Al-Nûr: The Light

"Allah is the Light (Nûr) of the heavens and the earth..." (24:35).

The Light is Allah's quality of being the visible by means of which everything is made visible. That which itself is visible and makes other things visible is called 'light'. When existence is contrasted with non-existence, it becomes obvious that visibility pertains to existence and that there is no darkness darker than non-existence. That which is free of the darkness of non-existence and even from the possibility of non-existence and brings everything from the darkness of nonexistence to the visibility of existence is worthy of being called the Light. Existence is a light which flows freely upon all things from the light of Allah's essence. Therefore Allah "is the light of the heavens and the earth" (24:35). Just as there is not a particle of the light of the sun which does not point to the existence of the illuminating sun, so also there is not a particle of all the thing that exist in the heavens and the earth and that which is between them which does not by the mere possibility of its existence point to the necessary existence of its creator.