Imam Musa al-Kazim (a.s.) said, "Luqman was asked, 'what is the crux of your wisdom?'

He said, 'I do not ask about that which I know already and I do not burden myself with that which does not concern me."

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The Lord of the worlds has made a mention of Luqman in the Holy Qur'an,

And certainly we gave wisdom to Luqman, sayings: Be grateful to Allah. And whoever is grateful, he is only grateful for his own soul and whoever is ungrateful, then surely Allah is Self-sufficient, Praised. And when Luqman said to his son while he admonished him: O my son! Do not associate ought with Allah; most surely polytheism is a grievous inequity -O my son! Surely if it is the very weight of the grain of a mustard -seed, even though it is in (the heart of) rock, or (high above) in the heaven or (deep down) in the earth, Allah will bring it (to light); surely Allah is Knower of subtleties, Aware. O my son! Keep up prayer and enjoin the good and forbid the evil, and bear patiently that which befalls you; surely these acts require courage: And do not turn your face away from people in contempt, nor go about in the land exulting overmuch; surely Allah does not love any self-conceited boaster: And pursue the right course in your going about and lower your voice; surely the most hateful of voice is braying of the asses. (31:12, 13, 16-19)

Shaykh Tabarsi says there is difference of opinion about Luqman. Some say he knew Divine Wisdom but was not a Prophet. Some say that he was a Prophet. Other commentators have said that Luqman was son of Bao'or and belonged to the Az tribe and that he was the son of the sister of the aunt of Ayyub; that he lived up to the time of Dawud and learned knowledge from him.

It is recorded in reliable sources that Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq said, "I swear by Allah and say that Allah did not give wisdom owing to his lineage, wealth, family or physique but only because he was steadfast in obeying Allah and refraining from His disobedience. He was a silent gentleman who never talked without wisdom. He possessed a peaceful heart and a thoughtful mind. His eyes were ever ready to pick up admonition and did not required others' advice. He did not sleep in daytime. Nobody ever saw him bathing or answering nature's calls openly like others of that time because he carried out all such affairs secretly. He had a sharp eye but he never liked to be aware of others' secrets. He never laughed on any occasion fearing his sins nor did he frown upon anybody for his own sake. He never ridiculed anyone. He neither became overjoyed by getting any worldly gift nor became sorrowful due to losing anything. He married many women and begot many children. Many of his children died but he never wept at their loss nor counted their number to be proud (of their number).

He never went away from two quarrelling persons until he made peace between them and they gave up fighting. He never got pleased with anyone's good word unless he obtained its meaning and explanation. He also asked from whom the other person heard it. Most of the time he sat with the wise, the intelligent and jurisprudents. He used to go to the judges and the kings and the rulers only to get lesson from their conditions. While seeing the judges he used to be kind looking to their difficult duties. He was also kind toward the kings thinking that being ignorant they were running away from Allah and were loving the material world. He took lessons from their (kings) events. He also used to remember some of their undesirable things whereby he controlled his desires. He was fought his desires and kept away from conspiracies of Satan. He was treating the diseases of his soul through contemplation and by obtaining lessons from worldly people. He never moved from his place unless he had a hope of any gain by doing anything. Because of all these qualities Allah had bestowed upon him His wisdom and had made him sinless. In the middle part of a day when the rest of the people were taking rest Allah sent some of His angels to Luqman. The angels called Luqman but in such a way that he could only hear their voice without seeing them.

The angels asked him, "O Luqman! Do you wish that Allah may make you His caliph so that you may solve people affairs (disputes etc)?" Luqman replied, "If the Lord of the worlds commands me to do so I will obey Him because, if I accept it by His order, He will help me, will also teach me the necessary things for that office and he will then also protect me from making mistakes. But if He has given me an option about accepting that post I would prefer safety (I want to be excused)." The angels asked, "Why so?" Luqman replied, "Though settling people's disputes carries much value in the sight of Allah and it has much weight in the religion of Allah, its tests and criterions are also very hard. If Allah does not help someone and leaves him on his own then oppression and darkness encircles him from all sides. Such a man is discarded. He will either make correct judgment and be saved or will make mistake and will become deviated. The one who becomes dishonorable in the world will be better off in the Hereafter because the one who orders becomes big in the eyes of the people and the one who purchases this world at the cost of the Hereafter suffers loss in both the places because this world slips away from him very soon and he had no share in the Hereafter."

Hearing this, the angels were astonished at his wisdom and intelligence and the Lord liked their dialogue. When night fell and Luqman went to bed Allah rained the radiance of wisdom on him and made him full of light. He was asleep and Allah covered him with the cloth of wisdom. When he arose he was the wisest man of his time. He came out before the people when words of wisdom were coming out of his mouth and he was describing the Divine wisdom and intelligence and justice to all. And when he did not accept Prophethood, Allah asked the angels to invite Dawud to it. Dawud accepted and did not put forth the conditions that Luqman had submitted. So Allah made him His caliph in the world on earth. Allah, often tested those (Prophets) and on some occasions they missed the preferable (Tark al-Awla) and Allah pardoned them for it. Luqman used to meet Dawud often and give him words of wisdom and admonition. Dawud used to tell him: Congratulations! For you have been given wisdom, and tests have been lifted up from you and caliphate has been given to Dawud and he has been put to test. Luqman gave so many admonitions to his son that he became embodiment of the enlightening wisdom of Luqman."

