Al-Ahqaf Verse 15

We have commanded people to honour their parents. Their mothers bore them in hardship and delivered them in hardship. Their ˹period of˺ bearing and weaning is thirty months. In time, when the child reaches their prime at the age of forty, they pray, “My Lord! Inspire me to ˹always˺ be thankful for Your favours which You blessed me and my parents with, and to do good deeds that please You. And instil righteousness in my offspring. I truly repent to You, and I truly submit ˹to Your Will˺.”

We have enjoined upon man kindness to his parents. His mother bore him in hardship and gave birth to him in hardship, and his bearing and weaning take thirty months, until when he reaches full maturity and reaches forty years, he says, “My Lord, inspire me to be grateful to Your favors which You blessed me and my parents with, and to do righteous deeds that will make You pleased; and make my offspring righteous. Indeed, I repent to you, and I am one of the Muslims [submitting to You].”

We have charged man, that he be kind to his parents; his mother bore him painfully, and painfully she gave birth to him; his bearing and his weaning are thirty months. Until, when he is fully grown, and reaches forty years, he says, 'O my Lord, dispose me that I may be thankful for Thy blessing wherewith Thou hast blessed me and my father and mother, and that I may do righteousness well-pleasing to Thee; and make me righteous also in my seed. Behold, I repent to Thee, and am among those that surrender.'

We have commanded man to be good to his parents: his mother struggled to carry him and struggled to give birth to him- his bearing and weaning took a full thirty months. When he has grown to manhood and reached the age of forty he [may] say, ‘Lord, help me to be truly grateful for Your favours to me and to my parents; help me to do good work that pleases You; make my offspring good. I turn to You; I am one of those who devote themselves to You.’

And We have enjoined upon man kindness Unto the parents: with hardship his mother beareth him and with hardship she bringeth him forth, and the bearing of him and the weaning of him is thirty months, until, when he attaineth his full strength and attaineth the age of forty years, he saith: my Lord! grant me that may give thanks for the favour wherewith. Thou hast favoured me and my parents and that may work righteously such as Thou mayest approve; and be Thou good Unto me in my progeny, verily have turned Unto Thee repentant, and verily I am of those who submit.

We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents; In pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth. The carrying of the (child) to his weaning is (a period of) thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full strength and attains forty years, he says, "O my Lord! Grant me that I may be grateful for Thy favour which Thou has bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and that I may work righteousness such as Thou mayest approve; and be gracious to me in my issue. Truly have I turned to Thee and truly do I bow (to Thee) in Islam."

We have enjoined man to be kind to his parents. In pain did his mother bear him and in pain did she give birth to him. The carrying of the child to his weaning is a period of thirty months. And when he is grown to full maturity and reaches the age of forty, he prays: “My Lord, dispose me that I may give thanks for the bounty that You have bestowed upon me and my parents, and dispose me that I may do righteous deeds that would please You, and also make my descendants righteous. I repent to You, and I am one of those who surrender themselves to You.”

We have enjoined on man to be good to his parents: His mother carries him in her womb with hardship, and gives birth to him in pain. Thirty months is the period of her carrying and weaning him. When he attains to manhood and the age of forty, he says: "O Lord, guide me to thank You for the favours You have bestowed on me and my parents, and to do things good as may please You, and give me a righteous off-spring. I turn to You in penitence and submit."

And We have commanded man to be good towards parents; his mother bore him with hardship, and delivered him with hardship; and carrying him and weaning him is for thirty months; until when he* reached maturity and became forty years of age, he said, “My Lord! Inspire me to be thankful for the favours you bestowed upon me and my parents, and that I may perform the deeds pleasing to You, and keep merit among my offspring; I have inclined towards you and I am a Muslim.” (* This verse was revealed concerning S. Abu Bakr – the first caliph, R. A. A)

We have enjoined man to be kind to his parents. His mother has carried him in travail, and bore him in travail, and his gestation and weaning take thirty months. When he comes of age and reaches forty years, he says, ‘My Lord! Inspire me to give thanks for Your blessing with which You have blessed me and my parents, and that I may do righteous deeds which please You, and invest my descendants with righteousness. Indeed I have turned to you in penitence, and I am one of the Muslims.’

