The Verse of Light () is the 35th verse of the
24th surah of the
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
(
Q24:35). It has often been closely associated with
Sufi thought, primarily because of
al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111), archaically Latinized as Algazelus, was a Shafi'i Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, the ...
's commentary on it, entitled ''
Mishkat al-Anwar'' (Niche of the Lights).
Verse
Commentary
The verse has been the subject of many
exegeses, having been commented by
Avicenna
Ibn Sina ( – 22 June 1037), commonly known in the West as Avicenna ( ), was a preeminent philosopher and physician of the Muslim world, flourishing during the Islamic Golden Age, serving in the courts of various Iranian peoples, Iranian ...
,
al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111), archaically Latinized as Algazelus, was a Shafi'i Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, the ...
,
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi,
Ibn al-'Arabi,
Rumi
Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire ...
,
Mulla Sadra
Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī, more commonly known as Mullā Ṣadrā (; ; c. 1571/2 – c. 1635/40 CE / 980 – 1050 AH), was a Persians, Persian Twelver Shi'a, Shi'i Islamic philosophy, Islamic mystic, philosopher, Kalam, theologian, a ...
,
Ibn Kathir
Abu al-Fida Isma'il ibn Umar ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi (; ), known simply as Ibn Kathir, was an Arab Islamic Exegesis, exegete, historian and scholar. An expert on (Quranic exegesis), (history) and (Islamic jurisprudence), he is considered a lea ...
,
Al-Tabari
Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...
, and
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya
Shams ad-Dīn Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr ibn Ayyūb az-Zurʿī d-Dimashqī l-Ḥanbalī (29 January 1292–15 September 1350 CE / 691 AH–751 AH), commonly known as Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya ("The son of the principal of he scho ...
.
The eighth Imam of the Twelver Imami Shiites
Ali ibn Musa says in the interpretation of this verse:
He is the guide of the people of heaven and the guide of the people of the earth.
and the sixth Shiite Imam, Jafar Sadiq, has stated that:
God first spoke of His light.
The example of God's guidance is in the heart of the believer.
The glorious is inside the believer and the lamp of his heart, and the lamp is the light that God has placed in his heart.
Hence it was and remains a key Qur'anic passage to many
Sufis and
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
philosophers
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on ...
into the present day, who argue for
esoteric readings of the Qur'an.
Al-Ghazali
Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111), archaically Latinized as Algazelus, was a Shafi'i Sunni Muslim scholar and polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, the ...
's reflections on this verse are collected in his
Mishkat al-Anwar (the "Niche of Lights").
This verse is also the primary source of one of the
99 Names of God: an-Nur (), "The Light".
Notes
See also
*
Verse of Throne
*
Nūr (Islam)
''Nūr'' () is a term in Islamic context referring to the "cold light of the night" or "heatless light" i.e. the light of the moon. This light is used as a symbol for "God's guidance" and "knowledge", a symbol of mercy in contrast to ''Nar'' ...
*
Chapter of Light
*
Chapter of Figs
References
External links
English translations of the "Light Verse" (Q. 24:35)— {{webarchive, url=https://archive.today/20241206142610/https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/24/35/, date= 6 Dec 2024
Quranic verses
Esoteric interpretation of the Quran
An-Nur
Islamic theology
Allah
Light and religion