Some of the admonitions given by Luqman to his son are:

O My son! From the very day you have arrived in the world you have turned your back to the world and verily turned your face toward the Hereafter (you have started your journey toward the Hereafter from the very moment you were born), and you are passing various stages of that journey. Hence the house towards which you have turned your face is coming nearer and nearer to you and the house in which you are now is getting more and more away from you every day. O my son! Be a companion of the wise and sit with them and do not argue with them that they may prevent their knowledge from you. Take from this world only that which is essential and enough for you. Also do not give up earning in this world that you may become needy (and others may have to care for you). Also do not get involved so much in this world that you may lose your Hereafter. Fast to an extent your passions are controlled. Do not fast so much that you may not have strength enough even for performing your prayer because Allah loves prayers more than fasting. This world is a deep ocean. Innumerable people have drowned in it and destroyed due to it. So it is essential for you to make faith your ship for saving yourself from the dangers of this world. You should make 'Reliance on only one Allah' the sail of your ship. You provision in the ship should be avoidance of the illegal and the undesirable. Thereafter if you are saved it is due to Allah's Mercy and if you get destroyed it is because of your sins. According to another narration, "O Son! Make the fear of Allah your ship and that the capital you should put in it should be faith in Allah, His Prophets and their Words. The sail of your ship should be reliance on Allah; the captain must be intelligence which should direct its course; its guide ought to be knowledge and its anchor should be refraining from the prohibited and patience for bearing the hardships in obeying Allah.

O Son! If you learn discipline in childhood you will benefit from it after you grow up. One who knows the grace of good behavior tries to achieve it and who cares to achieve it also tolerates the hardships of that path and the one who achieves virtues like this also makes great efforts in maintaining them and when he obtains those virtues he adorns himself with them and when he becomes the embodiment of those virtues he gets their benefits in both this life and in the Hereafter. So be habituated with good habits so that you may prove to be the heir of the virtuous and benefit those who come after you, that they may follow your footsteps and your friends may hope for good from you and your enemies remain afraid of you. Never remain slack in the matter of attaining virtue nor pay any attention to anything except good behavior and habits. If people defeat you and snatch away the world (material things) from you, do not worry. Rather try to assure that you may not be defeated in the otherworldly (spiritual) matters; that no one may be able to snatch away the Hereafter from you that is, you may not obtain knowledge from where it should be obtained. You must set aside some hours in the day and night for achieving knowledge because there is nothing which can destroy man's knowledge. The example is that of giving up learning. It means, giving up learning is the results of your losing whatever knowledge you have learned. (So be after it and continue learning). Do not quarrel with the quarrelsome nor argue with any wise and learned person. Do not make the rich your enemy and do not keep company of the oppressors and do not cultivate brotherhood with a sinner nor sit with a disgraced and notorious person and keep your knowledge hidden just as you hide your wealth.

My precious son! Fear Allah, as He deserves to be feared. Be afraid of Him even if you have at your credit all the virtues and good deeds done by all men and jinn if you have to stand before Him for giving account of your deeds. You should always be afraid of His chastisement. Similarly also remain hopeful of His Mercy even if you have sinned totaling the sins of all men and jinn and be hopeful that He will forgive you. Hearing this, the son said, My respected father! From where can I get enough strength to entertain both hope and fear together when I have only one heart in my chest? Luqman said, My son! If a faithful heart is cut open two rays will come out o it. One light of the fear of Allah and the other light of hope from Allah. If both the lights are weighted neither will weigh either more or less even by the weight of an atom. So one who believes in Allah, also testifies to His Words and the one who testifies His Words also acts according to His commands and if someone does not act according to the word of Allah then surely he did not understand (believe) the words of Allah because some of the virtues give witness of some other virtues. So the one who has truly and sincerely believed in Allah will surely act honestly for Allah with a hope for good. One who acts in this way really believes in Allah and the one who believes in Allah also fears Him and the one who fears Him loves Him and the one who loves Him also obeys Him and the one who obeys Him makes himself eligible for His pleasure and Paradise and the one who does not want Allah's pleasure makes His punishment swift upon him and I seek Allah's protection from His punishment.

O my dear son! Do not have a wish for the world and do not engage yourself in it because no creation of Allah is more worthless than the world in the sight of Allah. Do you not see that Allah has not made the worldly bounties the reward of His obedient nor has He made the worldly hardships the punishment of His disobedient and the sinners?

According to another reliable tradition, Imam as-Sadiq said that Luqman said (as a will) to his son: O my son! You must keep a weapon ready by which you can fell (defeat) your enemy and that weapon (tactic) is that you should shake hands with him and show pleasure to him without separating from him, without showing enmity to him so that he may reveal to you what is hidden in his heart about harming you.