Now (among the good deeds) We have enjoined on human is the best treatment towards his parents. His mother bore him in pain, and in pain did she give him birth. The bearing of him and suckling of him (until weaned) is thirty months, until when he has reached his full manhood and reached forty years of age, he says: "My Lord! Arouse me that I may be thankful for all Your favors (life, health, sustenance, faith, and submission, and more) that You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do good, righteous deeds with which You will be pleased, and grant me righteous offspring (so that they treat me righteously, as I treat my parents). I have turned to You, and I am one of those who have submitted to You."

And We have enjoined on a human being to do good to his parents. His mother bears him with trouble and pain and brings him forth with trouble and pain. The bearing of him and his weaning (takes) thirty months, till when he attains his full maturity and reaches (the age of) forty years he says to his Lord, `My Lord! rouse me up that I may give thanks for the favours you have bestowed on me and on my parents and that I may do such righteous deeds as may please You. And (my Lord!) establish righteousness among my progeny for me. To You indeed I turn penitently and I am surely of those who submit themselves (to You).´

And We directed/commanded the human (with) a goodness (in treatment) with (to) his parents, his mother bore/became pregnant with him compellingly/forcefully/involuntarily and she gave birth to him compellingly/forcefully/involuntarily, and his weight/pregnancy with him , and his wearing/separation thirty months, until when he reached his maturity/strength, and he reached forty years, he said: "My Lord inspire/influence me that (E) I thank/be grateful (for) your blessing which you blessed on me and on my parents, and that (E) I make/do correct/righteous deeds you accept/approve it, and correct/repair for me in my descendants, that I repented to you, and that I am from the Moslems/submitters/surrenderers."

And We have commanded man to be good towards parents; his mother bore him with hardship, and delivered him with hardship; and carrying him and weaning him is for thirty months; until when he * reached maturity and became forty years of age, he said, “My Lord! Inspire me to be thankful for the favours you bestowed upon me and my parents, and that I may perform the deeds pleasing to You, and keep merit among my offspring; I have inclined towards you and I am a Muslim.” (* This verse was revealed concerning S. Abu Bakr - the first caliph - may Allah be well pleased with him).

And We have enjoined on man kindness (doing of good) to his parents; with trouble did his mother bear him and with trouble did she bring him forth; and the bearing of him and the weaning of him was thirty months; until when he attains his maturity and reaches forty years, he says, "My Lord! Grant me that I may give thanks for Thy favour which Thou hast bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may work righteousness such as that which pleases Thee, and do good to me in respect of my offspring; surely I turn unto Thee, and surely I am of those who Surrender (in Islam).

And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him with hardship and she brings him forth with hardship, and the bearing of him, and the weaning of him is thirty (30) months, till when he attains full strength and reaches forty years, he says: "My Lord! Grant me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your Favour which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds, such as please You, and make my off-spring good. Truly, I have turned to You in repentance, and truly, I am one of the Muslims (submitting to Your Will)."

These are the owners of the Garden, abiding therein -- a reward for what they did.

And We have enjoined on man doing of good to his parents; with trouble did his mother bear him and with trouble did she bring him forth; and the bearing of him and the weaning of him was thirty months; until when he attains his maturity and reaches forty years, he says: My Lord! grant me that I may give thanks for Thy favor which Thou hast bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do good which pleases Thee and do good to me in respect of my offspring; surely I turn to Thee, and surely I am of those who submit.

And We have commended unto man kindness toward parents. His mother beareth him with reluctance, and bringeth him forth with reluctance, and the bearing of him and the weaning of him is thirty months, till, when he attaineth full strength and reacheth forty years, he saith: My Lord! Arouse me that I may give thanks for the favour wherewith Thou hast favoured me and my parents, and that I may do right acceptable unto Thee. And be gracious unto me in the matter of my seed. Lo! I have turned unto Thee repentant, and lo! I am of those who surrender (unto Thee).

We have advised the human being to be kind to his parents; his mother bore him with hardship and delivered him while suffering a great deal of pain. The period in which his mother bore and weaned him lasted for thirty months. When he grew-up to manhood and became forty years old, he then said, "Lord, inspire me to give You thanks for the bounties you have granted to me and my parents, and to act righteously to please You. Lord, make my offspring virtuous. Lord I turn to you in repentance; I am a Muslim".

