Al-Qur'an Surah Luqman Verse 19

Mufti Taqi Usmani

and be moderate in your walk, and lower your voice. Surely, the ugliest of voices is the voice of the donkeys.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Be moderate in your pace. And lower your voice, for the ugliest of all voices is certainly the braying of donkeys.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

Be moderate in your gait and lower your voice. Indeed, the most repugnant of voices is the voice of donkeys.”

A. J. Arberry

Be modest in thy walk, and lower thy voice; the most hideous of voices is the ass's.'

Abdul Haleem

Go at a moderate pace and lower your voice, for the ugliest of all voices is the braying of asses.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And be modest in thy gait and lower thy voice; verily the most abominable of voices is the voice of the ass.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"And be moderate in thy pace, and lower thy voice; for the harshest of sounds without doubt is the braying of the ass."

Abul Ala Maududi

Be moderate in your stride and lower your voice. Verily the most disgusting of all voices is the braying of the donkey.”

Ahmed Ali

Be moderate in your bearing, and keep your voice low. Surely the most repulsive voice is the donkey's."

Ahmed Raza Khan

“And walk moderately and soften your voice; indeed the worst voice is the voice of the donkey.”

Ali Quli Qarai

Be modest in your bearing, and lower your voice. Indeed the ungainliest of voices is the donkey’s voice.’

Ali Ünal

"Be modest in your bearing, and subdue your voice. For certain the most repugnant of voices is braying of donkeys."

Amatul Rahman Omar

`Rather walk with modest pace and talk in soft gentle tone. Surely, the most repugnant of voices is the braying of the donkey.´

English Literal

And be moderate in your walking, and lower/humble from your voice/noise , that truly the sounds`/noises` most awful/obscene (is) the donkeys` sound/noise .

Faridul Haque

“And walk moderately and soften your voice; indeed the worst voice is the voice of the donkey.”

Hamid S. Aziz

"And twist not your cheek in scorn towards folk, nor walk haughtily (or insolently) in the land; verily, Allah loves not any arrogant boaster:

Hilali & Khan

"And be moderate (or show no insolence) in your walking, and lower your voice. Verily, the harshest of all voices is the voice (braying) of the ass."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

O my son, keep up prayer and enjoin good and forbid evil, and bear patiently that which befalls thee. Surely this is an affair of great resolution.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And pursue the right course in your going about and lower your voice; surely the most hateful of voices is braying of the asses.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Be modest in thy bearing and subdue thy voice. Lo! the harshest of all voices is the voice of the ass.

Muhammad Sarwar

Be moderate in your walking and your talking. The most unpleasant sound is the braying of donkeys."

Qaribullah & Darwish

Walk modestly, and lower your voice; the most hideous of voices is the braying of the donkey.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

"And be moderate in your walking, and lower your voice. Verily, the harshest of all voices is the braying of the asses."

Wahiduddin Khan

Walk modestly and lower your voice, for the ugliest of all voices is the braying of the ass."

Talal Itani

And moderate your stride, and lower your voice. The most repulsive of voices is the donkey’s voice.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And be modest in your bearing, being moderate in it, neither dragging slowly nor rushing, but peaceful and dignified, and lower your voice; indeed the most hideous of voices is the donkey's voice', beginning [its hideous bray] with an exhalation and ending with an inhalation.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ

And be moderate in your walking,

means, walk in a moderate manner, neither slow and lazy nor excessively fast, but be moderate, somewhere in between these two extremes.

وَاغْضُضْ مِن صَوْتِكَ

and lower your voice.

means, do not exaggerate in your speaking and do not raise your voice unnecessarily.

Allah says;

إِنَّ أَنكَرَ الاَْصْوَاتِ لَصَوْتُ الْحَمِيرِ



Verily, the harshest of all voices is the braying of the asses.

Mujahid and others said,

"The most ugly of voices is the voice of the donkey, i.e., when a person raises his voice, the resulting noise is like the voice of a donkey in its loudness. Moreover this is hateful to Allah. Likening a loud voice to that of a donkey implies that it is forbidden and extremely blameworthy, because the Messenger of Allah said;

لَيْسَ لَنَا مَثَلُ السُّوءِ الْعَايِدُ فِي هِبَتِهِ كَالْكَلْبِ يَقِيءُ ثُمَّ يَعُودُ فِي قَيْيِه

It is not befitting us to be an evil parable. The person who takes back his gift, he is like a dog that vomits and then goes back to his vomit.
The Advice of Luqman

This is very useful advice, which the Qur'an tells us about Luqman. Many other proverbs and words of advice were also narrated from him, some examples of which we will quote below, as basic principles;

Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn Umar said,

"The Messenger of Allah said;

إِنَّ لُقْمَانَ الْحَكِيمَ كَانَ يَقُولُ إِنَّ اللهَ إِذَا اسْتَوْدَعَ شَيْيًا حَفِظَه

Luqman the Wise used to say;when something is entrusted to the care of Allah, He protects it.

It was narrated that As-Sari bin Yahya said;

"Luqman said to his son;`Wisdom puts the poor in the company of kings."'

It was also narrated that Awn bin Abdullah said;

"Luqman said to his son;`O my son! When you come to a gathering of people, greet them with Salam, then sit at the edge of the group, and do not speak until you see that they have finished speaking. Then if they remember Allah, join them, but if they speak of anything else, then leave them and go to another group'.