Tafsir of Luqman 31:18

"And do not turn your cheek [in contempt]..."

• "Tuṣā‘ir" and "Tuṣa‘‘ir": Both the emphatic (tashdīd) and non-emphatic (takhfīf) forms are used. It is said: aṣ‘ara khaddahu, ṣa‘‘arahu, and ṣā‘arahu—all carrying the same meaning, similar to saying a‘lāhu, ‘alāhu, and ‘ālāhu. Al-ṣa‘ar and al-ṣayd are diseases that afflict a camel, causing it to twist its neck. The meaning is: Turn toward people with your face in humility, and do not offer them the side of your face (in arrogance), as the haughty do.

• "And do not walk upon the earth exultantly": He intended: "Do not walk with maraḥ (arrogance)," or the verbal noun is placed in the position of a state (ḥāl), meaning "exultant." It is also permissible that he meant: "Do not walk for the sake of arrogance and insolence," meaning your purpose in walking should not be vanity and insolence—as many people walk for that reason, rather than to fulfill a religious or worldly necessity. Similar to this is the Almighty’s saying: "And do not be like those who left their homes, insolently and to be seen by people" (Al-Anfāl: 47).

• "The mukhtāl (arrogant)": This is the opposite of one who walks with maraḥ. Likewise, the fakhūr (boastful) is the opposite of one who turns his cheek in pride.

• "And be moderate in your pace": Be balanced in it, so that it is a walk between two walks: do not creep like the lethargic, nor leap like the reckless. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Speed in walking takes away the splendor of the believer." As for the statement of ‘Ā’ishah regarding ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), "When he walked, he would hasten," she only meant a speed that is elevated above the creeping of the lethargic.

• "And be moderate" (aqṣid): It is also read with a qaṭ‘ hamza (aqṣid), meaning: "Aim straight in your walk," derived from the archer who "aims" (aqṣada) his arrow toward the target.

• "And lower your voice": Decrease it and shorten it. It is from your saying: "So-and-so lowers (yaghuḍḍu) from so-and-so," meaning he belittles him and puts him down.

• "The most disagreeable of sounds": The most repulsive of them. It is from your saying: "A thing is nukr," when souls find it disagreeable, are repulsed by it, and shy away from it. The donkey is a proverb for severe condemnation and insult, and likewise its braying. Among the signs of their extreme aversion to mentioning it plainly and their avoidance of its name is that they use euphemisms for it, saying: "The long-eared one," just as they use euphemisms for filthy things. It was even counted among poor manners to mention the donkey in a gathering of people of chivalry. Some Arabs would not ride a donkey out of disdain, even if they were exhausted from walking. Thus, comparing those who raise their voices to donkeys, and likening their voices to braying—then stripping the speech of the explicit metaphor and casting it in the form of a direct identification (i.e., "they are donkeys," "their voice is braying")—is an intense exaggeration in condemnation and degradation, and an extreme discouragement from raising one's voice, indicating that it is a place of Allah’s displeasure.

• If you ask: Why is the "voice of donkeys" singular and not plural?
• I say: The intent is not to mention the voice of every individual of this species so that it would need to be pluralized. Rather, the intent is that every species of speaking animal has a voice, and the most disagreeable of the voices of these species is the voice of this species; therefore, it was necessary to keep it singular.

"Do you not see that Allah has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth and has bestowed upon you His blessings, [both] apparent and unapparent? And among the people is he who disputes about Allah without knowledge or guidance or an enlightening Book."