Adapted from Tafsir Ibn Ashur

Themes and purpose:

This Makkan surah asserts the superiority of the Quran’s wisdom over diversionary human tales, and exposes the attempts to distract from revelation with stories of worldly power. Its primary purpose is to prove Monotheism and the Resurrection through Allah’s signs in creation. It achieves this mainly by presenting the comprehensive moral teachings of Luqman to his son, reinforcing the belief that true guidance rests on piety, submission, and firm adherence to faith; not on inherited imitation, ancient lore, or worldly prestige.

Context of Revelation:

Era: Makkan, though various ayahs (4, 27-29) have been suggested to be Madinan.

Context: The surah was revealed in response to the Quraysh, who asked the Prophet (ﷺ) about the story of Luqman as a test. The surah also directly addresses the actions of an-Nadr ibn al-Harith, who spent money on acquiring foreign books (like Persian epics) and would recite them to Quraysh to distract them from listening to the Quran and to compete with its message.

Name and Ayah Count:

Name: "Sūrat Luqmān", named for a sage whose name circulated among the Arabs. It contains a detailed record of his wisdom and his moral instructions to his son, a subject unique to this surah.

Ayah Count: 33 (Madīnah/Makkah) or 34 (Shām/Baṣrah/Kūfah).

Surah Overview:

• Praising the Quran and subtly challenging the polytheists by proving its divine guidance and superiority over the false narratives of an-Nadr ibn al-Harith, as a prelude leading into the wisdom of Luqman. [1-9]
• Creation Proofs: Establishing Allah’s exclusive creative power and challenging the idolaters to show what their gods have created. [10-11]
• The Wisdom of Luqman: Detailing his moral instructions to his son. [12 - 19]
• Establishing Monotheism through Allah’s signs and favors: exposing argument “without knowledge” and blind following, highlighting the merit of Islam, and consoling the Prophet ﷺ by praising the believers for submitting to Allah and holding fast to “the firmest handhold”. [20–26]
• Refuting various contentions by affirming the limitless quantity of Allah’s “words” of revelation, knowledge and decree. [27]
• Establishing Resurrection: Affirming the ease of recreating humanity and reinforcing it through cosmic signs. [28-32]
• Conclusion: Warning humanity against the deceit of Satan and reminding them that no relative can benefit them on the Day of Judgment. The surah closes by cutting off fortune-telling and all pretensions to certain knowledge of the unseen, especially the Hour, by affirming that such knowledge belongs to Allah alone. [33-34]