In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent
God is the light of the heavens and the earth. His light may be compared to a niche containing a lamp; the lamp within a glass, the glass like a radiant star; lit from a blessed tree — an olive tree that is neither of the East nor of the West. Its very oil would almost give light even though no fire had touched it. Light upon light! God guides to His light him that wills (to be guided). God propounds parables for men, since God alone has full knowledge of all things. (Light, Al-Noor: 24: 35)
So far the surah dealt with the crudest aspects of the human constitution in order to purify and refine them. It dealt with the sexual desire, including its different appeals, as well as the inclination to spread rumors and level accusations at them, anger and distress. It also dealt with indecency fermenting within people’s hearts, finding verbal expression and spreading in actual life. Its dealing with all this included laying down very stern punishments for adultery and for falsely accusing someone of committing it, portraying a horrid example of false accusations leveled at chaste women who are unaware of what is being said about them. It provides preventive measures, such as seeking permission before entering other people’s homes, lowering one’s gaze when meeting people, covering personal charms and adornments, warning against resorting to excitements, encouraging marriage, prohibiting prostitution and freeing slaves. All these measures, varied as they are, help to control the physical impulse and to strengthen the motives to maintain one’s chastity and to aspire to higher standards of purity.
At the conclusion of its comments on the story of falsehood, the surah dealt with the lingering effects of that incident: Distress, anger, distortion of values and anxiety. Thus we find the Prophet (peace be upon him) calm and reassured, Aishah herself well satisfied and happy, her father Abu Bakr kind and forgiving, and Safwan ibn Al-Muattal pleased with God’s declaration of his innocence, and the whole Muslim community turning back to God after realizing how they were lost in confusion. Now they are back on track, recognizing God’s favors, grace and following His guidance.
With such directives, education and refinement the surah deals with the human soul and it suddenly lights up, aspiring to the great light that fills the heavens and earth. They are now ready to receive the enlightenment that they need in a world full of light.
“God is the light of the heavens and the earth.” No sooner does this remarkable statement impart its meaning than a bright light spreads over the whole universe and lightens up feelings and emotions, and fills hearts and minds. The entire universe swims in radiant light that embraces eyes and sights. Screens and curtains are removed, hearts radiate, spirits fly high, everything is purified in a sea of light, gets rid of its burden and all join together in an atmosphere of pure happiness and delight. Indeed, the universe and all it contains shed their fetters so as to let heavens and earth meet, the distant and the near come together, as do the animate and the inanimate. What is hidden joins with what is apparent, as do people’s hearts and senses.
“God is the light of the heavens and the earth.” He is the light from which they derive their essence as well as their perfect system. He is the One who gives them their existence and the law that governs such existence. Man has recently been able to discover, through scientific achievements, a part of this great truth when what they used to call “matter” was transformed, through nuclear fusion, into radiation that has no form or substance other than light. Thus, man discovered that an atom contains electrons that produce radiation. By contrast, the human heart was able to comprehend this great truth many centuries before science could make its discoveries. Every time the human heart attained a high level of purity, aspiring to the sublime light, it was able to understand this truth. It was fully comprehended by Muhammad, God’s messenger, as he started his journey back from Taif, when he gave up on people and sought refuge with his Lord. Appealing to God Almighty, he said: “I seek refuge in the light of Your face by which all darkness is dispelled and both this life and the life to come are put on their right courses.” His heart shined with this sublime light on his night journey, which took him from Makkah to Jerusalem and then to heaven. When later Aishah, his wife, asked him whether he saw his Lord, he answered: “It is all light. How could I see Him?”
The human heart cannot take such abundant light for long; nor can it long aspire to that great horizon. Hence, after this statement that opens up this endless scope, the surah begins to bring it closer so as to make it better understood through a more tangible example: “His light may be compared to a niche containing a lamp; the lamp within a glass, the glass like a radiant star; lit from a blessed tree — an olive tree that is neither of the East nor of the West. Its very oil would almost give light even though no fire had touched it. Light upon light!”
This comparison seeks to put the infinite right before a mind that has a finite ability. It simply portrays a miniscule picture to present it to man who cannot contemplate its great reality. It seeks to show the nature of light when the human imagination cannot reach its endless spread.
Next week, we will look at this example in detail, God willing.