24. Surah An Nur

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

اللَّهُ نُورُ ...

24: 35. Allah is the Light ...

C2996. Embedded within certain directions concerning a refined domestic and social life, comes this glorious parable of light, which contains layer upon layer of transcendent truth about spiritual mysteries.

No notes can do adequate justice to its full meaning. Volumes have been written on this subject. In these notes I propose to explain the simplest meaning of this passage. (R).

... السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ...

... of the heavens and the earth.

C2997. The physical light is but a reflection of the true Light in the world of Reality, and that true Light is Allah.

We can only think of Allah in terms of our phenomenal experience, and in the phenomenal world, light is the purest thing we know, but physical light has drawbacks incidental to its physical nature: e.g.

- it is dependent upon some source external to itself;

- it is a passing phenomenon; if we take it to be a form of motion or energy it is unstable, like all physical phenomena;

- it is dependent on space and time;

its speed is 186,000 miles per second, and there are stars whose light takes thousands of years before it reaches the earth.

The perfect Light of Allah is free from any such defects. (R).

...مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ...

The parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a lamp:

...الْمِصْبَاحُ فِي زُجَاجَةٍ...

the Lamp enclosed in Glass:

C2998. The first three points in the Parable centre round the symbols of the Niche, the Lamp, and the Glass.

1. The Niche (Mishkat) is the little shallow recess in the wall of an Eastern house, fairly high from the ground, in which a light (before the days of electricity) was usually placed. Its height enabled it to diffuse the light in the room and minimised the shadows.

The background of the wall and the sides of the niche helped to throw the light well into the room, and if the wan was white-washed, it also acted as a reflector: the opening in front made the way for the light.

So with the spiritual Light; it is placed high, above worldly things; it has a niche or habitation of its own, in Revelation and other Signs of Allah; its access to men is by a special Way, open to all, yet closed to those who refuse its rays.

2. The Lamp is the core of the spiritual Truth, which is the real illumination; the Niche is nothing without it; the Niche is actually made for it.

3. The Glass is the transparent medium through which the Light passes. On the one hand, it protects the light from moths and other forms of low life and from gusts of wind, and on the other, it transmits the fight through a medium which is made up of and akin to the grosser substances of the earth (such as sand, soda, potash, etc.), so arranged as to admit the subtle to the gross by its transparency.

So the spiritual Truth has to be filtered through human language or human intelligence to make it intelligible to mankind.

...الزُّجَاجَةُ كَأَنَّهَا كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌّ...

the glass as it were a brilliant star:

C2999. The glass by itself does not shine. But when the light comes into it, it shines like a brilliant star.

So men of God, who preach Allah's Truth, are themselves illuminated by Allah's light and become the illuminating media through which that Light spreads and permeates human life.

...يُوقَدُ مِن شَجَرَةٍ مُّبَارَكَةٍ زَيْتُونِةٍ...

lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive,

C3000. The olive tree is not a very impressive tree in its outward appearance. Its leaves have a dull greenish-brown colour, and in size it is inconspicuous. But its oil is used in sacred ceremonies and forms a wholesome ingredient of food. The fruit has a specially fine flavour.

Cf. n. 2880 to 23:20.

For the illuminating quality of its oil, see n. 3002 below.

...لَّا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَلَا غَرْبِيَّةٍ...

neither of the East nor of the West,

C3001. This mystic Olive is not localised. It is neither of the East nor of the West. It is universal, for such is Allah's Light.

As applied to the olive, there is also a more literal meaning, which can be allegorised in a different way.

An olive tree with an eastern aspect gets only the rays of the morning sun; one with a western aspect, only the rays of the western sun. In the northern hemisphere the south aspect will give the sun's rays a great part of the day, while a north aspect will shut them out altogether, and vice versa in the southern hemisphere.

But a tree in the open plain or on a hill will get perpetual sunshine by day; it will be more mature, and the fruit and oil will be of superior quality. So Allah's light is not localised or immature: it is perfect and universal.

...يَكَادُ زَيْتُهَا يُضِيءُ وَلَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نَارٌ ...

whose Oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it:

C3002. Pure olive oil is beautiful in colour, consistency, and illuminating power.

The world has tried all kinds of illuminants, and for economic reasons or convenience, one replaces another. But for coolness, comfort to the eyes, and steadiness, vegetable oils are superior to electricity, mineral oils, and animal oils.

And among vegetable oils, olive oil takes a high place and deserves its sacred associations. Its purity is almost like light itself: you may suppose it to be almost light before it is lit.

So with spiritual Truth: it illuminates the mind and understanding imperceptibly, almost before the human mind and heart have been consciously touched by it.

