Luqman is the thirty-first surah — 34 verses revealed in Mecca.1 It is named for a wise man whom God "had certainly given... wisdom," and at its heart is his advice to his son — one of the most concentrated passages of practical guidance in the Quran.
What it is about
The surah contrasts two kinds of speech. On one side is the one who "buys the amusement of speech to mislead [others] from the way of Allah without knowledge," and turns away from God's verses "as if there was in his ears deafness."2 On the other is Luqman, speaking to his son out of love and wisdom. Around them the surah sets the evidence of creation — the heavens raised without visible pillars, rain, and every kind of creature — and ends with the limits of human knowledge.
Key themes
Luqman's counsel. He begins where everything begins: "O my son, do not associate [anything] with Allah. Indeed, association [with Him] is great injustice."3 Then God's knowledge: "if it [i.e., a wrong] should be the weight of a mustard seed and should be within a rock or [anywhere] in the heavens or in the earth, Allah will bring it forth." Then action: "establish prayer, enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and be patient over what befalls you." And then manners: "do not turn your cheek [in contempt] toward people and do not walk through the earth exultantly... And be moderate in your pace and lower your voice."5
Parents, and the mother above all. In the middle of Luqman's advice, God speaks directly: "We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents. His mother carried him, [increasing her] in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents." If parents urge their child to associate partners with God, "do not obey them but accompany them in [this] world with appropriate kindness."4
Words without end. "If whatever trees upon the earth were pens and the sea [was ink], replenished thereafter by seven [more] seas, the words of Allah would not be exhausted."6
What only God knows. The surah closes: "Indeed, Allah [alone] has knowledge of the Hour and sends down the rain and knows what is in the wombs. And no soul perceives what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul perceives in what land it will die."7 The Prophet ﷺ called these "the keys of Unseen," five things "which none knows but Allah."8
Why it matters
Luqman's advice to his son has been a model of Muslim parenting and moral education for centuries: it teaches belief, accountability, worship, patience and courtesy in a few verses, in the voice of a loving father. Its verses on the mother's burden are among the Quran's strongest statements of what children owe their parents, and its closing verse marks the boundary between what human beings can know and what belongs to God alone. To read Luqman in Arabic with translations and recitation, open it on Quran.com.