The Wisdom of Luqman Al Hakim

Today I would like to speak of a wise man, a righteous man to whom Allah gave wisdom and knowledge, a man whose journey through this world was permeated with hikma at all times, a man who was given a choice between prophecy and wisdom and chose the latter, a man of deep reflection and certainty, that he loved Allah and He loved him and gave him wisdom; this man was Luqman Al Hakim, Luqman the Wise.
Luqman was a simple and humble man who, according to most transmissions, was a slave at the beginning of his life, often cutting and carrying wood for his master, who was a worshipper of fire; He was also a shepherd, and as time went by, when he became a high person who made judgments and people sat down to listen to him, a man who used to herd cattle with him came up to him and said, “Weren’t you a slave of so-and-so’s tribe?”
He said, “Sure!”
The man said, “Then how did what I am seeing come to you? How did you come to the position you have now?”
He said: “The decree of Allah, the fulfillment of responsibility (amana), speaking the truth and leaving what does not concern me.”
These four characteristics were what led him to achieve the position, respect and place he achieved and, certainly, they are characteristics that are very little present among us today.
It has also been reported that on one occasion his master asked him to sacrifice a sheep and bring him the two best pieces of it.
He took his tongue and heart to him, and when his master saw him, he said to him: “Woe to you! Didn’t he have anything better than these two pieces?”
And Luqman fell silent.
After a while he ordered him to sacrifice another sheep and told him: “Throw away the two worst pieces you have”; and threw away his tongue and heart.
When the master saw him, he said to him: “I have ordered you to bring me the two best pieces and you have brought me your tongue and heart; and then I ordered you to throw away the two worst ones, and you threw away your tongue and your heart? Luqman replied: “Truly, there is nothing better than those two pieces if they are good, and nothing worse when they are bad.”
This is because what your tongue utters can take you to the higher stations of the Garden, or it can lead you to the lower levels of Fire.
And the heart… “The heart is that piece of flesh that if it is healthy, the rest of the body will be healthy and if it is corrupt the rest of the body will be corrupt.” Ibn ‘Atiyah, in his commentary on verse 12 of Surat Luqman, ─verse in which Allah says:
“And behold, We gave Luqman the Wisdom: Be thankful to Allah! For those who give thanks, do so for their own benefit, but those who are ungrateful… Verily, Allah is Rich, Praiseworthy” – relates the hadith in which the Messenger Muhammad, salla allaahu alaihi wa sallam, said: “Luqman was not a prophet, but he was a servant of deep reflection and certainty. He loved Allah, the Most High, and He loved him and bestowed Wisdom upon him. He gave her the choice if she wanted to be caliph to govern with the truth. He said, “Lord! If you give me a choice, I prefer well-being rather than going through the hard trials. And whatever You decide on me, I listen and obey, for truly You will protect me.” When the angels heard that Luqman preferred wisdom to prophecy and government, they said to him, “Why have you preferred that, O Luqman?”
He said: “Because the position of the ruler is the hardest and most tiresome: the oppressed stalk him from all sides; if he is right, he may be free, but if he errs, he will mistake his way to the Garden; and whoever has been humble in the world will be better than to have been noble. Whoever chooses the world of Dunia over the Hereafter, will consume this world and will not achieve success in the Hereafter.”
Then the angels were amazed at his good logic; after that, Luqman slept soundly and was given Wisdom and on his awakening he spoke to her.
The sayings and sentences of wisdom of this just and upright man are numerous; among them we find the advice, full of love and tenderness, that he gives to his son and that is found in the Qur’an in the Surat Luqman, (which I strongly recommend to everyone to read and reflect on), in which he gathers the knowledge of belief in Allah, alone and without associate, the knowledge of sincere worship of Allah, knowledge of the mu’amalat, human relationships and transactions, of dealing with parents, with those near and far.
This is why, on numerous occasions, these counsels are taken as a guide and an example for the believer.
Luqman was a contemporary of the Prophet Da’ud, alaihi salam, and often assisted him with his knowledge and wisdom.
Luqman was a man of thick lips, but the words that came out of them were thin and precise, a man with dark skin and a bright and shining heart, a man with wisdom and knowledge of this world and the one to come.
And that’s why, when he was once asked (and this is perhaps one of his favorite hikmas by me): “Oh Luqman, which is the worst among the people?”; he said: “The one who does not care that others see him acting badly.”
That is, one who is not ashamed to commit and make public an act of disobedience and transgression.
And speaking of this, the Messenger Muhammad, salla allaahu alaihi wa sallam, said in a well-known hadith, transmitted by Abu Hurayrah: “All my people are healthy except those who offend; and the scandal is that a man does something reprehensible at night and it dawns in such a way that Allah has covered him; and then, in spite of everything, say and reveal: So-and-so, last night I did this and that!”
This was Luqman, a man who was a slave, but whom Allah uplifted by giving him wisdom and righteousness, a wise man whose words and teachings were in accordance with what was taught and transmitted to us by our Prophet Muhammad, a righteous and righteous man who renounced power and position among the people because of the difficulty and trials that this entails, a father who loved his son and advised him with wisdom and affection, a man who acted according to what he transmitted, a man whom Allah chose and raised above the people by giving him knowledge and wisdom, a man who left us true pearls of wisdom that, if we hold on to them and put them into practice, they will take us, with Allah’s permission, to meet him and our beloved Prophet in the highest place of the Garden.
O Allah we ask you to do so.
Amin

By: Shaikh Ahmed Bermejo from his blog: http://ahmedbermejo.com/