The Light Verse in Surah An-Nur (24:36) has attracted much spiritual attention and commentary by eminent scholars and savants of Islam through the centuries, including a famous treatise by Imam Ghazzali (ra). The verse is widely seen as a beautiful metaphor of the profound, transformational impact the Faith in God brings about in the heart of a true believer. The illumination of the pious heart, brought through its God-gifted encounter with the Light of revelatory guidance, is a perfect spiritual promise Allah (swt) vouchsafes to His special servants and Friends in every era (Auliah of Allah). According to some commentators, the Verse alludes to the Divine Light vouchsafed to the Holy Prophet (sa) and his spiritual Khulafa, the Mujaddidin who come in every era of Islam to renew and reform the Muslim Ummah and to guide them on the pristine path of Faith. Indeed, based on the Qur'anic promise of perpetual spiritual guidance and Muhammadan blessings, the advent of a Khalifatullah as an Elect and High Representative of Allah is an occasion when the full brightness and splendour of the Faith becomes visible to the discerning minds- like we witness today in the person of Hazrat Imam Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius, Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah.
Reproduced Below is a commentary on the Light Verse made by Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian, in the Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Part III:
The Light of Faith in the Heart of a Servant
God is the Light of the heavens and earth. His Light is like this: there is a niche, and in it a lamp, the lamp inside a glass, a glass like a glittering star, fuelled from a blessed olive tree from neither east nor west, whose oil almost gives light even when no fire touches it–light upon light– God guides whoever He will to his Light; God draws such comparisons for people; God has full knowledge of everything– shining out in houses of worship. God has ordained that they be raised high and that His name be remembered in them, with men in them celebrating His glory morning and evening: men who are not distracted, a either by commerce or profit, from remembering God, keeping up the prayer, and paying the prescribed alms, fearing a day when hearts and eyes will turn over. God will reward such people according to the best of their actions, and He will give them more of His bounty: God provides limitlessly for anyone He will. (Surah An Nur, 24:36-39)
Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. That is to say, every light that is visible in the heights or in the depths, whether in souls or bodies, whether innate or acquired, whether overt or covert, whether internal or external, is a bounty of His grace.
This is an indication that the general grace of Hadrat Rabbul-‘Alamin [Lord of all the worlds] encompasses everything and that nothing is deprived of His grace. He is the Source of all grace and the ultimate Cause of all light and the Fountainhead of all mercies. His True Being is the support of the whole universe and the refuge of all high and low. It is He who brought everything out of the darkness of nothingness and bestowed upon it the robe of existence. There is no other being that exists in its own right, or is eternal, or is not the recipient of His grace. The earth and the heavens, mankind and animals, stones and trees, and souls and bodies—all owe their existence to His grace. This is the general grace mentioned in the verse:
اَللّٰهُ نُوْرُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ
This is the grace that encompasses everything like a circle. There is no pre-condition for being the beneficiary of this grace.
As compared with this, there is a special grace, which is conditional and is bestowed only upon those select individuals who have the ability and capacity to receive it; namely, the perfect individuals known as Prophets, peace be upon them—the best and highest of whom is Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa [the Chosen One], the personification of all forms of grace, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. This grace is certainly not bestowed upon others. Further, as such grace is a very fine verity, and a fine point of wisdom, God Almighty—after mentioning the general grace (which is self-evident)—has described this special grace for the purpose of expounding the light of Hadrat Khatamul-Anbiya’ [the Seal of the Prophets], peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. He describes it in an analogy that begins with the verse:
مَثَلُ نُوْرِهٖ كَمِشْكٰوةٍ فِيْهَا مِصْبَاحٌ...
This subtle point has been explained in the form of an analogy so that it should be easily understood, leaving no ambiguity or complexity. Explaining intellectual issues by means of physical and tangible examples makes them easy to understand, even for an individual of low intelligence.
The remaining translation of the above verse is, the similitude of this light (in the perfect man, who is the Messenger) is as if it were a lustrous niche (meaning the illumined breast of God’s Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). In the niche, there is a lamp (meaning wahiyullah [revelation of Allah]). The lamp is contained in a crystal globe of extreme brilliance (meaning the extremely pure and holy heart of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—which in its very nature is holy and free from all impurity and opaqueness, like a crystal clear mirror, and has no relationship with anything other than Allah). The mirror is as clear as a star of magnificent brightness from among the stars that shine in heaven with great glory and are called glittering stars (meaning that the heart of Hadrat Khatamul-Anbiya’ is clear and bright, like a glittering star, so that its inner light is seen flowing like water upon its outer surface). That lamp is lit from a blessed olive (that is, the oil of an olive) tree (the blessed olive tree means the blessed being of Muhammad, which is a perfect and comprehensive collection of diverse types of blessings; and the grace of which is not confined to any place or age or direction, but is perpetually flowing for all people and will never be cut off ). The blessed tree is neither of the east nor of the west (that is to say, the pure nature of Muhammad suffers neither from excess nor from deficiency, and is established upon balance and moderation, and has been created in the best of creative plans).
The words of Allah, ‘The oil of the blessed tree by which the lamp of revelation is lit,’ refer to the fine and bright intellect of Muhammad, together with his innate high moral qualities that are nourished by the clear fountain of his perfect reason. The meaning of the lamp of revelation being lit by the high moral qualities of Muhammad is that the grace of revelation descended upon these worthy and refined morals; indeed, they were the requisites of the descent of revelation. There is another indication here, that the grace of revelation was in accord with the refined morals of Muhammad, and was characterized by the moderate temperament that had been ingrained in his nature.
