by enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong.

Because Allah knew that man would inevitably be faced with troubles if he enjoins what is right and forbids what is wrong, and that doing this is difficult for people, He enjoined them to be patient and steadfast in doing it:

﴾be patient and steadfast in the face of whatever befalls you; that﴿ which Luqman advised his son to do ﴾is something that must be adhered to, [as it is enjoined by Allah]﴿ that is, it is one of the things that must be adhered to and paid attention to, and no one is able to attain that except people of strong resolve.

﴾Do not turn your face away from people [in contempt]﴿ that is, do not frown at people out of arrogance towards them, looking down on them.

c﴾fand do not walk on the earth with insolence﴿ that is, with arrogance, feeling proud because of the blessings that have been bestowed upon you whilst forgetting the Bestower, and being filled with selfadmiration.

﴾Verily Allah does not love anyone who is conceited﴿ in the way he thinks of himself and carries himself sfand boastful﴿ in his speech.

﴾Be moderate in your gait﴿ that is, walk humbly and modestly, not in the manner of one who is insolent and arrogant, or in the manner of one who is weak and exhausted.

﴾and lower your voice﴿ out of good manners towards people and towards Allah

﴾verily the most hideous of sounds﴿ that is, the ugliest and most abhorrent

﴾is the voice [braying] of the donkey﴿. If there was any benefit in raising the voice, the donkey - which is known for being ignoble and stupid - would not have been singled out for mention.

This advice which Luqman gave to his son represents the main points of wisdom and implies those that were not mentioned. Each piece of advice is mentioned with a reason that motivates one to comply with it.

This supports what we have mentioned about the meaning of wisdom, which is that it means knowing the rulings, understanding the reasons behind them, and knowing when and how to implement them.

Luqman enjoined on his son the foundation of religion, namely the affirmation of the oneness of Allah; he forbade him to ascribe partners to Allah and explained why he should avoid doing that. He instructed him to honour his parents, and explained the reason fordoing so. He instructed him to give thanks to Allah and to his parents, then he highlighted that the injunction to honour them and comply with their instructions is only applicable so long as they do not enjoin sin, yet he should still not mistreat them or turn against them if they do tell him to commit sin. Rather he should treat them kindly even if he does not obey them when they endeavour to make him ascribe partners to Allah. He instructed him to remember that Allah is always watching, and reminded him to fear the time when he will stand before Him, for Allah will not leave any deed, small or great, good or bad, but He will bring it.

He forbade him to be arrogant and instructed him to be humble; He forbade him to be insolent, boastful or conceited; He instructed him to show humility in the way he moves and talks, and forbade him to do the opposite of that.

He instructed him to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, to establish prayer and to be steadfast and patient, for by means of prayer and patience, everything is made easy, as Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says. So it is no wonder that the one who gave these instructions must be a man who was blessed with wisdom and was well known for that. Hence one of the blessings that Allah bestows upon him and upon all His slaves is that He told them the story of his wisdom, so that he might be a good example to them.

31:20. Do you not see that Allah has made all that is in the heavens and on earth to be of service to you, and He has showered you with His blessings, both apparent and hidden? Yet among people there are some who dispute about Allah without knowledge, without guidance and without any clear revealed text.

31:21. When it is said to them: Follow what Allah has revealed, they say: Nay, we will follow the ways of our forefathers. [Would they do that] even if Shaytan is calling them to the punishment of the raging fire?

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) reminds His slaves of his blessings and calls upon them to give thanks for it and acknowledge it, and not to be heedless about it.

t°(Do you not see﴿ that is, do you not witness and see with your own eyes, and think of it in your hearts ﴾that Allah has made all that is in the heavens﴿) of the sun, moon, and stars, which He has made to be of service and benefit to people ﴾and on earth's) of animals, trees, crops, rivers, metals and the like as Allah Oyt) says elsewhere:

﴾It is He Who has created for you all things that are on earth...p (al-Baqarah 2: 29)

﴾to be of service to you, and He has showered you with His blessings﴿) that is. He has bestowed His blessings upon you in abundance

﴾His blessings﴿) both visible and hidden, those of which we are aware and those which are hidden from us, worldly blessings and spiritual blessings, granting good things and warding off harm. So your job is to give thanks for these blessings by loving the Bestower, submitting to Him and using them to help you obey Him, not using any of them to disobey Him.

