في القرآن وصايا كثيرة من الله للناس. وفيه أيضًا وصايا رجل واحد لابنه — رجل لم يكن نبيًّا ولا ملكًا ولا غنيًّا ذُكر غناه. فماذا قال لابنه حتى يبقى كلامه محفوظًا في كتاب الله آلاف السنين؟
لقمان رجل صالح آتاه الله الحكمة. والحكمة ليست أن تعرف كثيرًا، بل أن تعرف ما ينفع، ومتى تقوله، وكيف. ﴿وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا لُقْمَانَ الْحِكْمَةَ أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِلَّهِ﴾ — وانتبه إلى أول ما قيل له مع الحكمة: أن يشكر. وجمهور العلماء على أنه لم يكن نبيًّا؛ أي أنه رجل مثلنا، تعلّم فحكُم، وليس معه وحي يُنزَّل عليه.
جلس لقمان مع ابنه ﴿وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُ﴾ — والوعظ كلام محبّ لا كلام غاضب — فقال: ﴿يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ﴾. بدأ بأهمّ شيء قبل كل شيء. ثم أوصاه بوالديه، ثم قال: ﴿يَا بُنَيَّ أَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ وَأْمُرْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَانْهَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَاصْبِرْ عَلَىٰ مَا أَصَابَكَ﴾. ثم انتقل إلى ما قد تحسبه صغيرًا: ﴿وَلَا تُصَعِّرْ خَدَّكَ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَمْشِ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا﴾ — لا تُدِر وجهك عن الناس تكبّرًا، ولا تمشِ مختالًا. ثم: ﴿وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ وَاغْضُضْ مِن صَوْتِكَ﴾. فجمع له الدين كلّه: عقيدةً، وعبادةً، وخُلقًا، حتى في مشيه وصوته.
وبين هذه الوصايا جملة تكفي وحدها عمرًا كاملًا. قال له: ﴿يَا بُنَيَّ إِنَّهَا إِن تَكُ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِّنْ خَرْدَلٍ فَتَكُن فِي صَخْرَةٍ أَوْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ أَوْ فِي الْأَرْضِ يَأْتِ بِهَا اللَّهُ﴾. وحبّة الخردل حبّة صغيرة جدًّا. يقول لابنه: لو كان عملك في صغر هذه الحبّة، ومخبّأً داخل صخرة، أو في أبعد موضع في السماء، يعلمه الله ويأتي به. فلا صغير يضيع؛ لا في الخير ولا في الشرّ.
وانتهت الوصايا. ولم يورّث لقمانُ ابنَه مالًا ذُكر، ولا مُلكًا، ولا جيشًا. ورّثه كلامًا. والكلام هو الذي بقي: سورة كاملة في القرآن تحمل اسمه، يقرؤها اليوم أطفال لم يكن يعلم أنهم سيولدون، في بلاد لم يكن يعرف أنها موجودة. وهذا ما تفعله الكلمة الصادقة.
يقول الله تعالى عن إعطائه الحكمة للقمان: {وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا لُقْمَانَ الْحِكْمَةَ أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِلَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ}.
أغلى ما يعطيه الأب لابنه كلمةٌ صادقة، وأوّل الكلام أن يعرف ابنه ربّه.
أوصى لقمان ابنه وصايا كثيرة في آيات قليلة. لو كان عليك أن تقول وصيّة واحدة فقط لأخيك الصغير أو لصاحبك، فماذا تختار؟ ولماذا هذه بالذات؟
اخفض صوتك اليوم في موضع كنتَ سترفعه فيه، وتذكّر وصية لقمان: ﴿وَاغْضُضْ مِن صَوْتِكَ﴾.
القرآن الكريم، سورة لقمان: 12-19
الوصايا بنص الآيات. ولقمان رجل صالح آتاه الله الحكمة، وجمهور العلماء على أنه لم يكن نبياً.
The Quran is full of counsel from Allah to people. It also holds the counsel of one man to his son — a man who was not a prophet, not a king, and whose wealth is never mentioned. So what did he say to his son, that his words are kept in the Book of Allah thousands of years later?
Luqman was a righteous man whom Allah gave wisdom. Wisdom is not knowing a great deal; it is knowing what helps, and when to say it, and how. {And We had certainly given Luqman wisdom, [saying], be grateful to Allah} — notice the first thing said to him along with wisdom: be grateful. Most scholars hold that he was not a prophet; that is, he was a man like us, who learned and grew wise, with no revelation coming down to him.
Luqman sat with his son {while he was instructing him} — instruction from someone who loves you, not someone who is angry — and said: {O my son, do not associate anything with Allah.} He began with the most important thing of all. Then he charged him with his parents, then said: {O my son, establish prayer, enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and be patient over what befalls you.} Then he moved to what you might think small: {And do not turn your cheek in contempt toward people and do not walk through the earth exultantly.} Then: {And be moderate in your pace and lower your voice.} He gathered the whole religion for him — belief, worship, and character, down to how he walks and how loudly he speaks.
Among all that counsel is one sentence that could fill a lifetime by itself. He said: {O my son, indeed if a deed should be the weight of a mustard seed, and it should be within a rock or in the heavens or in the earth, Allah will bring it forth.} A mustard seed is very small. He is telling his son: if your deed were as small as that seed, hidden inside a rock, or in the furthest place in the sky, Allah knows it and will bring it out. Nothing small is ever lost — not of good, and not of bad.
And the counsel ended. Luqman left his son no wealth that is mentioned, no kingdom, no army. He left him words. And the words are what lasted: a whole surah in the Quran carrying his name, read today by children he did not know would be born, in lands he did not know existed. That is what a true word does.
The most valuable thing a father gives his child is a true word, and the first word is that the child should know their Lord.
Luqman gave his son many pieces of advice in a few verses. If you could give only one to your younger brother or your friend, which would you choose? And why that one?
Lower your voice once today where you were about to raise it, and remember Luqman's words: {and lower your voice}.
The Quran, Surah Luqman: 12-19
The counsels are the verses' own words. Luqman was a righteous man given wisdom; most scholars hold that he was not a prophet.