Surah Luqman: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

Alif. Lam. Mim. Allah is sending down His verses, which contain absolute truths and divine rulings (laws), in words formed from the letters of the language in which you speak, understand one another, and write.

This wise Quran, made up of these verses, is a source of guidance and mercy for those who wish to know the reason for their creation and live the life that accords with it.

These people, living conscious that Allah sees them at every moment, perform their prayers, spend to win Allah’s good pleasure, and believe wholeheartedly in the Hereafter.

These are the ones on the path along which their Lord guides them through the Quran, and these are the ones who in the end will be brought to their reward and attain happiness.

Among people there are also those who, to lead others astray from the right path too, amuse them with what is empty, meaningless, and worthless in speech and so use up their time, make the verses of the Quran a subject of mockery, and cloud minds by severing the verses from their true purpose. Such people will in the end be condemned to a humiliating, severe punishment. When Our verses are recited and conveyed to them, they pretend not to hear, as if there were a blockage, a heaviness, in their ears that kept them from hearing, and insolently turn their heads away. Give them tidings of a painful punishment.

But give those who believe in the system of life to which they are invited in Allah’s name, and who spend every effort to live it and keep it alive, the good news of Paradise, the home of happiness. In keeping with Allah’s promise they will remain there forever. Allah’s promise will surely be fulfilled, for He is the Possessor of supreme power, and is just.

Allah has created the heavens you live beneath without pillars or supports, set mountains on the earth so that it would not shake you, made it fit for every kind of living creature to breed and multiply, and sent down rain from the sky and with it given life to every kind of living thing.

When Allah has created all this by His knowledge and power, established its order, and placed it at your service, who could be more ungrateful and insolent than those who abandon Allah and take as lords and gods those who can create nothing and are themselves created?

We granted Luqman keen understanding, the ability to make sound decisions, and knowledge. And We made known to him that he should always give thanks to his Lord for the blessings We granted him. Whoever does not give thanks for the blessings his Lord has bestowed but is ungrateful, let him know well that Allah is in need of no one. Allah alone is worthy of thanks and praise.

Luqman counseled his son thus: “My dear son, never associate partners with Allah and take other gods alongside Him, for that is shirk, and shirk is a great wrong.”

We commanded the human being to treat his mother and father well; his mother carried him in her womb, enduring many hardships and difficulties. And the weaning of the child takes two years. So, O people! Always show your gratitude and give thanks to Me and to your mother and father, and do not forget that in the end you will all be gathered in Our presence to give account for these things.

While treating your mother and father well, if they press you to associate partners with Allah, do not obey them. In that case, meet their needs kindly, treat them with respect, and be with those who turn to Allah. In the end every person will be returned to Allah to receive the recompense for what he did.

Continuing his counsel to his son, Luqman also said: “My dear son, even if what you do is as small as a mustard seed, as light as its weight, and even if it is hidden away inside a rock, or at the top of the heavens, or at the bottom of the earth, Allah will bring it out before you on the Day of Reckoning. Without doubt Allah’s power is sufficient for everything and His knowledge encompasses everything. He knows everything and is aware of everything done openly or in secret.

My dear son, perform your prayer consciously and constantly, invite people to what is good and right, be patient in the hardships you will meet in doing these things, and strive to stand in the way of shirk and disbelief. These are honorable and noble tasks that require resolve and determination.

My dear son, do not behave arrogantly toward people or strut about the earth! Allah does not love those who swagger, boast, and give themselves airs; be modest in your gait, let your conduct be measured and balanced, and do not raise your voice when you speak! The ugliest of voices is the voice of the donkey braying at the top of its lungs.”

O people! Do you never see and reflect that Allah has created all that is in the heavens and on the earth for your benefit, endowed you with blessings hidden and manifest, and keeps you swimming in blessings? With these truths in plain view, some people still dispute about Allah without relying on any knowledge, proof, or the guidance of a divine book.

When they are told, “Come, follow Allah’s call and so take Allah alone as God,” they say: “No, we follow the system and morality left to us by our forefathers, and we will not give it up.” What if their forefathers followed Satan’s call, strayed far from what is right, and deserved the blazing fire of Hell; will they still follow them?

Whoever, knowing that Allah sees him, lives in wholehearted submission to Him, let him know that he has grasped a firm handhold that can never break. Do not forget that all deeds return to Allah to be recompensed.

Do not let it grieve you that those ungrateful people who take others than Allah as gods and cover up the truths stubbornly persist in this attitude. In the end they will be returned to Us, and then We will give them the punishment they deserve in return for this ungrateful persistence. Allah knows both what people do and what they hide in their hearts. We let those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth enjoy the blessings of this world for a while, and then punish them with a most severe punishment.

If you ask them, “Who created the heavens and the earth?” they will say without hesitation, “Allah.” Say: “Then give thanks to Allah, who has established perfect orders for what He has created, and turn to His call; but sadly you do not wish to grasp Allah’s greatness!”

Without doubt the true Owner of all that is in the heavens and on the earth is Allah, and He is in need of nothing. He alone is worthy of thanks and praise.

If all the trees on earth were pens and the seas ink, with seven more seas added to them, they would still not suffice to write down Allah’s words, for Allah’s knowledge and power are infinite.

Creating all of you and raising you again after your death is as easy for Allah as creating and raising a single person. Allah knows the essence and origin of everything; He has power over everything. He encompasses everything with His knowledge and is aware of everything.

Seeing that Allah shortens the night and adds it to the day, and shortens the day and adds it to the night, and that He makes the sun and the moon revolve and run their courses in their own orbits for an appointed time, establishes their order, and places them at your service, will you still not use your reason and turn to Allah? Without doubt Allah watches over what you do.

The knowledge and power of Allah, who created everything you see in the universe for your benefit, are boundless; there is no true Lord and God but Him.

Seeing how Allah makes ships sail on the seas by the laws He has set there, do you never reflect patiently, using your reason, on the greatness of His knowledge? There are lessons to be drawn from these for those who wish to see the perfection of the order Allah has established.

When, in keeping with Allah’s laws, waves like mountains engulf the ship at sea, those on board who associate partners with Allah at once abandon those they took as gods alongside Allah and, purified of their shirk, begin to plead and implore Allah with all sincerity to save them. But when Allah brings them safely to land, very few of them so much as waver over whether to turn to Allah’s call, while the great majority carry on living as people who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth. Those who knowingly deny Allah’s verses and will not accept them are most ungrateful, most ignorant, and insolent.

O people! Do not forget that you have responsibilities toward your Lord. You will be questioned about your stance toward His call. Fear the punishment of the Day of Reckoning, when no mother or father can be of any use to their child, nor any child to its parents; heed the warnings, and do not forget that Allah’s promise will surely be fulfilled and that you will all be raised again and gathered in Allah’s presence. Let not the passing pleasures of worldly life make you forget these truths and deceive you. And let not Satan, using Allah’s name, trap and mislead you with his invention that “Whatever you do, Allah is forgiving.”

Allah alone knows when the Resurrection will come; it is He who sends down the rain. It is He who creates, keeps alive, and causes to die what is in the womb.

No one can know what he will earn tomorrow, what he will meet, or where he will die. But Allah knows everything, what no one knows or can know, all that is open or hidden, and is aware of everything.