وَوَصَّيْنَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُۥ وَهْنًا عَلَىٰ وَهْنٍ وَفِصَٰلُهُۥ فِى عَامَيْنِ أَنِ ٱشْكُرْ لِى وَلِوَٰلِدَيْكَ · وَإِن جَٰهَدَاكَ عَلَىٰٓ أَن تُشْرِكَ بِى مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِۦ عِلْمٌ فَلَا تُطِعْهُمَا وَصَاحِبْهُمَا فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا مَعْرُوفًا
"We enjoined upon man care for his parents: his mother bore him in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is within two years. 'Be grateful to Me and to your parents.' And if they press you to associate with Me something of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them; but keep company with them in this world in what is right."
These two verses come into the middle of Luqmān's speech. The thirteenth verse was Luqmān's counsel; the sixteenth verse will continue again with yā bunayya. Between them stand these two verses, and the speaker is not Luqmān.
I record this as an observation about the word order: the list of counsels is cut off exactly at the subject of parents, and a general ruling comes in between. That is, into the middle of a conversation between father and son, the ruling on the right of parents has been set.
The same injunction occurred in almost the same words at 46/15 in al-Aḥqāf, and it was treated there in detail. The two verses can be set side by side:
| al-Aḥqāf 46/15 | Luqmān 31/14 | |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | Waṣṣayna'l-insāna bi-wālidayhi iḥsānā | Waṣṣayna'l-insāna bi-wālidayh |
| Bearing | Ḥamalathu ummuhu kurhan wa waḍaʿathu kurhā | Ḥamalathu ummuhu wahnan ʿalā wahn |
| Duration | Wa ḥamluhu wa fiṣāluhu thalāthūna shahrā | Wa fiṣāluhu fī ʿāmayn |
Al-Aḥqāf speaks of hardship (kurh), Luqmān of weakness (wahn). The root و-ه-ن: the loosening of strength, the lessening of capacity. The root was treated at 47/35 in Muḥammad and in al-Ḥāqqa.
And the construct must be recorded: wahnan ʿalā wahn — "weakness upon weakness". The same word twice, with ʿalā (upon) between them. That is, not a single weakness but an exhaustion laid one layer over another.
The difference in duration is a datum of the text as well: al-Aḥqāf says thirty months (bearing + weaning), Luqmān says two years (weaning alone). In al-Aḥqāf the legal inference drawn from these two figures was transmitted, and the note was entered that "the verse does not make this calculation itself". I keep the same note here.
| Command | Domain |
|---|---|
| Fa-lā tuṭiʿhumā | Do not obey — in the matter of associating |
| Wa ṣāḥibhumā fi'd-dunyā maʿrūfā | Keep good company — in all the rest of life |
I record this as my own reading, and its support is that both commands stand in the same verse: the verse does not extend a disagreement over one matter to the whole of the relationship. Obedience is refused, companionship (muṣāḥaba) is maintained.
And the subject of the pressure must be recorded: mā laysa laka bihi ʿilm — "that of which you have no knowledge". The measure is once again tied to knowledge.