Knowledge › History & Heritage

Luqman al-Hakim — The Wise Man: Universal Wisdom and Its Esoteric Interpretation

لُقمَانُ الحَكِيمُ — الحِكمَةُ الكَونِيَّةُ وَتَأوِيلُهَا الإِسمَاعِيلِي
2 min read · 354 words

Luqman (لُقمَان — Luqman the Wise; a surah (31) and a figure who occupies a unique place in the Quran — not a prophet, not an angel, not a ruler, but a wise man gifted directly by Allah: *'And We had certainly given Luqman wisdom (hikmah), [saying]: Be grateful to Allah.'* (31:12)) is the Quran's supreme example of non-prophetic wisdom. The mystery of Luqman: he appears in the Quran without full biographical context — scholars disagreed whether he was Abyssinian or Nubian, a slave or a free man, a carpenter or a shepherd, alive during the time of David or earlier. The Quran is deliberately non-specific: Luqman's wisdom is portable, not tied to a specific national or prophetic identity. His wisdom-sayings to his son (31:12-19) have become among the most cited parenting-and-wisdom verses in Islamic education: (1) Do not associate anything with Allah (31:13); (2) Even a mustard seed of sin is known to Allah (31:16); (3) Establish prayer, enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and be patient (31:17); (4) Do not turn your cheek in arrogance (31:18); (5) Be moderate in your walk; lower your voice (31:19). In Ismaili ta'wil, Luqman is the type of the *wali* — the one who has received divine wisdom not through prophethood but through direct divine gift, and who transmits it through pedagogy, not legislation. He is the archetype of the non-prophetic bearer of wisdom — the Da'i in his pedagogical role.

Luqman’s Wisdom to His Son

Seven teachings (31:12-19): The Quran condenses Luqman’s wisdom into a father’s counsel to his son — one of the Quran’s most pedagogically self-aware passages:

  1. ‘O my son, do not associate anything with Allah — indeed, association [with Him] is grave oppression (zulm ‘azim).’ (31:13) — the root of all wisdom is tawhid
  2. ‘O my son, indeed if it (sin) should be the weight of a mustard seed and should be within a rock or anywhere in the heavens or earth, Allah will bring it forth.’ (31:16) — divine omniscience as ethical foundation
  3. ‘Establish prayer, enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and be patient over what befalls you.’ (31:17) — the four-part prescription for a virtuous life
  4. ‘And do not turn your cheek in contempt toward people and do not walk through the earth exultantly.’ (31:18) — the body ethics of humility
  5. ‘And be moderate in your walk and lower your voice — indeed the most disagreeable of sounds is the voice of donkeys.’ (31:19) — the metaphor of the braying donkey for arrogant speech

See also: Hikmah, Tawhid Divine Unity, Al Tarbiya, Akhlaq, Understanding Namaz, Al Amanat

Ismaili Ta’wil of Luqman

The non-prophetic wali: In Ismaili theology, the fact that Luqman is explicitly not a prophet (nabi) but a direct recipient of divine wisdom makes him the Quranic prototype of a different category of divine gift — the walayah that operates outside the prophetic channel. The Imam’s ‘ilm and the Da’i’s pedagogical wisdom are not prophetic (nabi/rasul is sealed) but are the living instances of the Luqmanic gift: divine wisdom transmitted through a chosen human vessel.

The father-son model: Luqman’s transmission of wisdom to his son in direct, personal, pedagogical conversation mirrors the Da’i’s transmission of ‘ilm al-batin to the community through the majalis. The Da’i addresses the community as Luqman addressed his son — with parental concern, clear ethical priority, and practical wisdom grounded in divine presence.

See also: Hikmah, Ilm Al Batin, Dai Al Mutlaq Institution, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Majalis Al Hikmah, Understanding Walayah, Nubuwwa, Ismaili Philosophy

See also: Hikmah, Tawhid Divine Unity, Al Tarbiya, Akhlaq, Understanding Namaz, Al Amanat, Ilm Al Batin, Dai Al Mutlaq Institution, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Majalis Al Hikmah, Understanding Walayah, Nubuwwa, Ismaili Philosophy

← All articles
← Previous
al-Nafila — The Voluntary Prayer: Supererogatory Worship and Drawing Near to Allah
Next →
al-Tahsin — The Beautiful and the Ugly: Islamic Ethics and the Rationality of Moral Judgment
✦

More in History & Heritage

Sayyidna Muhammad (SAW) — Khatam al-Anbiya: The Seal of Prophets and the Foundation of the Bohra World

Sayyidna Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib (SAW) — born c. 570 CE in Mecca, departed 632 CE in Medina — is the Seal of the Prophets, the Messenger of Allah to all humanity, the bearer of the final and complete divine revelation (the Quran), the one who established salah, commanded justice, built the community of Islam, and at Ghadir Khumm designated Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) as his rightful successor. For the Bohra community, every prayer, every salawat, every misaq, every act of walayat traces its authority back to this one man and to the divine trust placed in him. He is Rahmatan li'l-'alamin — a mercy to all the worlds (Quran 21:107). He is the sixth and final Natiq in the Ismaili cycle of prophethood, whose da'wa chain runs through the Imams of his Ahl al-Bayt, through the hidden Imam al-Tayyib (AS), and through the Duat Mutlaqeen to Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin (TUS), the 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq.
Sayyidna Ibrahim al-Khalil (AS) — The Friend of Allah

Sayyidna Ibrahim ibn Azar (AS) — the Prophet Abraham — is the father of monotheism, the builder of the Ka'ba with his son Ismail (AS), and the ancestor through whom both the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) via the Ishmaelite line and a vast number of Prophets via the Israelite line descend. He is called Khalilullah (the Friend of Allah) and his trials are among the greatest in prophetic history. Hajj itself was established by him and restored by the Prophet (SAW).
The Fourteen Masumeen — Prophet and Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt

A reference guide to the 14 Ma'sumeen — Rasulullah (SAW), Syedatona Fatema (AS), and the 12 Imams — whose names, lives, and legacy form the devotional and theological core of Bohra and wider Shia Islamic tradition.
← Back to all articles