وَوَصَّيْنَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ حُسْنًا وَإِن جَٰهَدَاكَ لِتُشْرِكَ بِى مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِۦ عِلْمٌ فَلَا تُطِعْهُمَآ
"We enjoined upon the human being kindness towards his parents. But if they press you to associate with Me something of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them."
| Place | The counsel | Description of hardship | Note on compulsion |
|---|---|---|---|
| al-Aḥqāf 46/15 | Bi-wālidayhi iḥsānā | Kurhan … kurhā | — |
| Luqmān 31/14-15 | Bi-wālidayh | Wahnan ʿalā wahn | Present — wa ṣāḥibhumā fi'd-dunyā maʿrūfā |
| al-ʿAnkabūt 29/8 | Bi-wālidayhi ḥusnā | Absent | Present — with no continuation |
The three verses establish the same ruling, but each opens a different side of it. This is a weave that can be verified from the text.
And the difference in al-ʿAnkabūt must be recorded: here there is no description of hardship and no note saying "keep good company with them" either. The verse comes in its barest form: the counsel + the exception.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the subject of the sūra: al-ʿAnkabūt is a sūra of trial. The pressure exerted by parents occurs as one of the forms of trial enumerated in the first block — indeed fitna had been under discussion in the preceding verses. In Luqmān the same verse was part of a list of counsels; there the emphasis fell on keeping the relationship going.