To elaborate, all revelations descend in accord with the nature of the Prophet to whom they are vouchsafed. For instance, the temperament of Hadrat Musa [Moses], peace be on him, was characterized by glory and indignation; so, in accordance with this, the Torah was revealed as a majestic law. Hadrat Masih [Jesus the Messiah], peace be on him, had a temperament which was meek and gentle, and so the Gospels teach meekness and gentleness. However, the temperament of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was firmly established on a middle course. His nature was inclined neither to undue leniency, nor to indignation on every occasion. Instead, his was a sagacious temperament that paid due regard to the demands of the occasion.
Accordingly, the Holy Quran was also revealed in an appropriate and moderate mould, which combines severity and kindness, awe and compassion, and softness and hardness. In this verse, Allah the Almighty has disclosed that the lamp of the Quran’s revelation has been lit from that blessed tree, which is neither of the east nor of the west, meaning that it has been revealed in accord with the moderate temperament of Muhammad saw, which has neither the severity of the temperament of Moses, nor the softness of the temperament of Jesus, but is a compound of hardness and softness, of indignation and compassion—displaying perfect moderation—and is a combination of both glory and beauty....
The oil, being so clear and refined, would well-nigh glow forth even though no fire were to touch it (that is to say, the intellect and all the high qualities of the Innocent Prophet were so perfect, appropriate, refined and bright, that they were ready to be lit up even before the receipt of revelation). نُوْرٌ عَلٰى نُوْرٍ , light was bestowed upon light (meaning that many types of light were combined in the blessed person of Hadrat Khatamul-Anbiya’, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and upon these lights descended the heavenly light of divine revelation, and thereby the blessed being of Khatamul-Anbiya ’ became a compendium of lights).
In sum, what this signifies is that the very philosophy behind the descent of the light of revelation is that it only descends upon light and never upon darkness, for bounty is conditional upon affinity, and darkness has no affinity with light. Rather, light has affinity with light and the All-Wise God never does anything without taking affinity into consideration. Thus, in bestowing the grace of light, His law is that greater light is bestowed only upon those who already have some portion of it—those who have none, are given none. Only those who possess the light of their eyes will receive light from the sun; the blind will be blind even to the sun. Those whose inner light is dim will receive only a little of the [divine] light, while those whose inner light is greater will receive it to a higher degree.
In the entire range of human nature, the Prophets are those high personages who have partaken of this inner light so abundantly and so perfectly that they have become the very embodiment of light. This is why the Holy Quran calls the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, nur [light] and siraj-e-munir [a lamp that gives bright light], as it is said:
قَدْ جَآءَكُمْ مِّنَ اللّٰهِ نُوْرٌ وَّ كِتٰبٌ مُّبِيْنٌ
(There has come to you indeed from Allah a Light and a clear Book (Surah al- Ma’idah, 5:16).
وَ دَاعِيًا اِلَى اللّٰهِ بِاِذْنِهٖ وَ سِرَاجًا مُّنِيْرًا
And as a Summoner to Allah by His command, and as a radiant Lamp (Surah al-Ahzab, 33:47).
Herein lies the wisdom as to why such light of revelation—for which extraordinary and perfect inner light is a requirement—was bestowed only upon Prophets and was confined to them alone. The clear argument Allah the Almighty gives in the above analogy falsifies the statement of those who, in spite of admitting to the differences in human faculties, insist out of mere foolishness and ignorance that the light of revelation, which is bestowed upon those with perfect natures, can also be granted to imperfect individuals. They should reflect with honesty and fairness on how they are making a serious error about the grace of [divine] revelation. They clearly see that the divine law of nature does not support their wrong idea, yet out of extreme prejudice and stubbornness they persist in holding this false notion....
to receive the grace of light it is necessary that the recipient should possess inner light. There can be no remedy, however, for those who have nothing to do with reason, hate light, and love darkness. Like bats, their eyesight is sharp in darkness but they become blind in broad daylight. God guides towards His light (namely the Holy Quran) whomever He wishes and sets forth examples for the people, and He is well aware of all things. (This means that guidance comes from Allah and is bestowed only upon those whom the Eternal Bestower has given the potential, and not upon others. God explains subtle points with the aid of analogies so that they are easier to comprehend. However, He knows full well, in His eternal knowledge, who will understand these analogies and embrace the truth, and who will remain deprived and frustrated.)
Hence, the analogy which has been translated above in bold letters tells us that the heart of the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, is like a clear glass, that is free from every kind of impurity. This is nur-e-qalb [the light of the heart]. Then, the Holy Prophet’s understanding, comprehension, perfect wisdom, and all the excellent morals inherent in his nature, are likened to a purified, luminescent oil which is the means of illumining the lamp. This oil is nur-e-‘aql [the light of intellect], for the faculty of reason is the source and fountainhead of all inner qualities. Then God has mentioned that heavenly light, which is revelation, descended upon all these diverse types of light [of the Holy Prophet saw]. This is nur-e-wahi [the light of revelation]. These three lights, when they converge, become the source of guidance for mankind. This alone is the true principle behind revelation which embodies the Eternal Law of the Eternal Holy God, and this indeed befits His Holy Being.
This inquiry shows that unless a person possesses nur-e-qalb and nur-e-‘aql to a perfect degree, he can never be the recipient of nur-e wahi. And as I have already demonstrated, the perfection of intellect and the perfection of the light of the heart are not found by everyone, but only certain individuals. Now, by combining these two arguments, we can establish beyond a shadow of a doubt that the gift of wahi [revelation] and risalat [prophethood] is given only to some perfect individuals and not to every human being....
