Translation of the meanings Ayah 24 Surah Al-Isrā’ - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

Ayah: 24

وَٱخۡفِضۡ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ ٱلذُّلِّ مِنَ ٱلرَّحۡمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱرۡحَمۡهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِي صَغِيرٗا

(24) Lower the wing of humbleness out of mercy^[3548] to them and say: “My Lord! Show mercy to them for they nurtured me when I was young!”^[3549]

[3548] This is a metaphor for the utmost humbleness that one has to assume when dealing with one’s parents. This is a beautiful imagery of a bird lowering its wing as when it does to hug its young or draw its mate closer (cf. Abū Ḥayyān, Abū al-Suʿūd): “And We have commanded every human to ˹honour˺ his parents. His mother bore him through hardship upon hardship, and his weaning takes two years. So be grateful to Me and your parents. To Me is the final return. *But if they pressure you to Associate with Me what you have no knowledge of, do not obey them. Still keep their company in this world courteously, and follow the way of those who turn to Me ˹in devotion˺. Then to Me you will ˹all˺ return, and then I will inform you of what you used to do” (31: 14-15).
[3549] One is to invoke God’s Mercy for one’s parents, whether dead or alive, for their charity towards one during one’s most weak and needing phase in life, i.e. early childhood (cf. Abū Ḥayyān Ibn Kathīr, al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar).