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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books An Enlightening Commentary into the Light of the Holy Qur'an vol.

11 Section 5: Allah is Light Sura An-Nur - Verse 35 اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالاَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ الْمِصْبَاحُ فِي زُجَاجَةٍ الزُّجَاجَةُ كَاَنَّهَا كَوْكَبٌ دُرّ‌ِيٌّ ٌّيُوقَدُ مِن شَجَرَةٍ مُبَارَكَةٍ زَيْتُونَةٍ لاَّ شَرْقِيّـِةٍ وَلاَ غَرْبِيَّةٍ يَكَادُ زَيْتُهَا يُضِيءُ وَلَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نَارٌ نُّورٌ عَلَي نُورٍ يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الاَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ بِكُلّ‌ِ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ 35.

“Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The similitude of His light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is as it were a glittering star, lit from a blessed olive-tree, neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself) though no fire touched it.

Light upon light, Allah guides unto His Light whom He pleases, and Allah sets forth similitudes for mankind, and Allah is All-Aware of all things.” ‘Light’ is something that is itself bright and causes the brightness of other things. In Islamic culture, several things have been mentioned as ‘light’, including: The Holy Qur’an, tradition, knowledge, wisdom, faith, guidance, Islam, the holy Prophet (S), and the Infallible Imams (as).

Imam Ali (as) said: “Nothing I saw unless I saw Allah before it, after it, and along with it.” [^1] Concerning the Pure Essence of Allah a famous Persian poet says: When I look at desert, I see You. When I look at sea, I see You. Whatever I look at, mountain and plain, I see a sign of Your elegant stature. For commenting on the above verse, there have been said many words, and commentators, philosophers, and Islamic mystics have discussed a lot.

The relation of this verse with the previous verses is in this way that in the former holy verses the discussion focused on chastity, struggling against indecency by means of various ways, and since what guarantees the execution of all Divine ordinances, especially controlling unrestrained instincts, more importantly sexual instinct, which is the most powerful one, can not be done without having 'faith' as support, finally the discussion is led to ‘faith’ and its powerful influence, when the verse begins saying: “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth...” What a nice, interesting, and valuable sentence!

Yes Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.

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