...نُّورٌ عَلَى نُورٍ...

Light upon Light!

...يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَن يَشَاء...

Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light.

...وَيَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الْأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ...

Allah doth set forth Parables for men:

...وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ ﴿٣٥﴾

and Allah doth know all things.

C3003. Glorious, illimitable Light, which cannot be described or measured. And there are grades and grades of it, passing transcendently into regions of spiritual height, which man's imagination can scarcely conceive of. The topmost pinnacle is the true prototypal Light, the real Light, of which all others were reflections, the Light of Allah. Hence the saying of the Holy Prophet about Allah's "Seventy thousand veils of Light".

فِي بُيُوتٍ ...

24: 36. (Lit is such a light) in houses,

C3004. The punctuation of the Arabic text makes it necessary to carry back the adverbial clause "in houses", to something in the last verse, say "Lit from a blessed Tree", the intervening clauses being treated as parenthetical.

... أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَن تُرْفَعَ وَيُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ...

which Allah hath permitted to be raised to honor; for the celebration, in them of His name:

C3005. That is, in all places of pure worship;

but some Commentators understand special Mosques, such as the Ka'bah in Makkah or Mosques in Madinah or Jerusalem; for these are specially held in honour.

...يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ فِيهَا بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآصَالِ ﴿٣٦﴾

in them is He glorified in the mornings and in the evenings, (again and again) --

C3006. In the evenings: the Arabic word is Asal, a plural of a plural, to imply emphasis:

I have rendered that shade of meaning by adding the words "again and again".

رِجَالٌ لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ...

24: 37. By men whom neither traffic nor merchandise can divert from the Remembrance of Allah,

C3007. "Remembrance of Allah" is wider than Prayer:

it includes;

- silent contemplation, and

- active service of Allah and His creatures.

... وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاء الزَّكَاةِ ...

nor from regular Prayer, nor from the practice of regular Charity:

The regular Prayers and regular Charity are the social acts performed through the organised community.

...يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ الْقُلُوبُ وَالْأَبْصَارُ ﴿٣٧﴾

their (only) fear is for the Day when hearts and eyes will be transformed (in a world wholly new) --

C3008. Some renderings suggest the effects of terror on the Day of Judgment. But here we are considering the case of the righteous, whose "fear" of Allah is akin to love and reverence and who (as the next verse shows) hope for the best reward from Allah. But the world they will meet will be a wholly changed one.

لِيَجْزِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنَ مَا عَمِلُوا وَيَزِيدَهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِ...

24: 38. That Allah may reward them according to the best of their deeds, and add even more for them out of His Grace:

C3009. The best of the righteous do not deserve the reward that they get: all their faults are forgiven, and only their best actions are considered in the reward that they get.

Nay, more!

Out of the unbounded Grace of Allah even more is added to them. For in giving rewards, Allah's bounty is boundless.

...وَاللَّهُ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَاء بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ﴿٣٨﴾

for Allah doth provide for those whom He will, without measure.

Asad’s Version:

24:35 [an-Nur, Medina 102]

God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His light is, as it were, 50 that of a niche containing a lamp; the lamp is [enclosed] in glass, the glass [shining] like a radiant star: 51 [a lamp] lit from a blessed tree - an olive-tree that is neither of the east nor of the west 52 - the oil whereof [is so bright that it] would well-nigh give light [of itself] even though fire had not touched it: light upon light! 53

God guides unto His light him that wills [to be guided]; 54 and [to this end] God propounds parables unto men, since God [alone] has full knowledge of all things. 55

24:36 [an-Nur, Medina 102]

IN THE HOUSES [of worship] which God has allowed to be raised so that His name be remembered in them, 56 there [are such as] extol His limitless glory at morn and evening –

(24:37) people whom neither [worldly] commerce nor striving after gain 57 can divert from the remembrance of God, and from constancy in prayer, and from charity: 58 [people] who are filled with fear [at the thought] of the Day on which all hearts and eyes will be convulsed,

(24:38) [and who only hope] that God may reward them in accordance with the best that they ever did, and give them, out of His bounty, more [than they deserve]: for, God grants sustenance unto whom He wills, beyond all reckoning.

[[Asad’s notes - 56 Lit., "and [ordained] that His name ...", etc.: implying, as the sequence shows, that the spiritual purpose of those houses of worship is fulfilled only by some, and not all, of the people who are wont to congregate in them out of habit.

57 Lit., "bargaining" or "selling" or "buying and selling" (bay 1 ) - a metonym for anything that might bring worldly gain.

58 For this rendering of the term zakah, see surah 2, note 34. ]]