حکمت قرآن کریم میں

The Qurʾan mentions in Sūrat Luqmān a gift that God granted to a man who was neither a prophet nor a king: "And We had certainly given Luqmān wisdom (al-ḥikmah), [saying]: Be grateful to God" [31:12]. And the Qurʾan did not follow this gift with a description of theoretical knowledge or a passing acquaintance, but with a single practical counsel: that he be grateful to God. Then the sura opens a window onto Luqmān's counsels to his son, and behold, they are all of this sort: practical stances, not abstract theories. This pairing between "wisdom" and a specific practical stance — gratitude — is the entryway with which this article opens the concept of wisdom in the Qurʾan.

Delimiting the word and the count

The root "ḥ-k-m" occurs in the Qurʾan two hundred and ten times, in thirteen forms, and it is among the most frequently occurring Qurʾanic roots. But this large number is distributed over entirely distinct semantic fields: the field of "al-ḥukm" in the sense of judgment and adjudication between people (the verb "ḥakama" occurring forty-five times, the noun "ḥukm" occurring thirty times, and the active participle "ḥākim/ḥukkām" occurring six times); the field of "al-Ḥakīm" as a name of the beautiful names of God or a description of the Qurʾan itself (occurring ninety-seven times, the most frequent in the whole root, often paired with "ʿAzīz" [Mighty] or "ʿAlīm" [Knowing]); and the field of "al-muḥkam" in the sense of the well-fashioned, clear in signification, describing the verses of the Qurʾan (twice). As for the field that concerns us in this article, it is the noun "al-ḥikmah" specifically, which occurs only twenty times out of two hundred and ten — and it is the direct verbal witness for wisdom as a virtue granted to a human being, entirely distinct from the field of adjudication and judgment which is an independent juristic and political concept with its own chapter.

The linguistic root: from the bridle of the beast to the bridle of the intellect

Ibn Fāris mentions in *Maqāyīs al-Lughah* that the origin of the ḥāʾ, the kāf, and the mīm is one, which is "prevention"; and from that the "ḥakamah of the beast" — which is the piece of the bridle placed in the mouth of the horse — was named by this name because it prevents it from bolting; one says "I bridled the beast (ḥakamtu al-dābbah)" when you place the ḥakamah upon it and thus prevent it. And he mentions that the Arabs used the same verb for a metaphorical meaning, saying "I restrained the fool (ḥakamtu al-safīh)," that is, I prevented him from his foolishness and took hold of his hand. Then he seals it by saying: "And wisdom (ḥikmah) is from this, because it prevents from ignorance"^[1]. So wisdom, then, in its linguistic origin, is not a mere knowledge or information, but a restraining power resembling the bridle of the beast: just as the bridle prevents the horse from bolting and blind rushing, so wisdom prevents its possessor from acting with ignorance, recklessness, or an uncalculated impulse.

Wisdom is hitting the truth, not merely knowing it

Al-Rāghib al-Aṣfahānī, in *al-Mufradāt fī Gharīb al-Qurʾan*, formulated a comprehensive definition of wisdom consistent with its linguistic origin that just passed, saying that it is "hitting the truth by knowledge and intellect," and detailed that wisdom from God is "the knowledge of things and their bringing into existence at the utmost of perfection," and from man is "the knowledge of existents and the doing of good deeds"^[2]. And the word "hitting (iṣābah)" here is deliberate, not superfluous: for hitting entails a target that is hit, that is, a correct place whose attainment is sought, not the mere theoretical possession of the correct information. For a person may know the truth and not hit with it its appropriate place, so he says it at the wrong time or does it in the wrong way, so he misses the hitting even if he hit the knowledge. And this accords entirely with the image of the bridle: for the bridle does not prevent the horse from movement, but directs its movement to where it ought to go; and likewise wisdom does not prevent its possessor from knowledge, but directs his knowledge to where it hits rather than where it misses.

