By Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam
29 September 2016
اللَّهُ
نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ الْمِصْبَاحُ
فِي زُجَاجَةٍ الزُّجَاجَةُ كَأَنَّهَا كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌّ يُوقَدُ مِن شَجَرَةٍ مُّبَارَكَةٍ
زَيْتُونِةٍ لَّا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَلَا غَرْبِيَّةٍ يَكَادُ زَيْتُهَا يُضِيءُ وَلَوْ
لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نَارٌ نُّورٌ عَلَى نُورٍ يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَن يَشَاءُ وَيَضْرِبُ
اللَّهُ الْأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ
Allah is the Light of the heavens and
the earth. The Parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a
Lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: Lit
from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil
is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light! – Allah
guides to His light whom He pleases, and Allah sets forth parables for men, and
Allah is Cognizant of all things. (al-Nur, 24/35)
One of the most beautiful and commented
verses of the Qur’an is the verse of light (Ayat al-Nur), which exegetes,
mystics and philosophers have all discussed, and about which they have offered
opinions according to their understanding.
The method of communicating something
indescribable using the insufficient vocabulary of the language is by the use
of allegory, metaphor and simile; the verse above also falls under the category
of allegory. However, there is another verse of the Quran which tells us what
the metaphors used in the verse mean.
Allah is the
light of the heavens and the earth;
Light is another word for knowledge since
it illuminates the reality around us and makes it known to us.
This Ayat or verse occurs in Surah Nur or
The Light which has 14 sections, and each section deals with some aspect of the
law or the moral way of living. The connection of the Ayat with the moral way
of living is unmistakable. Besides, the main objective of the Book is to show
mankind the straight path and to complete the Deen or give the complete way of
living which is the moral way of living. This is covered in more detail in my
article:
Science and Religion
The following Ayat explains the meaning of
the metaphors used in the Ayat al-Nur
(10:37) This Qur´an is not such as can be
produced by other than Allah; on the contrary it is a confirmation of
(revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book -
wherein there is no doubt - from the Lord of the worlds.
The Deen-e Islam expounded in the Quran can
be seen as both a confirmation and fuller explanation of what could arguably be
the very first moral principle given by God to mankind.
“Do
unto others as you would have them do unto you”
It is easy to see that the very first moral
principle is self-luminous and has guided mankind to transition from the stage
of living like a savage to civilization. No civilization was possible without
this moral principle. The self-luminous olive oil from a sacred tree is the
metaphor used for it.
يَكَادُ
زَيْتُهَا يُضِيءُ وَلَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نَارٌ
whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though
fire scarce touched it
The unparalleled excellence with which the
Quran teaches us the moral way of living is at several levels. The first level
is the moral principle itself which is self-luminous and Allah compares it with
the olive oil from a blessed tree neither of the east nor the west which
clearly means that the source of the self-luminous moral principle is Divine and
not from this earth either from the east or the west.
The
second level is the use of imagery created with words and using the most
effective devices of the psychology of influence such as priming and through
reinforcement by repeating the message but in different ways and in different
contexts to make the point clear and beyond doubt. The second level of light is
when the already self-luminous olive oil is lighted up and flares up throwing
light on every aspect of man’s relationship with the rest of the Universe. This
is the detailed exposition of the first self-luminous moral principle covered
in my article:
Deen-e-Islam or the Moral Way of Living in Islam
A likeness of His light is as a niche in
which is a lamp, the lamp is in a glass, (and) the glass is as it were a
brightly shining star,
Now, what could the glass that encloses and
protects the flame, as mentioned in the verse, possibly denote? The function of
the glass is to keep the flame steady and constant to enable seeing things
clearly and without strain or distortion. It should achieve this without
absorbing any light. The glass must be crystal clear without a blemish and like
a shining star. This is the function played by language and refers to the
linguistic excellence of the Quran. Use of language helps in communicating as
well as preserving and protecting the knowledge. The linguistic excellence
helps clear communication and prevents distortions. The Book has often been
described as Kitabum Mubeen or a Book that makes things clear and a Book
without crookedness. The third level of excellence is therefore the linguistic
perfection which clothes/covers this light and is likened to the glass which
itself is brilliant like the star.
