Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (2/342)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

The view held by the great majority is that Luqmān was a sage and a righteous friend of Allah, not a prophet. Allah the Exalted mentioned him in the Qur’an, praised him, and quoted from the counsel he gave
[his son—the most beloved person to him and the one for whom he felt the deepest compassion. The very first piece of advice he offered was]

(1)
“Do not associate anything with Allah; associating partners with Him is indeed a tremendous wrong.”
Thus he forbade him from polytheism and warned him sternly against it.

Al-Bukhārī said (2): Qutaybah narrated to us, Jareer narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Ibrāhīm, from ʿAlqamah, from ʿAbdullāh (Ibn Masʿūd) who said:

When the verse, “Those who believe and do not mix their faith with wrongdoing” (al-Anʿām 6:82) was revealed, this weighed heavily on the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They said, “Which of us has not mixed his faith with wrongdoing?”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, “It is not as you suppose. Have you not heard Luqmān’s saying, ‘My dear son, do not associate anything with Allah; associating partners with Him is a great wrongdoing’?”

Muslim likewise related it through the same narrator, Sulaymān ibn Mihrān al-Aʿmash.

Thereafter, Allah—magnified be He—inserted the injunction regarding parents, clarified their right over the child, emphasized that right, and commanded kindness toward them even if they are idolaters, though they must not be obeyed in their religion. Then He continued, recounting Luqmān’s advice to his son:

“My dear son, even if something were the weight of a mustard seed and were hidden in a rock, or in the heavens, or in the earth, Allah would bring it forth. Truly, Allah is Most Subtle, All-Aware” (31:16).

In this he forbade him to wrong people—though it be no more than a mustard seed—for Allah will question about it, produce it at the place of reckoning, and weigh it in the Balance, as He says: “Indeed, Allah does not wrong anyone even by the weight of an atom” (al-Nisāʾ 4:40); and He says: “We shall set up the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, so no soul will be wronged in the least; and even if it be the weight of a mustard seed, We shall bring it forth—and sufficient are We as Reckoners” (al-Anbiyāʾ 21:47).

He informed him that such wrongdoing—small as a mustard seed and even if lodged inside a solid, sealed rock, or lost in the depths of the earth or in the vast reaches of the heavens—is fully known to Allah, for “Allah is Most Subtle, All-Aware.” That is, His knowledge is so fine and precise that not even the smallest particle, whether visible or concealed, escapes Him, as He says: “No leaf falls without His knowledge, nor a grain in the darkness of the earth, neither anything fresh nor dry, but it is in a clear Record” (al-Anʿām 6:59); and He says: “Nothing hidden in the heaven or the earth exists without being in a clear Record” (al-Naml 27:75); and He says: “He is the Knower of the unseen; not even the weight of an atom in the heavens or the earth escapes Him, nor anything smaller than that nor greater, but it is in a clear Record” (Sabaʾ 34:3).

(1) In the B recension, it was omitted due to a slip of the eye. (2) Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 4776, in the Exegesis (Surah Luqman). It is also transmitted by a route other than that of Qutayba from Jarir, as no. 32 in The Book of Faith, chapter “Short of injustice is injustice,” and as nos. 3428–3429 in The Book of Prophets, chapter “Allah’s words: ‘And We bestowed upon Luqman wisdom,’” and no. 4629 in the Exegesis, chapter “‘and they did not intermix their faith with injustice.’” (3) In the B recension it reads “yazlimu” with “huwa,” an inadvertent slip. (4) Sahih Muslim, no. 124, in the Book of Faith, chapter “The truthfulness and sincerity of faith.”

