About Luqman the Wise

The thirty first chapter of the Quran is named after Luqman, a wise man who guides his son with some important pieces of advice. Besides the dialogue quoted in the scripture, there are numerous traditions and historical accounts surrounding his life and times and proverbs. Some reports are more legendary attributions, and scholarly work has attempted to identify him with various historic figures.

Before getting to some juicy details, let's outline the sublime content found in the Quran. He is only mentioned in the chapter named after him, not anywhere else explicitly or implicitly, which makes our task a bit simpler. The chapter has a total of thirty four verses, although only the passage between verse twelve and nineteen is about him.

In that passage, Luqman is described as one that was given wisdom and was told by God to be grateful and not thankless. He counseled his son with around thirteen points, to not attribute any partner with God in worship, which means to uphold pure monotheism, to be good to your parents that brought you up and your mother who went through difficulties and weaned you for two years, being thankful to both God and parents. But in the case that they call upon you to associate others with God then do not obey them in that.

He says to follow the path of those that turn to God, and that God has such knowledge that He can bring forth something the weight of a mustard seed from any place. To keep up the prayer, command what is right, forbid what is wrong, and bear steadfastly with what you are faced. Then, to not turn your face away from people or walk arrogantly. Finally, he advises to have a moderate pace and to lower one's voice, since the ugliest of voices is the braying of donkeys.

These points each represent very deep truths, addressing the human condition in its entirety. I really like how the scripture brings its worldview to our attention in different ways, sometimes by parables and metaphors, and by historic accounts as well as prophecies of the future. The characters of the Quran include God, angels, demons, humans, jinn, celestial bodies, and that which we do not know about. Among the humans are prophets and sages, just kings and tyrants, ordinary men and women, children and elderly, those that follow God and succeed and those that follow satan to their peril.

As for the details about Luqman, classical sources describe him as a black man, either Nubian, Ethiopian or Egyptian. By occupation, considered a carpenter, shepherd, tailor, advisor or physician. In terms of appearance, he is said to have been short, thick lipped, flat nosed, flat footed and crack footed, with deformed legs.

Many fables and proverbs are attributed to him. Tha'labi's Arais al Majalis fi Qisas al Anbiya, referenced below is a book compiling his details and proverbs.

It is debated whether he was a prophet or not. Most seem to consider him a pious and wise sage, but not a prophet. Those that considered him a prophet include Ikrima, and some interpret verse twelve of the chapter as saying that he was literally given a book of maxims called al Hikmah:

"And verily We gave Luqman wisdom, saying: Give thanks unto Allah; and whosoever giveth thanks, he giveth thanks for (the good of) his soul. And whosoever refuseth - Lo! God is Absolute, Owner of Praise." (Quran 31:12)

وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَا لُقْمَـٰنَ ٱلْحِكْمَةَ أَنِ ٱشْكُرْ لِلَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِۦ ۖ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَنِىٌّ حَمِيدٌۭ

As for his identity, there are reports that he was a vizier or judge during the time of David, or that he was a relative of Job. Some say he was Bildad the Shuhite from the book of Job, or Aesop the Greek storyteller. Some compare Balaam of the Bible to Luqman of the Quran, but they are clearly distinguished by various exegetes. He is supposed by some to have lived until the time of Jonah.

Some say he was Luqman ibn Ad, known as Mu'ammar (long lived one), known for his wisdom and long life and associated with the tribe of Ad from Arabia. Others say he was Luqman ibn Anqa ibn Sadun or Luqman ibn Tharan from Jerusalem.

He is compared to Ahikar, Alcmaeon of Croton, Prometheus and Lucian by others. As you see, no one is really sure who exactly he was.

There are legends related to his long life, hundreds or thousands of years. There are reports that the name of Luqman's son was Natan (ناتان).

In Bihar al Anwar by Allama Majlisi, volume thirteen has a section on the story of Luqman and his wisdom. Now, we come to presenting some of his wise aphorisms as recorded in various books of reports, to intrigue further study:

1. Luqman said to his son "My son, if you think speaking is silver, note it down that silence is gold." (al Kafi, Hadith 376)

2. Luqman said to his son "O my son, the world is a deep ocean in which many people have drowned. Make your ship in it faith in God, make its sail reliance upon God, and make your provision in it piety toward God, the Mighty and Glorious. If you are saved, it is by the mercy of God, and if you perish, it is due to your sins." (Man La Yahduruh al Faqih, Hadith 890)

3. Luqman bin Aad lived the longest and he lived for 3500 years. It is said that he lived with seven eagles in such a manner that he used to catch an eagle chick and rear it under his care on the mountain till it became old and died. Then he took up another chick and trained it till the seventh eagle, which was named as Labad and it had a longer lifespan than others. (Kitab al Ghayba, Hadith 238)

4. Among the admonitions given by Luqman to his son, he said "O son, in your days, night and hours, keep some portion for acquiring knowledge. Surely, you will not find any thing more wasteful than its disregard." (al Amali, Hadith 321)

5. "O my son, when it is time for prayer, do not delay it for anything. Perform it and find rest through it, for it is a debt you owe. Pray in congregation, even if it is on the point of a spear." (Man La Yahduruh al Faqih, Hadith 938)

6. Luqman said to his son, "Do not become very close (to people), lest you become the farthest from them (frequent involvement may cause friction and disturbance) and do not keep very far in total isolation and oblivion." (al Kafi, Hadith 2165)

7. "My son, beware of lying, for it will destroy your faith and diminish your honor among people, and with it your shame, your brilliance, and your dignity will abandon you and you will become despised. You will not be listened to when you speak or be believed when you say something, and life is not good when it is like that." (Tha'labi's Arais al Majalis fi Qisas al Anbiya)

About the Author

Isa AR is a curious reader on all topics related to religion, philosophy and finance. He is a business student at the bachelor’s level and loves to research these topics further.