All
of these are within the framework (niche) of a complete and self-sufficient
system of belief in a God who is the Creator, Sustainer, Helper, Law Giver, the
source of all power, the Wise, the Aware, the Knower, the Just, the Merciful,
the one who Rewards, the Forgiver, the Lord of the Day of Judgment and with
many more attributes.
نُّورٌ
عَلَى نُورٍ
Light upon light
The
meaning of light upon light is now crystal clear – the self- luminous moral
principle made clearer by the manner in which it is elucidated in the Quran and
enhanced, protected and preserved by the linguistic excellence. The Quran sheds
light on many truths but specially on the complete way of living a moral life
and the source of this knowledge/light is Allah Himself. The excellence is best
described by the Quran itself.
Why does God not compare his light to the
Sun but to a lamp? Because the light of a lamp is available only to those who
seek the light and not to everyone like the light of the sun. The Light of God
only illuminates the hearts of the seekers of His light. It is not for those
who prefer to remain in darkness and those who shun the light of God.
The closer a person is to the source of
light, the more he is able to benefit from its luminance.
(24:36) (Lit is such a Light) in houses,
which Allah hath permitted to be raised to honour; for the celebration, in
them, of His name: In them is He glorified in the mornings and in the evenings,
(again and again),-
(37) By men whom neither traffic nor
merchandise can divert from the Remembrance of Allah, nor from regular Prayer,
nor from the practice of regular Charity: Their (only) fear is for the Day when
hearts and eyes will be transformed (in a world wholly new),-
(38) That Allah may reward them according
to the best of their deeds, and add even more for them out of His Grace: for
Allah doth provide for those whom He will, without measure.
Ayat
24:35 is the most commented because of its beauty, rich imagery and mysticism.
The meaning appears to have however remained a mystery because the scholars
could not see what now appears obvious after this discussion. The pre-Islamic
society was also a civilization and many of the moral principles were already
known and thought to be “common sense” little realizing their origin in
previous revelations. Imam Ghazali has written a treatise on this ayat. He
likens the niche to the rib cage and the glass to the human heart and the light
to spiritual knowledge from Allah. This explanation is problematic in several
ways.
The beginning of the verse, the ending of
the verse and every simile/metaphor in between refer to only things that are
perfect or divine and not to what is imperfect or to man at all. Words of
perfection are never used to describe a human being. A human heart is not
perfect transparent glass or the best protection of divine knowledge. There is
no human being who is perfect and without human frailties. This analogy has not
been used by the Quran even when speaking about the heart of any of the
prophets let alone using it for lesser mortals. The Prophet (pbuh) himself hid
in his heart what Allah made manifest (33:37). The analogy of the perfect glass
for the human heart that hides nothing fails right here.
In
the Quran, the heart is made stronger by reading the Quran and not cleaner. It
hides secrets which is the opposite of revealing everything. A person may bring
a sound heart (Qalb in Saleem) or may have a disease (Marz) in his heart.
Prophet David is advised not follow the lusts of his heart (38:26). Hearts are
soft or hard like rocks but never like glass let alone perfectly clean and
transparent glass.
يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَن يَشَاءُ وَيَضْرِبُ
اللَّهُ الْأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ
Allah does guide whom He will to His Light:
Allah does set forth Parables for men: and Allah does know all things. May
Allah guide us all to His Light!
And Allah knows best.
Naseer Ahmed is an Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an
independent IT consultant after having served in both the Public and Private
sector in responsible positions for over three decades. He is a frequent
contributor to NewAgeIslam.com
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/naseer-ahmed,-new-age-islam/an-exposition-of-the-verse-of-light-(ayat-al-nur)/d/108710
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