We have charged the human to be kind to his parents. With much pain his mother bore him, and with much pain she gave birth to him; his bearing andweaning are thirty months. When he grows to manhood and attains his fortieth year, he says: 'Make me so disposed My Lord, so that I give thanks for the favorswith which You have blessed me, my father and mother, and that I will do good deeds that will please You. And, make me righteous and also my descendants. To You I repent, and I am among those who surrender'

And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him with hardship. And she delivers him with hardship. And (the period of) his gestation and the weaning of him is thirty months, till when he attains full strength and reaches forty years, he says: "My Lord! Grant me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds, such as please You, and make my offspring good. Truly, I have turned to You in repentance, and truly, I am one of the Muslims."

We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: his mother bore him, in pain and in pain she gave birth to him, and his bearing and weaning takes thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full maturity and attains forty years, he says, "O my Lord! Help me to be grateful for Your favours which You have bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and to do good deeds that will please You. Grant me righteousness in my offspring. Truly, I have turned to You and, truly, I submit to You."

We have enjoined upon man kindness to his parents. His mother carried him with difficulty, and delivered him with difficulty. His bearing and weaning takes thirty months. Until, when he has attained his maturity, and has reached forty years, he says, “Lord, enable me to appreciate the blessings You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and to act with righteousness, pleasing You. And improve my children for me. I have sincerely repented to You, and I am of those who have surrendered.”

And We have enjoined man to be kind (husnan; a variant reading has ihsnan), that is to say, We have commanded him to act kindly towards both of them (thus ihsnan is in the accusative as a verbal noun, because of the implied verbal action; the same applies to husnan) to his parents. His mother carries him in travail, and gives birth to him in travail, that is to say, with suffering; and his gestation and his weaning, from suckling, take thirty months, six months being the minimum period for gestation, the remainder being the maximum period of suckling; it is also said that, regardless of whether she bore him for six or nine months, she should suckle him for the remainder. So that (hatt is a [particle of] purpose for an implied sentence, that is to say, wa-`sha hatt, `and he lived on so that ...') when he is mature, namely, at his prime in terms of his strength, intellect and reasoning, the minimum [age] for which is thirty or thirty three years, and reaches forty years, that is, exactly [forty years], which is the maximum for [attaining] maturity, he says, `My Lord!, [this] to the end [of this verse] was revealed regarding Ab Bakr al-Siddq, when he had reached forty years of age, two years after the [beginning of the] Prophet's Mission (s). He [Ab Bakr] believed in him, whereafter his parents believed [in the Prophet], followed by his son `Abd al-Rahmn, then `Abd al-Rahmn's son Ab `Atq [Muhammad b. `Abd al-Rahmn]. Inspire me to give thanks for Your favour with which You have favoured me and my parents, namely, [the grace of] affirming [God's] Oneness, and that I may act righteously in a way that will please You, thus he [Ab Bakr] emancipated nine believers who had been enduring torture [at the hands of the idolaters] for [their belief in] God, and invest my seed with righteousness, all of them were believers. Indeed I repent to You and I am truly of those who submit [to You]'.

Allah's Advice about the Parents

After mentioning that one must confess His Oneness, worship Him with sincerity, and remain upright in obeying Him, Allah follows that by giving instructions regarding the parents. These appear together in many places of the Qur'an, such as Allah's saying,

وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلاَّ تَعْبُدُواْ إِلاَّ إِيَّـهُ وَبِالْوَلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَـناً

Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you be dutiful to your parents. (17;23)

Allah says,

أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِى وَلِوَلِدَيْكَ إِلَىَّ الْمَصِيرُ

Be grateful to Me and to your parents. Unto Me is the final destination. (31;14)

There are many other Ayat like this as well.

Here Allah says,

وَوَصَّيْنَا الاِْنسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ إِحْسَانًا

And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents.

meaning, `We have commanded him to treat them well and show compassion towards them.'

Abu Dawud At-Tayalisi recorded from Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him, that his mother said to him;

"Hasn't Allah commanded that you obey your parents Then I will not eat any food or drink any drink until you disbelieve in Allah."

