Thirty months minus two years
وَوَصَّيْنَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ إِحْسَٰنًا ۖ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُۥ كُرْهًا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًا ۖ وَحَمْلُهُۥ وَفِصَٰلُهُۥ ثَلَٰثُونَ شَهْرًا ۚ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِىٓ أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَىَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَٰلِدَىَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَٰلِحًا تَرْضَىٰهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِى فِى ذُرِّيَّتِىٓ ۖ إِنِّى تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّى مِنَ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ ﴿١٥﴾
Surah Al-Ahqaf · 46:15
Meaning (M. Pickthall, 1930): And We have commended unto man kindness toward parents. His mother beareth him with reluctance, and bringeth him forth with reluctance, and the bearing of him and the weaning of him is thirty months, till, when he attaineth full strength and reacheth forty years, he saith: My Lord! Arouse me that I may give thanks for the favour wherewith Thou hast favoured me and my parents, and that I may do right acceptable unto Thee. And be gracious unto me in the matter of my seed. Lo! I have turned unto Thee repentant, and lo! I am of those who surrender (unto Thee).
The reflection
Thirty months, minus two years. What is left?
In the chapter of the Dunes, God commends kindness to parents: "the bearing of him and the weaning of him is thirty months".
And the chapter of the Cow speaks of two full years of nursing. Ibn Kathir reports that 'Ali deduced from the two verses that the shortest pregnancy is six months: thirty, minus twenty-four. Ibn Kathir calls it a strong, sound deduction.
Al-Sa'di adds: not an hour or two, but thirty months of hardship. That is why God commands kindness to parents. And God knows best.
Sources
- Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim
- al-Sa'di, Taysir al-Karim al-Rahman
- Quran text: Tanzil Project (tanzil.net)
- English meaning: M. Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930)