والمشهور عن الجمهور أنه كان حكيماً ولياً ولم يكن نبياً. وقد ذكره الله تعالى في القرآن فأثنى عليه وحكى من كلامه فيما وَعَظَ به [ولده الذي هو أحبُّ الخلق إليه، وهو أشفق الناس عليه، فكان من أول ما وَعَظَ به] (١) أن قال: ﴿لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ﴾. فنهاه عنه وحذّره منه. وقد قال البخاري (٢) : حدّثنا قُتيبة، حدّثنا جرير، عن الأعمش، عن إبراهيم، عن علقمة، عن عبد الله قال: لما نزلت: ﴿الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَلَمْ يَلْبِسُوا إِيمَانَهُمْ بِظُلْمٍ﴾ [الأنعام: ٨٢] شقَّ ذلك على أصحاب رسول الله ﷺ وقالوا: أيَّنا لم يلبس (٣) إيمانه بظلم؟ فقال رسول الله ﷺ : " إنه ليس بذاك، ألم تسمع إلى قول لقمان: ﴿يابُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ﴾. ورواه مسلم من حديث سُليمان بن مِهران الأعمش (٤) به. ثم اعترض تعالى بالوصية بالوالدين وبيان حقهما على الولد وتأكُّده، وأمر بالإحسان إليهما حتى ولو كانا مشرِكَيْن، ولكن لا يطاعان على الدخول في دينهما، إلى أن قال مُخبراً عن لقمان فيما وعظ به ولده: ﴿يَابُنَيَّ إِنَّهَا إِنْ تَكُ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ فَتَكُنْ فِي صَخْرَةٍ أَوْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ أَوْ فِي الْأَرْضِ يَأْتِ بِهَا اللَّهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَطِيفٌ خَبِيرٌ﴾ ينهاه عن ظلم الناس ولو بحبَّةِ خردلٍ، فإن الله يسأل عنها ويحضرها حوزة الحساب ويضعها في الميزان كما قال تعالى: ﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَظْلِمُ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ﴾ [النساء: ٤٠] وقال تعالى: ﴿وَنَضَعُ الْمَوَازِينَ الْقِسْطَ لِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ فَلَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ شَيْئًا وَإِنْ كَانَ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ أَتَيْنَا بِهَا وَكَفَى بِنَا حَاسِبِينَ﴾ [الأنبياء: ٤٧] وأخبره أن هذا الظلم ولو كان في الحَقارة كالخردلة، ولو كان في جوف صخرةٍ صَمَّاء لا بابَ لها ولا كُوَّة، أو لو كانت ساقطةً في شيءٍ من ظلمات الأرض أو السموات في اتساعهما وامتداد أرجائهما، لعلم اللهُ مكانها ﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَطِيفُ خَبِيُرٌ﴾ أي: عِلْمُه دقيقٌ فلا يخفى عليه الذَّرُّ مما تراءى للنواظر أو توارى، كما قال تعالى: ﴿وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِنْ وَرَقَةٍ إِلَّا يَعْلَمُهَا وَلَا حَبَّةٍ فِي ظُلُمَاتِ الْأَرْضِ وَلَا رَطْبٍ وَلَا يَابِسٍ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مُبِينٍ﴾ [الأنعام: ٥٩] وقال: ﴿وَمَا مِنْ غَائِبَةٍ فِي السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مُبِينٍ﴾ [النمل: ٧٥] وقال ﴿عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ لَا يَعْزُبُ عَنْهُ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَلَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا أَصْغَرُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ وَلَا أَكْبَرُ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مُبِينٍ﴾ [سبأ: ٣] .

(١) سقطت من ب بنقلة عين. (٢) صحيح البخاري رقم (٤٧٧٦)، في التفسير، (سورة لقمان). كذلك أورده من غير طريق قتيبة عن جرير، برقم (٣٢) في الإيمان، باب ظلم دون ظلم، ورقم (٣٤٢٨ و ٣٤٢٩) في الأنبياء، باب قوله تعالى: ﴿وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا لُقْمَانَ الْحِكْمَةَ﴾، ورقم (٤٦٢٩) في التفسير، باب ﴿وَلَمْ يَلْبِسُوا إِيمَانَهُمْ بِظُلْمٍ﴾. (٣) في ب: يظلم وهو سهو. (٤) صحيح مسلم رقم (١٢٤) في الإيمان، باب صدق الإيمان وإخلاصه.