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'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,
al-Ghazali,
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi,
Ibn al-'Arabi,
Rumi,
Mulla Sadra,
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, and
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya.
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 into the present day, who argue for
esoteric readings of the Qur'an.
Al-Ghazali'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)
*
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