Luqman 31:18
Luqman · Meccan · Juz 21 · Page 412
Humility
وَلَا تُصَعِّرۡ خَدَّكَ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَمۡشِ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مَرَحًاۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخۡتَالࣲ فَخُورࣲ ١٨
Turn not thy cheek in scorn toward folk, nor walk with pertness in the land. Lo! Allah loveth not each braggart boaster.
Translation: Marmaduke Pickthall
Meaning
Do not turn your face away from people in arrogance, nor walk proudly on the earth. Allah does not love the self-admiring and boastful.
Insight
Elmalılı explains that the word ‘tusa’’ir’ comes from a camel with a diseased neck twisting its head aside. The arrogant person turns their head away in the same way. For him this advice is tied to the previous one: do not be arrogant even while enjoining good.
Reflect
Today, give someone your full attention while listening to them.
This short note is based on Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır’s Turkish commentary and has not yet been reviewed by a scholar.
Elmalılı’s commentary
An English translation of Elmalılı’s full commentary is coming soon. Read the original Turkish ›