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سُورَةُ الإِسۡرَاءِ · 17:23
MeccanRevelation order ٥٠Juzʾ ١٥Page ٢٨٤

۞ وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ وَبِٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَٰنًا ۚ إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِندَكَ ٱلْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَآ أَوْ كِلَاهُمَا فَلَا تَقُل لَّهُمَآ أُفٍّۢ وَلَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُل لَّهُمَا قَوْلًۭا كَرِيمًۭا

٢٣
Saheeh International · EN

And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as], "uff," and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word.

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Introduction

This is āyah 23 of Sūrat Al-Israa (The Night Journey), the 50th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 15. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

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Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Meccan
Order revealed
50 of 114
Surah
Al-Israa (17)
Occasion of revelation · Al-Wahidi

And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and beautiful doing toward your parents. In this verse the wise Lord, the eternal Enactor, the lovingly kind and generous Beautiful-Doer commands the servants to servanthood. Servanthood is three things: seeing favor, striving in service, and fear of the end. Seeing favor belongs to Abraham the bosom friend, who said, “Who created me, so He is guiding me” [26:78]. Striving in service belongs to MuḤammad the beloved, to whom it was said, “We did not send down the Qur'an upon thee for thee to be wretched” [20:2]. Fear of the end belongs to Joseph the sincerely truthful, who said, “Receive me as a submitter” [12:101]. When someone stands in the field of servanthood in the row of service and sets his feet in the clay of what he desires, making the Exalted Presence the Kaabah of his wishes, God will put the folk of the empire into his service and will take care of his work in the two worlds without him. This is why MuṣṬafā said, “When someone belongs to God, God belongs to him.” When- ever someone has no watchfulness in servanthood, he will have no contemplation on the carpet of proximity. Know also that the wayfarers in the road of servanthood are three men: One is the worshiper, whose soul is subjugated by the fear of punishment. One is the recognizer, whose heart is subju- gated by the forcefulness of proximity. One is the lover, whose spirit is subjugated by the unveil- ing of the Haqiqah. Whenever the worshiper wants to lift away the bond of struggle from his days, at once he looks at the title-page of the Real's rebuke and throws down his head in the station of shame. Whenever the recognizer wants to make manifest the banner of happiness and expansiveness by virtue of proximity, at once the ruling power of the Real's awesomeness appears and he falls into the lowland of confoundedness. Whenever the lover gazes at majesty, at once he melts in awe, seeing only bewilderment in bewilderment. Whenever he gazes at beauty, he delights in happiness and revelry, seeing only light and joy. In the tongue of his state he says, “Your beauty is my pleasure, Your approval my delight, and among all the religions Your love is my religion.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

And your Lord has Qada [decreed] that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor reprimand them but address them in terms of honor (23)And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy, and say: "My Lord! Bestow on them Your mercy as they did bring me up when I was young. (24) The Command to Worship Allah Alone and to be Dutiful to One's Parents Allah commands us to worship Him alone, with no partner or associate. The word Qada [normally having the meaning of decree] here means "commanded". Mujahid said that وَقَضَىٰ (And He has Qada) means enjoined. This is also how Ubayy bin Ka'b, Ibn Mas'ud and Ad-Dahhak bin Muzahim recited the Ayah as: وَوَصَّى رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ "And your Lord has Wassa [enjoined] that you wors…
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

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Provenance

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