﴾Yeft) even though these blessings keep coming, one after another.﴾among people there are some﴿ who do not give thanks for them; rather they are ungrateful for them and they disbelieve in the One Who bestows them; they deny the truth that He revealed in His Books and with which He sent His Messengers. So they ﴾dispute about Allah﴿ that is, they dispute on the basis of falsehood, trying to undermine the truth, and on that basis they reject what the Messenger (ﷺ) brought of the command to worship Allah alone. The one who argues in this manner has no understanding, so his argument is not based on knowledge, such that he might be left to carry on and his words might be tolerated

﴾without guidance﴿ that people could follow ﴾and without any clear revealed text﴿ that explains the truth, so that his argument is not based on any rational foundation or religious texts, and it is not based on following those who are guided. Rather his argument about Allah is based on imitating forefathers who were not guided and who in fact misguided others.

Hence Allah says:

﴾When it is said to them: Follow what Allah has revealed﴿ at the hands of His Messengers, for it is the truth, and clear proof is presented to them,

﴾they say﴿, objecting to that:

﴾Nay, we will follow the ways of our forefathers﴿ and we will not give up what we found our forefathers following for the words of anyone, no matter who he is.

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) said, refuting them and their forefathers: (([Would they do that] even if Shaytan is calling them to the punishment of the raging fire?﴿ And their forefathers responded to the Shaytan, following him and becoming his students, and thus they became confused.

Does that dictate that they should follow them and walk their path? Rather that should make them too scared to follow their path, and highlight their misguidance and the misguidance of those who followed them.

The call of the Shaytan to their forefathers and to them was not based on love or friendship towards them; rather it was based on enmity towards them and on deceiving them. In fact, his followers are among his enemies over whom he was able to gain control, and he was very satisfied when the punishment of the raging fire became inevitable for them as a result of their accepting his call.

31:22. Whoever submits himself [completely] to Allah and is a doer of good has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold. Allah decides the outcome of all matters.

31:23. Whoever disbelieves, do not let his disbelief sadden you. To Us they will return, and We will inform them about what they used to do. Verily Allah knows well what is in [their] hearts.

31:24. We will allow them to enjoy life for a little while, then We will drive them to a harsh punishment.

﴾Whoever submits himself [completely] to Allah﴿ that is, he humbles himself before Him and submits to Him by doing what is prescribed by Islamic teaching, with sincere devotion to Him alone ﴾and is a doer of good﴿ in that submission, in the sense that his good deeds are in accordance with Islam, following the Messenger (ﷺ). Or it may be that what is meant is: whoever submits himself (completely) to Allah by doing all acts of worship, and he does them well so that he worships Allah as if he sees Him, and if he does not see Him, Allah sees him;or: whoever submits himself (completely) to Allah by fulfilling his duties towards Him, and does good in the sense that he is kind towards the slaves of Allah and fulfils his duties towards them.

These meanings are all interconnected and there is no real difference between them, for they all point towards carrying out all the duties enjoined by Islam and doing all Islamic duties in an acceptable and perfect manner. Whoever does that has surrendered to Allah and ﴾has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold﴿ that is, the hand-hold by which, whoever grasps it will attain certainty and be saved and delivered from doom, and will attain all good.

Whoever does not submit himself (completely) to Allah and do good has not grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, and if he has not grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, there can be nothing but doom and destruction.

﴾Allah decides the outcome of all matters﴿ that is, all matters will return to Him in the end, then He will pass judgement among His slaves and will requite them in accordance with their deeds and where those deeds led them to. So let them prepare for that.

﴾Whoever disbelieves, do not let his disbelief sadden you﴿, because you (O Muhammad [#;]) have done what you were obliged to do of calling them and conveying the message. If they are not guided, your reward is still due from Allah and there is no point in grieving for anyone’s not being guided, for if there had been any good in him, Allah would have guided him.

Do not grieve also for their showing enmity towards you, opposing you and persisting in their misguidance and disbelief.

For verily t°(To Us they will return, and We will inform them about what they used to do﴿ of disbelief, enmity and striving to extinguish the light of Allah and harm His Messengers.

﴾Verily Allah knows well what is in [their] hearts﴿ which is not spoken of, so how about that which is said openly and seen by people?

﴾We will allow them to enjoy life for a little while)﴿ in this world, so that they may increase in sin and their punishment may become greater

﴾then We will drive them to a harsh punishment﴿ that is, a punishment that will reach the highest degree of grievousness and will be terrifying, immense, severe and painful.

31:25. If you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will surely say: Allah. Say: Praise be to Allah. But most of them do not understand.

31:26. To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth. Verily Allah is Self-Sufficient, Worthy of all praise.

