And when He, glorified and exalted is He, favored mankind after the deeds that He prepared for them and enabled them to perform, and guided them to them, He coupled the command to obey Him - due to His being the Creator - with the command to be dutiful to parents, for He, exalted is He, made them the cause of existence. He said in this context (p-145) which enumerates the deeds [due to it] in the context of goodness, the best of which is prayer at its appointed time, and the second in rank is being dutiful to parents, as in the authentic narration. In Tirmidhi: "The pleasure of Allah is in the pleasure of parents, and His displeasure is in their displeasure." And in this manner, the habit of the Qur'an is to command obedience to parents after the command to worship Him: "And when We took the covenant from the Children of Israel, do not worship except Allah, and to parents, do good" [Al-Baqarah: 83] ["And worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him, and to parents, do good" [An-Nisa: 36]] and likewise what follows them, adding to what I have decreed or the surah, that it could be said: And We commanded all people to be obedient to Us during the duration of their lives and to avoid disobedience to Us: "And We enjoined upon man" meaning: this type that is at ease with himself "regarding his parents." And when "enjoined" has fulfilled its two objects, the implication is: to come to them with goodness. The Kufans read: "goodness," which is more fitting for the context.

And when the right of the father is apparent, as he has no share in earning, spending, defending, and educating, it was not mentioned, and what is due to the mother was mentioned because her period is brief. Perhaps she may be belittled, so it was said, either as a continuation or as an explanation: "His mother carried him" meaning: after his father placed him (p-146) with her participation in her womb, a burden "with hardship" due to the weight of pregnancy and its ailments and symptoms. "And she gave birth to him" meaning: after the completion of the duration of her pregnancy "with hardship" [Fussilat: 11] This indicates - along with its indication of the obligation of the mother's right - that the matter in his creation is solely for Allah. And He mentioned the middle of what is due to the mother regarding the duration of hardship by mentioning the least duration of pregnancy and concluded the duration of breastfeeding for its regulation. He, exalted is He, said: "And his carrying and weaning" meaning: [and] the duration of his carrying and the limit of weaning from breastfeeding, and He expressed it with weaning to indicate the end because weaning may occur before the end for a purpose, then the need arises and breastfeeding is resumed. "Thirty months" thus the weaning refers to the complete period which was mentioned in Al-Baqarah, and it is known that the least duration of pregnancy is six months, and this is what the physicians have stated. And it may also imply that the least duration of breastfeeding is a year and nine months; because the majority of pregnancies last nine months.

And when what follows that is sometimes shared in its burden by both parents, and sometimes one of them is alone, he omitted their mention and mentioned the particle of purpose, dividing the one who is bequeathed into two categories: obedient and disobedient, mentioning what each one has of reward as good news and warning, guiding to the meaning: and let each one continue to honor both parents or one of them. "Until when he reaches his maturity," he said in the dictionary: his strength, and it is what is between eighteen years and thirty. One is formed on the pattern of the plural as if it were 'kanak', and there is no counterpart to them, or a plural that has no singular from its wording, or one of them is a strength with a break, with [that] the form does not pluralize on 'af'al', or a strength like 'kalb' and 'aklab' or a strength like 'dh'ib' and 'adh'ib'. And they are not heard but are a measure. It has ended.

And what is beneficial here has already passed in Surah Yusuf. Al-Tabarani narrated in the biography of [Ibn] Ahmad ibn Labid al-Bayruti from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that he said: the maturity is thirty-three years, and it is that upon which Jesus son of Mary was raised. Al-Haythami said: and in it is Sadaqa ibn Yazid, whom Abu Zur'ah and Abu Hatim authenticated, and Ahmad and a group weakened him, and the remaining of his men are trustworthy. Al-Zamakhshari said: and it is the first of the maturity and its limit is forty.

And when the days of childhood and youth are, although they are the best of a person's life and the times of his pleasures and the gathering of his wholeness and his comforts, in them the secret of his life often appears due to the predominance of the vile souls over him, the animalistic and predatory ones, for what they carry him upon from the results of desires and impulses of anger and idleness. He expressed what indicates drought, ill omen, and constriction, alerting to that. He said, explaining the maturity and expressing it: ["And he reached forty years"] so his maturity gathered and his determination and seriousness were completed, and the foolishness of youth and the recklessness of ignorance were removed from him. For this reason, this age was the time of the sending of the prophets, and it indicates that the times of youth are lighter in accountability than what follows them, as well as what is between the beginning of maturity and forty. He said: if he is good, accepting of the advice of his Lord: ["My Lord"] meaning: O You who have done good to me by bringing me into existence and facilitating my parents and others and making them subservient to me, ["inspire me"] meaning: make me able ["to be grateful for Your favor"] meaning: an inspiration for gratitude; that is, a restraint that is connected so that it does not overwhelm me at any time. And that gratitude is through the oneness in worship, just as He is unified by the favor of existence and provision. And He unified it in glorification of the command by indicating that the single favor cannot be fully thanked except by the assistance of Allah, while the mention of the parents indicates that what is meant by them is the generality.

And when it was that sometimes a person might think that what is meant by His blessing is His ability to bestow, the meaning would be: that I thank You for being able to bestow. He said: ﴿the one You have bestowed upon me﴾ (p-149) meaning by action, for it is obligatory upon me due to its specificity to me ﴿and upon my parents﴾. Even if it is by the mere existence and well-being in the body, because the blessing upon them is a blessing upon me. And it has been mentioned in the ants what must be brought to mind here.

And when the greatest intended purpose of the past blessing is the blessing of existence, what is meant by thanking for it is the oneness of Allah. He followed it [with the completion of] gratitude by saying: ﴿and that I do good﴾ meaning: I, in my own self, [﴿righteous deeds﴾]. And when the righteous act in themselves may occur without permission in it, he said: ﴿that You are pleased with﴾. The indefiniteness is an indication of the inability to reach the ultimate goal, for no one will truly estimate Allah as He deserves.

And when he called for himself after he advised to uphold the rights of his father, Allah, glorified and exalted is He, taught him the supplication for those who branch from him, urging him to uphold their rights so that they would not be made to dominate him in disobedience. He said: ﴿and make righteous﴾ meaning: bring about righteousness, and he said: ﴿for me in my offspring﴾ because their righteousness will benefit him. The intention behind limiting the action and making them a vessel for him is that it may be firmly established and deeply rooted within them while they are surrounding it, so they may be righteous.

And when he brought to mind at the completeness of reason in his forties that much of the past of his life had been mostly wasted, he called out. And one of the conditions for the acceptance of supplication is repentance. He justified it by saying: ﴿Indeed, I have repented﴾ meaning: I have returned ﴿to You﴾ meaning: from everything that detracts from turning to You. And he emphasized it by informing that his state in turning to desires is like that of one who is far from being able to refrain, so he denies his informing of it. And likewise, his saying: ﴿and indeed, I am of the Muslims﴾ meaning: those who have submitted their outward and inward selves to You, so they have submitted in the best and most complete manner.