The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 562
CH. 17 BANI ISRĀ'ĪL PT. 15 وَاخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ الذُّلِّ مِنَ الرَّحْمَةِ And lower to them the wing. 25 وَقُل رَّبِّ ارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيني صَغيرات of humility out of tenderness. And say, "My Lord, have mercy on them even as they nourished me childhood. 1954 in my "14:42; 46:16; 71:29. (setting up equals with Him). In the case of parents, however, he is given a positive commandment, because he is in a position to return their love and kindness, though only very inadequately. So he is commanded to be generous to them. 1954. Important Words: is جناح wing of humility) جناح الذل derived from which means, he or it inclined, leaned or propended. They say i. e. the bird contracted its wings to descend and approached like one falling and repairing to a place of refuge. W means, the night came on. means wing; hand; upper arm or arm from the shoulder to the elbow; edge; side; wing of an army; protection; a part or portion of a thing. The Arabs say hi. e. he has his wings clipped, meaning, he lacks strength or power or ability. One would say i. e. I am under the protection of such a one. هو The words, with thee, are significant. They show that when the parents of a person are dependent on him and live with him, he must be specially on his guard against using any harsh words about them. The words have been added because when a man's parents are living with him, there is always the likelihood for differences to arise and consequently for the embitterment of mutual means, he lowered to him relations. Moreover, when a person spends his money for another he is inclined to think that he has a right to exercise his authority over him. The Quran therefore has emphasized that extra care should be taken in our relations towards our parents. In Arabic the word (uff) is used to express one's disgust by words of mouth and (nahr) is used to express it by an actual deed. So by the combination of these two words in this verse the Quran means to say that we should never speak harshly to our parents, much less act unkindly towards them. his wing. The Quranic expression Ja, means, And make soft to them thy submissive side i. e. treat them with gentleness and submissiveness or lower to them the wing of submissiveness, meaning, be submissive to them (Lane & Aqrab). 1770 (dhull) is derived from Js (dhalla) which means, he or it was or became low, abject, despicable, humble and weak; he or it (an animal) was or became easy, tractable, submissive or manageable; it (a road) was or became beaten or trodden so as to be rendered easy to walk or ride upon; it (a tank) was or became broken. J