31:27. If all the trees on earth were pens, and the sea [was ink], replenished by seven more seas, the words of Allah would still not be exhausted. Verily Allah is Almighty, Most Wise.

31:28. The creation and resurrection of all of you are [for Allah, as easy] as [the creation and the resurrection of] a single soul. Verily Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.

That is, if you ask these polytheists who reject the truth ﴾who created the heavens and the earth﴿, they will realise that the idols never created any of that, and they will hasten to say that it is Allah alone Who created them.

So ﴾Say﴿ to them, making them follow through with that idea, and presenting an argument based on what they accepted (that Allah is the Creator of all things) to prove that they were wrong with regard to what they denied (namely the oneness of Allah and His being the only One Who is deserving of worship):

﴾Praise be to Allah﴿ Who has made the light shine clearly and has shown evidence against you from your own selves. For if they understood, they would affirm that the One Who is the only Creator and Controller is the only One Who deserves to be worshipped and to be acknowledged as the only God. But ﴾most of them do not understand﴿; therefore they ascribed others as partners to Him and were content with the contradictions in their beliefs, in a manner that reflects confusion and doubt, not in a manner that reflects understanding.

Then Allah mentions in these two verses examples of how all-encompassing His attributes are, so as to call His slaves to know Him, love Him and devote their worship to Him alone.

Allah tells us that His dominion includes everything, and all that is in the heavens and on earth - which includes both the upper and lower realms - belongs to Him and He controls all of that in accordance with His divine will and decree, and in accordance with His religious commands and prohibitions, and in accordance with His rulings on reward and punishment.

All of them are slaves under His control, and they have no share in dominion. He possesses all things and He does not need what any of His creatures need.

﴾I seek no provision from them, nor do I want them to feed Me.﴿ (adh-Dhariyat 51: 57)

The deeds of the Prophets, the strong and true in faith, the martyrs and the righteous do not benefit Allah in the slightest; rather they only benefit the doers, and Allah has no need of them or their deeds. Partof His possessing everything is that He gives them what they need in this world and the hereafter.

Then Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us that He is worthy of all praise, and that praiseworthiness is one of His essential attributes; He cannot be but praiseworthy in all ways, thus He is praiseworthy in His essence, and He is praiseworthy in His attributes. For each of His attributes. He deserves the most perfect praise, because they are attributes of greatness and perfection. He is to be praised for everything that He does and creates, and for everything that He enjoins and forbids. He is to be praised for everything that He has decreed for people and for every judgement that He passes between people, in this world and the hereafter.

Then He tells us of the vastness and greatness of His words, in a manner that deeply penetrates the heart, dazzles the mind, and instils wonder, and makes people of reason and understanding contemplate the depths of its meanings:

﴾If all the trees on earth were pens﴿ with which to write sfand the sea [was ink], replenished by seven more seas﴿ of ink, as an additional supply, those pens would break and that ink would run out, yet c﴾the words of Allah ﴿ (سبحانه وتعالى) would not be exhausted.

This is not an exaggeration that has no basis in reality; rather because Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) knows that human minds are unable to fully comprehend some of His attributes, and He knows that for His slaves, knowing Him is the greatest blessing that He may bestow upon them and the best virtue they could attain, but it is not possible for them to fully understand the divine attributes as they really are - although that which cannot be attained in full should not be forsaken altogether - He pointed out to them this example so as to illuminate their hearts, put their minds at ease and enable them to grasp an idea by means of which they may gain some understanding of what they cannot grasp in full. Hence they may say what the best of them, the one who had the greatest knowledge of his Lord, said:«We cannot praise You enough; You are as You have praised Yourself.» (Muslim)

Otherwise the matter is much greater than that.

This likeness is by way of simplifying the concept so that people may have some understanding of it, although it cannot be fully grasped. Otherwise even if the trees and seas were many times more than what is mentioned, it can be imagined that they would run out and be exhausted, because they are created things. But when it comes to the words of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), it cannot be imagined that they would run out; rather rational and textual evidence indicates that they will never run out and never cease, for everything has an end except the Creator and His attributes.

If one tries to imagine the facts about Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) that state that He is the First and the Last, whatever one can imagine of times of the past, no matter how far into the past he may go in his imagination, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) existed before that, from eternity. And no matter how far into the future he may go in his imagination, Allah will exist after that, unto eternity, without end.