The central structure: a gift, not a self-attained effort

And the clearest thing that distinguishes the Qurʾan's use of the word "al-ḥikmah" is that it always links it to the act of divine giving, not to self-attained effort or the accumulation of experience alone: "He gives wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever is given wisdom has certainly been given much good" [2:269]. For the verb recurring with "al-ḥikmah" in the Qurʾan is "gave (ātā)" and "taught (ʿallama)," not "acquired" or "learned by himself." And this departs from a common conception that sees wisdom as the fruit of the accumulation of experiences alone; for the Qurʾan does not deny that experience has an effect, but insists that the essence of wisdom is a Lordly gift that can be granted to a youth who has not experienced life long, as it was granted to Yaḥyā (peace be upon him) while he was a boy: "O Yaḥyā, take the Scripture with strength. And We gave him judgment [while yet] a boy" [19:12], or to Solomon while he was young in the case of the crop and the sheep [21:78–79], in which his father David did not grasp it with the same understanding despite his precedence in age.

A recurrent model: wisdom alongside the Book

And among the clearest patterns in the distribution of the word is that ten of twenty places — exactly half the occurrences — pair "wisdom" with "the Book" in a nearly fixed phrase: "teaching them the Book and wisdom" [2:129, and in the same meaning 2:151, 2:231, 3:48, 3:81, 4:54, 4:113, 5:110, 33:34, 62:2]. So wisdom, in this recurrent pattern, is not mentioned alone, but always paired with the revealed revelation, as though the Qurʾan establishes that true wisdom is inseparable from the knowledge of the Book, even if not identical to it; for the Book is a text that is recited, and wisdom is an understanding that is granted for applying that text to the changing reality of life.

Another model: wisdom is a method of calling, not merely content

And wisdom in the Qurʾan is not confined to being a knowledge its possessor carries, but extends to describe the method of conveying that knowledge to others: "Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction" [16:125]. For the verse does not content itself with commanding calling to the truth, but qualifies it with a specific method: that the correct word be placed in its appropriate place, in the appropriate measure, for the appropriate listener. And this accords with the linguistic meaning this article established: for just as the bridle prevents the horse from blind rushing, so wisdom prevents the caller from delivering the truth in a way that repels rather than draws near, thus restraining his impulse by what suits the occasion.

A third model: two distinct human models of wisdom

The Qurʾan presents two human models of those given wisdom, entirely different in their standing: David (peace be upon him), the prophet who was given "decisive speech" [38:20], that is, the ability of decisive judgment between disputants; and Luqmān, the righteous man who was not a prophet, who was given a wisdom that manifested in educational advice to his son, not in judgment between contenders. And this diversity in the models of wisdom discloses that it is not exclusive to the standing of prophethood or judgment, but a gift that can manifest in multiple arenas: a just judgment, or a wise upbringing, or advice in its place, according to the standing of its possessor and his responsibility.

A fourth model: a wisdom the warner alone cannot compel

And in Sūrat al-Qamar, after a series of scenes of the nations that denied their messengers and so were destroyed, the verses seal with the words of God: "Extensive wisdom — but warnings avail not" [54:5]. So wisdom here is a description of the Qurʾan itself and of the method of warning it carries: a wisdom that reached its utmost in clarity and elucidation, and yet did not avail a people who insisted on turning away. And in this is an important reminder: that wisdom, however great its perfection in itself, does not impose itself by force upon one who has closed his heart to accepting it; for it is a gift that is offered, not imposed.

"Leave him, and pour a bucket of water over his urine"

And among the clearest places of applying the words of God "Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom" in the prophetic biography is what Abū Hurayrah (may God be pleased with him) narrated, that a bedouin urinated in the mosque, and the people rose to fall upon him, so the Prophet ﷺ said: "Leave him, and pour over his urine a bucket of water, for you were sent only to make things easy, and you were not sent to make things difficult"^[3]. The bedouin was ignorant not only of the sanctity of the mosque, but was also ignorant of the state of those around him; and yet the Prophet ﷺ did not meet him with the reproach that could have repelled him from Islam altogether, but prevented his Companions from the immediate reaction, then treated the effect of the act in the easiest way, then taught him afterward with gentleness. This situation is a living application of what this article concluded — that wisdom is a method of calling, not merely content: for the Prophet ﷺ possessed the truth and possessed the authority to apply it immediately and severely, but his wisdom bridled that authority from haste, so he thereby hit the place of teaching rather than the place of repelling.

