Quran 46:15 — Surah Al-Ahqaf Ayah 15 | Arabic, Translation & Tafsir

أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلْجَنَّةِ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَ...

46:15

Al-Ahqaf

أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ نَتَقَبَّلُ عَنْهُمْ أَحْسَ...

وَوَصَّيْنَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ إِحْسَٰنًا ۖ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُۥ كُرْهًۭا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًۭا ۖ وَحَمْلُهُۥ وَفِصَٰلُهُۥ ثَلَٰثُونَ شَهْرًا ۚ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةًۭ قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِىٓ أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَىَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَٰلِدَىَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَٰلِحًۭا تَرْضَىٰهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِى فِى ذُرِّيَّتِىٓ ۖ إِنِّى تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّى مِنَ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ

Wa wassainal insaana biwaalidaihi ihsaanan hamalathu ummuhoo kurhanw-wa wada'athu kurhanw wa hamluhoo wa fisaaluhoo salaasoona shahraa; hattaaa izaa balagha ashuddahoo wa balagho arba'eena sanatan qaala Rabbi aqzi'neee an ashkura ni'matakal lateee an'amta 'alaiya wa 'alaa waalidaiya wa an a'mala saalihan tardaahu wa aslih lee fee zurriyyatee innee tubtu ilaika wa innee minal muslimeen

And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning [period] is thirty months. [He grows] until, when he reaches maturity and reaches [the age of] forty years, he says, "My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work righteousness of which You will approve and make righteous for me my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the Muslims."

Related Tafsir

Ibn Kathir

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 الإِنسَـنَ بِوَلِدَيْهِ إِحْسَـناً

(And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents.) (46:15) 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 الإِنسَـنَ بِوَلِدَيْهِ إِحْسَـناً

(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 كُرْهاً

(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 كُرْهاً

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

وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَـلُهُ ثَلاَثُونَ شَهْراً

(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 وَفِصَـلُهُ ثَلاَثُونَ شَهْراً

(and his gestation and weaning is thirty months), and;

حَوْلَيْنِ كَامِلَيْنِ

( 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 وَفِصَـلُهُ ثَلاَثُونَ شَهْراً حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ

(and his gestation and weaning is thirty months, 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.

قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِى

(he says: "My Lord! Grant me the power and ability) meaning, `inspire me.'

أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِى أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَىَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَىَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَـلِحاً تَرْضَـهُ

(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 لِى فِى ذُرِّيَّتِى

(and make my offspring good.) meaning, my offspring and descendants.

إِنَّى تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّى 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,

أُوْلَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ نَتَقَبَّلُ عَنْهُمْ أَحْسَنَ مَا عَمِلُواْ وَنَتَجَاوَزُ عَن سَيْئَـتِهِمْ فِى أَصْحَـبِ الْجَنَّةِ

(Those are the ones from whom We shall accept the best of what they did and overlook their evil deeds. (They shall be) among the dwellers of Paradise.) meaning, those to whom applies the above description -- those who repent to Allah, turn back to Him, and rectify their shortcomings through repentance and seeking forgiveness - those are the ones from whom We will accept the best of what they did and overlook their evil deeds. Many of their errors will be forgiven and Allah will accept from them a modest amount of deeds.

فِى أَصْحَـبِ الْجَنَّةِ

(among the dwellers of Paradise.) which means that they will be among the dwellers of Paradise. That is Allah's ruling concerning them, as He has promised for those who repent and turn to Him. Thus, He says,

وَعْدَ الصِّدْقِ الَّذِى كَانُواْ يُوعَدُونَ

(That is the promise of truth that they had been promised.)

View Full Tafsir: Allah's Advice about the ParentsAyahs 15–16

Allah has commanded you to treat well your parents and I am your mother and I command you to do this. She passed three days in this state until she fainted because of extreme hunger and at that time her son whose name was Umara stood up and served her drink and she began to curse Sa'd that Allah, the Exalted and Glorions, revealed these verses of the Holy Qur'an:" And We have enjoined upon a person goodness to his parents but if they contend with thee to associate (others) with Me of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not" (xxix. 8) ; Treat thein with customary good in this world" (xxxi. 15). He also reported that there fell to the lot of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) huge spoils of war and there was one sword in them. I picked that up and came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said: Bestow this sword upon me (as my share in the spoils of war) and you know my state. Thereupon he said: Return it to the place from where you picked it up. I went back until I decided to throw it in a store but my soul repulsed me so I came back and asked him to give that sword to me. He said in a loud voice to return it to the place from where I had picked it up. It was on this occasion that this verse was revealed:" They asked about the spoils of war" (viii. 1). He further said: I once fell ill and sent a message to Allah's Apostle (ﷺ). He visited me and I said to him: Permit me to distribute (in charity) my property as much as I like. He did not agree. I said: (Permit me to distribute) half of it. He did not agree. I said: (Permit me to distribute) the third part, whereupon he kept quiet and it was after this (that the distribution of one's property in charity) to the extent of one-third was held valid. He further said: I came to a group of persons of the Ansir and Muhajirin and they said: Come, so that we may serve you wine, and it was before the use of wine had been prohibited. I went to them in a garden and there had been with them the roasted head of a camel and a small water-skin containing wine. I ate and drank along with them and there came under discussion the Ansr (Helpers) and Muhajirin (immigrants). I said: The immigrants are better than the Ansar, that a person picked up a portion of the head (of the camel and struck me with it that my nose was injured. I came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and informed him of the situation that Aliah, the Exalted and Glorious, revealed verses pertaining to wine:" Intoxicants and the games of chance and (sacrificing to) stones set up and (divining by) arrows are only an uncleanliness, the devil's work" (v. 90).

Sunan Ibn Majah #3393Ibn Salamah As-Sulami narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

"I enjoin each one to honor his mother,I enjoin each one to honor his mother,I enjoin each one to honor his mother(three times), I enjoin each one to honor his guardian who is taking care of him, even if he is causing him some annoyance."

Sahih Muslim #6347Yazid b. Abu Habib reported that Na'im, the freed slave of Umm Salama, reported to him that 'Abdullah b. 'Amr b. 'As said:

There came to Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) a person and said: I owe allegiance to you for migration and Jihad seeking reward only from Allah. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Is one from amongst your parents living? He said: Yes, of course, both are living. He further asked: Do you want to seek reward from Allah? He said: Yes. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: Go back to your parents and accord them benevolent treatment.

Jami` at-Tirmidhi #1971(Another chain) From Ibn 'Umar:

A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: "O Messenger of Allah! I have been afflicted by a tremendous sin. Is there any repentance for me?" He said: "Do you have your mother?" The man said: "No." He said: "Do you have any maternal aunts?" The man said: "Yes." He said: "Then be dutiful to them."

Jami` at-Tirmidhi #3273Narrated Mus'ab bin Sa'd:

that his father, Sa'd, said: "Four Ayat were revealed about me" and he mentioned the story. Umm Sa'd had said: "Did not Allah command you to honor (your parents). By Allah! I will not eat or drink anything until I die or you renounce (Islam)." He said: "So when they wanted to make her eat, they would force her mouth open. So this Ayah was revealed: And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful to his parents; but if they strive to make you associate (partners) with Me, of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not (29:8)."