At all times - past, present and future - Allah has been, is and always will be speaking, saying and doing whatever He wills. When He wills something, nothing can stand in the way of His words and actions. If the mind can understand the above, we will understand that the likeness that Allah gives of His words here is only to give people an idea about them; otherwise, the matter is far greater than that.

Then Allah mentions the majestic nature of His might and the perfect nature of His wisdom:

﴾Verily Allah is Almighty, Most Wise﴿ that is, all might belongs to Him, and whatever power exists in the upper and lower realms comes from Him, and He gave it to His creation. There is no power and no strength except with Him. By His might He subjugated all of creation, and He controls them. By His wisdom, He created all thingsand He initiated creation on the basis of wisdom, making the ultimate aims and goals behind creation based on wisdom. His commands and prohibitions are also based on wisdom, and His ultimate aim and goal is wisdom. Hence He is the Most Wise in all that He creates and commands.

Then He tells us of the greatness and perfect nature of His power, and that no mind can imagine it:

﴾The creation and resurrection of all of you are [for Allah, as easy] as [the creation and the resurrection of] a single soul﴿ This is something that astounds people, that the creation of all of humankind - with their great numbers, and their resurrection after death in a single moment, after they had been scattered - is like the creation of a single soul. So there is no reason to think that the resurrection and requital for deeds is unlikely to happen, except for ignorance of the greatness and immense power of Allah.

Then He tells us how He hears all sounds and sees all things: ﴾Verily Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing﴿.

31:29. Do you not see that Allah causes the night to encroach upon the day, and the day to encroach upon the night; that He has made the sun and moon to be of service, each running its course for an appointed time; and that Allah is well aware of all that you do?

31:30. That is because Allah is the Truth, and those they call upon besides Him are sheer falsehood. Verily Allah is the Most High, the Most Great.

This also points to the fact that Allah alone is in control and managing the affairs of creation, and by means of the vastness of His control He causes the night to encroach upon the day, and the day to encroach upon the night, meaning that one of them infringes upon the other, so when one of them comes, the other one departs.

He has made the sun and moon to be of service, both of them running the course set for them, according to a system that has not faltered since they were created, so that there may be a great deal of benefit for people, and their interests may be served in their religious and worldly affairs, because of which they may contemplate and pay heed.

﴾each﴿ of them (the sun and moon)

﴾running its course for an appointed time﴿ - when that time ends, they will stop running and will lose their positions. That will be on the Day of Resurrection, when the sun will be folded up and the moon will become dark, the world will end and the hereafter will begin.

﴾and that Allah is well aware of all that you do﴿ of good and evil, for nothing is hidden from Him, and He will requite you for those deeds, rewarding those who were obedient and punishing those who were disobedient.

﴾That﴿ which has been explained to you of His greatness and attributes

﴾is because Allah is the Truth﴿ in His essence and His attributes. His religion is true. His Messengers are true. His promise is true. His warning is true, and worship of Him alone is true.

﴾and those they call upon besides Him are sheer falsehood﴿ in their essence and attributes. If Allah had not created them, they would not exist, and if He had not sustained them they would not have survived. If it is false, then worship of it is even more false.

﴾Verily Allah is the Most High﴿ in His essence, above all of His creation. His attributes are so sublime that they cannot be comparedwith the attributes of any of His creation; He is above His creation, so He subdued them c﴾the Most Great﴿ to Whom belongs all greatness in His essence and attributes, and He is held in the highest esteem by the inhabitants of both heaven and earth.

(rr-n

31:31. Do you not see that the ships sail on the sea by the grace of Allah, so that He may show you some of His signs? Surely in that there are signs for every steadfastly patient and deeply thankful person.

31:32. When waves loom over them like the canopy [of clouds], they call upon Allah, with sincere devotion to Him alone, but when He has delivered them safely to the shore, some of them become lukewarm. But no one rejects Our signs except the perfidious and the ungrateful.

That is, do you not see that one of the signs of His power, mercy and care for His slaves is that He has made the sea to be of service to them, and the ships sail on it by His command and decree, and by His kindness and favour?

﴾so that He may show you some of His signs﴿ because in His signs there is a great deal of benefit and much to contemplate.

﴾Surely in that there are signs for every steadfastly patient and deeply thankful person﴿ for they are the ones who benefit from thesigns; they are steadfastly patient in bearing hardship and deeply thankful at times of ease. They are steadfastly patient in obeying Allah and refraining from disobedience, and in accepting His decree; and they are deeply thankful to Allah for all blessings, both spiritual and worldly.

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) mentions the situation of people when they travel by sea, when waves loom over them like the canopy (of clouds), and how they call upon Allah, with sincere devotion to Him alone.