Thus she stubbornly abstained from eating and drinking, until they had to open her mouth with a stick. Then this Ayah was revealed,
وَوَصَّيْنَا الاِْنسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ إِحْسَانًا
(And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents).

This was also recorded by Muslim and the Sunan compilers, except for Ibn Majah.

Allah continues,

حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ كُرْهًا

His mother bears him with hardship.

which means that the mother suffers hardship because of her child, such as fatigue, sickness, vomiting, heaviness, distress, and other forms of hardship that the pregnant women suffer.

وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًا

And she delivers him with hardship.

meaning, she also delivers him with hardship, suffering the pains of labor and their severity.

وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلَثُونَ شَهْرًا

And (the period of) his gestation and weaning is thirty months,

Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, used this Ayah along with the following two Ayat to prove that the minimum period of pregnancy (gestation) is six months;

وَفِصَالُهُ فِى عَامَيْنِ

And his weaning is in two years. (31;14)

and

وَالْوَلِدَتُ يُرْضِعْنَ أَوْلَـدَهُنَّ حَوْلَيْنِ كَامِلَيْنِ لِمَنْ أَرَادَ أَن يُتِمَّ الرَّضَاعَةَ

The mothers suckle their children two complete years -- for those who desire to complete the term of suckling. (2;233)

This is a strong and valid conclusion, and it was approved by Uthman and a number of the Companions.

Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Yasar narrated from Ba`jah bin Abdullah Al-Juhani that;

a man from his tribe (Juhaynah) married a woman from Juhaynah. She delivered a baby after six months. So her husband went to Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, and told him about that. Thus, Uthman summoned her. When she was getting dressed, her sister started crying. She asked her;

"Why do you cry? By Allah, no one has ever approached me (for sexual relations) of Allah's creation except him (my husband). So let Allah decree (for me) as He wills."

When she was brought before Uthman, he commanded that she be stoned to death (for adultery).

Ali heard of this, came to Uthman, and said;"What are you doing?"

He (Uthman) said;"She delivered after six months! Can this ever happen?" `

Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said;"Don't you read the Qur'an?"

He said;"Yes, of course!"

He (Ali) then said;

`Haven't you heard Allah's saying,
وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلَثُونَ شَهْرًا
(and his gestation and weaning is thirty months), and;
حَوْلَيْنِ كَامِلَيْن
(two complete years) (2;233) (Subtracting the two numbers) we are only left with six months."

Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, said;"By Allah, I did not see that! Bring the woman back."

But they found that she had already been killed.

Ba`jah continued;

"By Allah, no two crows and no two eggs are more similar than that child turned out to be to his father!

When his father saw that he said, `By Allah! This is my son without any doubt.'

Later on, Allah afflicted him with a skin abscess in his face (because of his false accusation to his wife). It kept eating him up until he died."

Ibn Abi Hatim related from his father that Farwah bin Abi Al-Maghra' told them that Ali bin Mushir narrated to them from Dawud bin Abi Hind, who narrated from Ikrimah that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said,

"When a woman delivers after nine months, the baby will only need twenty-one months of suckling. When she delivers after seven months, the baby will need twenty-three months of suckling. When she delivers after six months, the baby will need two full years of suckling, because Allah says,
وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلَثُونَ شَهْرًا حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ
(and his gestation and weaning is thirty months, till when he attains full strength)."

حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ

till when he attains full strength,

meaning, he becomes strong, youthful, and attains full ability.

وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً

and reaches forty years,

meaning, his complete intellect, understanding, and patience reach the level of maturity.

It has also been said that usually one will not change his ways once he reaches the age of forty.

قَال

رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي

he says;"My Lord! Grant me the power and ability,

meaning, `inspire me.'

أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَيَّ

وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ

that I may be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds, such as please You,

meaning, in the future.

وَأَصْلِحْ لِي فِي ذُرِّيَّتِي

and make my offspring good.

meaning, my offspring and descendants.

إِنِّي تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ




Truly, I have turned to You in repentance, and truly, I am one of the Muslims.

This contains an instruction for anyone who reaches forty years of age to renew his repentance and turn to Allah with strong resolution.

Allah then says