My son! I have lifted iron and stone and all heavy things and have been able to bear their weight but have not found anything heavier than an evil neighbor. I have tasted bitter things but have not found anything more bitterly than restlessness and need for others.

It is mentioned in another hadith that Luqman said, O my son! Make a thousand friends because even a thousand friends are less but do not make even one enemy because even one enemy is sufficient.

It is recorded from same Imam in another hadith that 'Ali said, "One of the admonitions of Luqman to his son is:

The one whose faith in Allah's attribute of being the Provider is less, must take a lesson of advice and the one who is weak in asking provision from the Almighty must take a lesson of advice because it is only Allah who brought him from non-existence into existence and gave him provision in three states and there was no source of getting provision whatsoever in any of the said three states. So he much have rest assured that He will provide him maintenance in the fourth state of his life also. One of the above mentioned three states is when he was in the womb of his mother. It was only Allah who provided him sustenance and sheltered him in a restful place where he suffered neither heat nor cold. In another state he was brought out of his mother's womb by Allah and he provided his provision of milk from his mother's breast. It was a pure and clean and enough for him in that state. Allah nourished and raised him in that state wherein there was no other source of nourishment and training, no strength for earning and no power of warding off harms.

The third state was when his milk supply ended. Then he was provided maintenance through his parent's earnings that spent on him with maximum love and pleasure and compassion, so much so that sometimes they gave him preference over themselves. This continued until he grew up and got enough strength and intelligence to earn his provision himself. Then he himself made things difficult for him by entertaining undesirable thoughts about his Lord and did not spend for fulfilling and observing the rights of Allah and began to give less to his family members fearing loss of wealth thereby losing faith in Allah. This was despite the fact that Allah always rewards him for spending in His path both in this world and in Hereafter. So bad indeed is such a slave."

My son! Everything has a sign by which it is recognized. That sign gives witness for that thing. So religion too has three signs: Faith (Iman), Knowledge (Ilm) and Deeds (A'mal). Faith has three signs: Testifying of Allah's Books. Knowledge also has three signs: Knowing his Lord, ascertaining what his Lord likes and what He dislikes. Again there are three signs of the one who acts according to his Knowledge: Daily prayers, fasts and Zakat poor tax. Also there are three signs of a man who closes the door of knowledge for himself and does not become learned: He quarrels with one who is wiser than him, mentions things which are higher than his level of intelligence though he acts against it, oppresses the weak and assists the oppressors. And there are three sings of the hypocrites: His tongue does not corroborate his heart, his heart does not corroborate his character and his outward appearance is different from his inner self.

There are three signs of a sinner: He embezzles people's wealth, tells lies and acts contrary to his words. There are three signs of ostentation: He is slack in his worship while he is alone but makes a show of full attentiveness in worship while in public and he does it so that people may praise him. The envious has also three signs: He backbites people and flatters them on the face, feels happy when people are in trouble. There are three sings of extravagant: He eats things which are beyond his capacity and so also he wears likewise, and he feeds others crossing his limits of capacity. There are three signs of an indolent: He is slack in doing good deeds and he postpones good deeds until and unless he is threatened and he becomes so lazy that the job is spoiled and thus he becomes a defaulter. There are three signs of a negligent man: He is doubtful in his worship, becomes careless in matter of remembering his Lord and he forgets good deeds.

O my son! Do not ask for things which are not within your power and for which you do not have sources and leave aside things which you can achieve and for which you have resources so that you opinion may not falter and your wisdom may not go waste.

My son! Confront your enemy by giving up the prohibited, help yourself by achieving grace in your religion through magnanimity. Keep your soul clean of Allah's disobedience. Keep your secrets hidden and your inner self, pure. When you will do so you will due to Allah's secret, (will) have no fear of your enemy becoming aware of your weakness and defect. Do not become fearless (careless) of the enemy's conspiracies, lest he finds you unaware and overpowers you and then there will be no excuse. You should always show him your happiness.

My son! Hard work for attaining a useful thing should be considered light and less effort in achieving a harmful thing should be considered heavy.

O my son! Do no go against the prevalent practice of company while with people and do not expect from them things which are difficult for them otherwise your companions will abhor your forever and others will also part company with you and you will become lonely. There will be no companion to sympathize with you and no friend to help you. When you will become alone, you also will be disrespected and valueless. Do not offer excuse before a person who may not accept your apology and who may not recognize any of your rights. Do not seek anybody's help for serving your purpose except the one who may charge something for that service, because, in that case he will do your job just as he does something for himself. In this way, after fulfilling that need, he will be benefited both in this passing world as well as get some reward in the Hereafter and hence he will make a good effort to do that job. You should also select compassionate, wealthy, wise and respected persons for making friends or for seeking help in your affairs so that if you give them any benefit, they may thank you and if you part with them they may remember you.

O my son! If the learned persons whom you have befriended are loyal to you then you must think of improving yourself. If they turn away from you then keep distance from them because their enmity will be more harmful to you than the enmity of others, because, people will believe whatever they will say about you as they know you.