﴾but when He has delivered them safely to the shore﴿, people are divided into two groups:

One group becomes lukewarm - that is, they do not give proper thanks to Allah; rather they commit sin and wrong themselves.

Another group is ungrateful for the blessing of Allah and denies that blessing. Hence Allah says: ﴾But no one rejects Our signs except the perfidious﴿ that is, betrayers. Part of their betrayal is that they promised their Lord: If You save us from the sea and its hardship, we will be among the grateful. But they betrayed that promise and did not fulfil it

﴾fand the ungrateful﴿ who do not give thanks for the blessings of Allah. Is it befitting for those whom Allah saved from this hardship to do anything but give proper thanks for the blessings of Allah?

(TT

31:33. O humankind, fear your Lord and dread a day when no father will avail his child and no child will avail his father at all. Verily the promise of Allah is true, so do not let the life of this world deceive you, or let any deceiver deceive you concerning Allah.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) instructs people to fear Him, which means complying with His commands and refraining from what He forbids. He also reminds them to fear the Day of Resurrection, that difficult day when no one will care for anyone except himself, and ﴾no father will avail his child and no child will avail his father at all﴿. No one will be able to increase his good deeds or decrease his bad deeds; everyone’s deeds will have been decided and the requital for those deeds will become due.

Allah draws our attention to this momentous day so as to give the individual strength and make it easier for him to fear Allah and comply with His commands. By His mercy towards His slaves, Allah instructs them to fear Him, which will lead to bliss, and He promises reward for that; and He warns of the punishment, motivating them through exhortation and admonition. To You be all praise, O Lord of the worlds.

t{Verily the promise of Allah is true﴿ so do not doubt it and do not act like one who does not believe. Hence Allah says:

("(so do not let the life of this world deceive you﴿ with its adornments and attractions, and what it contains of temptations and trials.

﴾or let any deceiver deceive you concerning Allah﴿ - this refers to the Shaytan, who keeps trying to deceive man and never slackens in his efforts at any time. Allah has rights over His slaves, and He has set an appointed time for them when He will requite them for their deeds, whether they fulfilled their duty towards Him or fell short.

This is a matter to which one must pay attention, and keep it in mind at all times, basing all his affairs on that.

One of the greatest obstacles and hindrances that he faces is this tempting world, and the Shaytan who whispers to him and tries to mislead him. Allah has forbidden His slaves to be deceived by this world or to be deceived by the deceivers concerning Allah.﴾[Shaytan] makes promises to them and fills them with false hopes; but Shaytan makes promises to them only in order to deceive them.﴿

31:34. Verily Allah alone has knowledge of the Hour; it is He Who sends down rain and He knows what every womb contains. No soul knows what it will do on the morrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Verily Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.

It is established that the knowledge of Allah BO encompasses both the unseen and the seen, the visible and the hidden. Allah BO may inform His slaves about many unseen matters, but these five things are things of which knowledge is withheld from all creatures, and they are not known to any Prophet who was sent or any angel who is close to Allah, let alone other creatures.

﴾Verily Allah alone has knowledge of the Hour﴿ that is. He alone knows when it will begin, as He says elsewhere:

﴾They ask you about the Hour: when will it come to pass? Say: The knowledge thereof is with my Lord [alone]. None but He can disclose when its time will come. It will weigh heavily on the heavens and the earth; it will not come upon you but suddenly...﴿ (al-A ‘rdf 7:187)

(fit is He Who sends down rain﴿ that is, He is the only One Who sends it down, and knows the time when it will come down.

(fand He knows what every womb contains﴿ for He is the One Who created what is in the womb; He knows what it is, and whether it ismale or female. Hence the angel who is appointed over the womb asks his Lord: Is it male or female? And Allah decrees whatever He wills.

﴾No soul knows what it will do on the morrow﴿ in either spiritual or worldly terms.

﴾and no soul knows in what land it will die﴿; rather it is Allah alone Who has knowledge of all these things.

Having singled out these things for mention, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) then highlights the fact that He knows all things, as He says: ﴾Verily Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware﴿ and His knowledge encompasses all things, visible and hidden, subtle matters and what is in people’s hearts. By His perfect wisdom. He has withheld knowledge of these five things from His slaves, because that serves some interests, as is clear to anyone who reflects and ponders the matter.

This is the end of the commentary on Soorat Luqman.

All praise and thanks are for Allah, and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). his family, and his Companions abundantly until the Day of Judgement.