The Prophetic witness

Ibn Masʿūd (may God be pleased with him) narrated, and al-Bukhārī and Muslim recorded, that the Prophet ﷺ said: "There is no envy except in two: a man to whom God gave wealth and empowered him to spend it in the truth, and a man to whom God gave wisdom and he judges by it and teaches it"^[4]. And the hadith did not mention wisdom as a knowledge that is stored, but as a double act: a judgment that is applied, and a teaching that is transmitted. So wisdom in this hadith, as in the verses of the Qurʾan, has no value while it is confined to the breast of its possessor; its value appears only when it moves: matters are judged by it, and it is taught to others.

An objective-based (maqāṣidī) reading

The scholars observe that the Qurʾan made wisdom, when it is mentioned paired with the Book, often precede purification (tazkiyah) in the verbal ordering of some verses, and follow it in others, and this suggests that the relationship between them is complementary rather than a strict ordering: for purification cleanses the soul of vices, and wisdom grants it the ability to place matters in their correct places. And some link this with the linguistic origin with which this article opened: for whoever's soul is cleansed (by purification) but remains without a wisdom that prevents him from poor judgment may mean well and err in the act; and whoever is given wisdom but whose soul is not cleansed may judge well and corrupt the intent. So the gathering of the two is the perfection with which the verses described the prophets and the righteous.

The contemporary applied dimension

Many confuse wisdom with intelligence, supposing that quickness of wit or an abundance of information is enough to describe a person as wise. But the linguistic origin this article has disclosed proposes a different criterion: wisdom is not in knowing much, but in the ability to restrain the impulse toward what one knows when his word or act is not appropriate to the moment. For the wise one is he who possesses the information and possesses, at the same time, the reins of himself against saying or doing it out of its place. And in a time in which every opinion has become subject to immediate publication without a bridle, the scene of the beast's bridle serves as a practical reminder: that a person ask himself, before he speaks or acts, not only "is this correct?" but also "is this appropriate now, for this person, in this way?" For that distance between correct knowledge and appropriate action by it is the home of wisdom.

And the pairing of wisdom with gratitude in the story of Luqmān, with which this article opened, serves as another criterion for testing a person's wisdom in his daily decisions: for whenever a person faces a choice, he asks whether this choice leads him to more gratitude to God and acknowledgment of His favor, or to more self-conceit and forgetfulness of the Benefactor? For if the answer is the first, then that is a trace of the traces of true wisdom, not a mere clever decision that succeeded in achieving an immediate benefit.

And this also connects with what was established in another article of this series on consultation (shūrā), where it became clear that extracting the opinion from others is a step without which wisdom is not completed; for the wise one does not content himself with the bridle of himself against haste, but seeks the aid of the minds of those around him to weigh the matter from angles he would not have seen alone, so that an individual wisdom and a collective wisdom gather for him together.

Luqmān's counsels to his son: when wisdom becomes upbringing

And if one wishes to see wisdom embodied in its practical content rather than in its abstract definition, then Sūrat Luqmān itself, with which this article opened, details what the effect of that wisdom came to when it was translated into a father's counsel to his son. Luqmān begins with the foundation of creed: "O my son, do not associate [anything] with God" [31:13], then moves to the watchfulness of God in the most precise matters: "Indeed, if it should be the weight of a mustard seed… God will bring it forth" [31:16], then to the establishment of prayer, the enjoining of good, and patience over harm [31:17], and ends with two counsels on social manners: that he not turn his cheek away from people out of arrogance, and that he be moderate in his walk and lower his voice, "for the most disagreeable of sounds is the voice of donkeys" [31:19]. So these six counsels — the rejection of associating partners, the watchfulness over minutiae, the establishment of prayer, the enjoining of good, patience, and humility in bearing and voice — are not a random list, but a gradual application of what this article opened with: a creed bridled from associating partners, a soul bridled from heedlessness, and a character bridled from arrogance. So Luqmān's wisdom, in its complete image, was not information he stored for himself, but a bridle that passed from his heart to the upbringing of his son.

Conclusion

From Luqmān who was given wisdom, so that the first of its effects was gratitude and the last of them a counsel to his son, to the bridle of a beast that prevents it from bolting, to a prophet who bridled the anger of his Companions from an ignorant bedouin, to a hadith describing wisdom as being judged by and taught rather than stored, the Qurʾan draws for wisdom a single unchanging meaning: a gift that is granted, not invented, preventing its possessor from the bolting of ignorance as the bridle prevents the horse from its bolting, and whose value is not completed except when he hits with it its correct place.

And God knows best; He is the Teacher of wisdom to whom He wills of His servants.