Tafsir of Luqman 31:19

Surah Luqman (31): Verse 19

{وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ} (And be moderate in your pace/gait)

When Allah mentioned: {وَلَا تَمْشِ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا} (And do not walk upon the earth exultantly), the opposite of this [excessive pride/exultation] could be the extreme deviation, which is walking with excessive languor or feigned weakness out of asceticism. Therefore, He said: {وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ} (And be moderate in your pace), meaning be balanced between the two blameworthy extremes.

In this verse, there are several issues:

We say yes, there is a connection, whether we know it or not. The speech of Allah contains benefits that cannot be counted or enumerated, and no one can fully grasp them. What appears evident are a few points:

1. Since man is noble, his pursuits are noble, and missing them is a serious matter. Allah enabled man to achieve his goals by walking. If he cannot reach his desired object, he calls out to it, causing it to stop or come to him by walking. If he cannot make his speech heard, he resorts to other means. Some animals share man's method of achieving a goal through sound, such as sheep calling their lambs, cows calling their calves, and she-camels calling their young with bleating, mooing, or lowing. However, they do not go beyond that. Man distinguishes between different individuals. Since both walking and sound lead to one objective, when He guided him to one, He guided him to the other.
2. Man possesses three things: action with the limbs (which he shares with animals, being movement and stillness), speech with the tongue (which is unique to him), and resolve with the heart (which is known only to Allah, as indicated by His saying: {إِنَّهَا إِن تَكُ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِّنْ خَرْدَلٍ} [Indeed, if it is the weight of a mustard seed]). This latter part commands the rectification of the inner self, as Allah is All-Aware. As for the remaining two aspects, He said: {وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ وَاغْضُضْ مِن صَوْتِكَ} (And be moderate in your pace and lower your voice), indicating moderation in actions and speech.
3. Luqman intended to guide his son toward rectitude in human attributes, those attributes belonging to the Angelic rank (which is higher than man), and those attributes belonging to the animal rank (which is lower than man).
   • His saying: {وَأْمُرْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَانْهَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ} (And enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong) points to the noble qualities specific to humans, as a king does not command or forbid another king.
   • His saying: {وَلَا تُصَعِّرْ خَدَّكَ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَمْشِ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا} (And do not turn your cheek disdainfully toward people and do not walk upon the earth exultantly), which indicates the avoidance of arrogance and strutting, points to the noble qualities characteristic of Angels, as the absence of arrogance and strutting is their attribute.
   • His saying: {وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ وَاغْضُضْ مِن صَوْتِكَ} (And be moderate in your pace and lower your voice), points to the noble qualities that are also characteristic of animals (in the sense of necessary communication/action).

Then Allah Almighty said: {إِنَّ أَنكَرَ الْأَصْوَاتِ لَصَوْتُ الْحَمِيرِ} (Indeed, the most disagreeable of sounds is the sound of the donkeys). Regarding this, there are issues:

We answer based on our first view—that walking and sound both lead to a desired person: if you reach him by walking, fine; otherwise, you stop him by calling. Raising the voice harms the listener and strikes the eardrum forcefully, perhaps even rupturing the membrane inside the ear. As for speed in walking, it does not harm, or if it does, it only harms those in one's path, whereas sound reaches those on the right and left. Furthermore, walking harms the mechanism of walking, while sound harms the mechanism of hearing, and the mechanism of hearing is at the door of the heart, as speech is transferred from hearing to the heart, but walking is not.

Based on our second view—that the pace and voice are signs for actions and speech—the ugliness of an ugly statement is worse than the ugliness of an ugly action, and the beauty of a good statement is better, because the tongue is the interpreter of the heart, and evidence confirms this claim.

The answer is twofold:

1. The intended meaning is that among the sounds of animals, the sound of donkeys is the most disagreeable. What you mentioned (filing/cutting) is often for the purpose of utility and construction, so it is not considered disagreeable in that context, unlike the sound of donkeys.
2. This leads to the second answer (which aligns with the first point): [The context is limited to animal sounds].

It is possible that it comes from the pattern of aṭwa‘ (more obedient) than one's finger, meaning the most obedient. The form Af'al does not typically occur in the passive (maf'ūl), the active participle (fā'il), or in the category of defects, except in rare cases, such as saying aṭwa‘ (more obedient) than someone else (to denote preference over the obedient), or ashghal (more preoccupied) than someone else (to denote preference over the preoccupied), or aḥmaq (more foolish) than so-and-so (from the category of defects).

Under this interpretation, it is like ashghal in the pattern of maf'ūl, meaning it is superlative over the disagreeable (munkar).

Alternatively, it could be derived from ashghal, taken from nakara al-shay’u fa-huwa munkir (something became disagreeable, so it is munkir), and this is ankaru (more disagreeable) than that. This has a subtle meaning: every animal might make a sound indicating distress from heavy load or fatigue, like a camel or others. However, the donkey does not cry out if it dies under a load, nor if it is killed. Yet, at times when there is no need, it brays and makes its sound—thus, its sound is munkar (disagreeable/rejected).

It can also be said that it is from the pattern nakīr (like ajdar from jadīr).

Surah Luqman (31): Verse 20

{أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ سَخَّرَ لَكُم مَّا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ ظَاهِرَةً وَبَاطِنَةً وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يُجَادِلُ فِي اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَلَا هُدًى وَلَا كِتَابٍ مُّنِيرٍ} (Have you not seen that Allah has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth and has showered upon you His favors, [both] apparent and hidden? And of the people are those who dispute concerning Allah without knowledge or guidance or any enlightening Scripture.)