Surah al-Ahqāf

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

[Surah al-Ahqāf (46): verse 15]

“We have enjoined upon man kindness to his parents. His mother carried him in hardship and gave birth to him in hardship, and his gestation and weaning take thirty months. Then, when he reaches full strength and reaches forty years, he says, ‘My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to do righteous deeds that please You. Make my offspring righteous for me. Indeed, I have repented to You, and I am among those who submit to You.’” (15)

Al-Zajjāj said: “It extends from about seventeen years of age to about forty.” Ibn ‘Abbās, in the report transmitted by ‘Atā’, said: “The age of full strength is thirty-three.” Thirty was also reported from him. Al-Dahhāk said: “Twenty years,” while Muqātil said: “Eighteen.”

Al-Azharī explained the term precisely, saying: “Attaining full strength extends from the time a person reaches manhood until the age of forty.” He said: “Thus, attaining full strength is a stage between puberty and forty.”

The term derives from shiddah, meaning strength and endurance. Shadīd describes a strong man; thus ashudd conveys being strong.

Al-Farrā’ said: “By morphological analogy, its singular would be shadd, but I have not heard a singular form used for it.”

Abū al-Haytham said: “Its singular is shiddah, just as ni‘mah is the singular of an‘um.”

Some linguists said: “Its singular is shudd—with a u vowel on the shīn.”

Others held that it is a singular noun, not a plural. Ibn al-Anbārī reported this view.