There are many a parable and metaphor mentioned in Al Qur'an to make it easier for the readers the core wisdom behind some of the important verses. We have shared some of these parables and metaphors in our earlier posts which can be accessed from our reference page: Most profound Metaphors and Parables in Al Qur'an
We now share another parable from Surah An Nur, known as Ayat an-Nūr - The verse of Light, which is considered as one of the Qur’an’s most beautiful and intellectually rich passages. It is also a verse where Muslim scholars have deliberately warned against reducing the imagery to a single simplistic interpretation. Care must be taken to understand the concept given in this verse for it is intellectually very demanding and reflective.
Something about the uniqueness of this verse:
It is an amazing historical phenomenon that no ayah (verse/sign) of the Qur'an has been commented on more than ayat An-Nūr (The verse of light), as noted by eminent scholar Yasir Qadri (listen to him explaining this verse at the end of this post). In fact, it would be true to say that the vast majority of booklets that have been written on the Tafsir (exegesis) of the Qur'an are based on the exposition of ayat An-Nūr. Over the past 14 centuries of Islamic Scholarship, more than a hundred treatises alone have been written on this one verse of the Qur'an by Scholars from every era.
What is the verse? Ayat an-Nūr (The verse of Light) — Surah An Nur 24:35
- The Arabic begins: اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.”
- Then comes the extraordinary parable: مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ “The example of His light is like a niche in which there is a lamp…”
The lamp is inside glass; the glass shines like a brilliant star; the lamp is fueled by blessed olive oil whose purity is such that it almost seems to glow even before the fire touches it.
- And then: نُورٌ عَلَىٰ نُورٍ “Light upon light.”
- The verse concludes: يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَن يَشَاءُ “Allah guides to His light whom He wills.”
This is Qur’an 24:35, in Sūrah an-Nūr (“The Light”).
Scholarly Explanation
1. First important point: Is Allah literally “light”?
This is where we need to be careful. The verse says Allah is Nūr, but classical Muslim scholarship does not mean that Allah is a physical object made of electromagnetic light. The Qur'an is speaking about Allah in a way that human beings can understand, while Allah Himself is beyond comparison with creation.
One major classical interpretation is that Allah is the One who illuminates, guides and brings creation from darkness into truth. For example, al-Ṭabarī reports the interpretation of Ibn ʿAbbās that: “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth” - That means essentially Allah is their Guide—He guides those in the heavens and earth to the truth.
So “light” here can convey things such as:
- guidance
- truth
- knowledge
- clarity
- faith
- revelation
- spiritual illumination
- the removal of confusion and darkness
But there is an important nuance: “Allah is Light” and “Allah's guidance is light” are related but not necessarily identical statements.
Classical theologians and exegetes discussed the divine name an-Nūr in considerably richer ways than simply saying “light = guidance.”
2. What exactly is the parable describing?
- Imagine an ancient lamp. There is a niche in a wall. Inside the niche is a lamp. The lamp is enclosed in glass. The glass is extraordinarily clear and brilliant. The lamp is fueled by extraordinarily pure olive oil. The oil itself is so pure that it seems almost ready to shine even before fire touches it.
- Then the Qur'an says: “Light upon light.” - And finally: “Allah guides to His light whoever He wills.”
This isn't merely an explanation of how an ancient lamp works. It is a parable (mathal). And the Qur'an itself tells us that Allah presents parables for people.
The point isn't necessarily: “The niche equals X, the lamp equals Y, the glass equals Z, and therefore we have decoded the entire verse.” Rather, the imagery progressively builds an experience of extraordinary illumination.
3. How did the classical scholars understand it?
This is where the verse becomes particularly fascinating.
- Ibn Kathīr records more than one interpretation.
- One interpretation is that the pronoun in “His light” refers to Allah's guidance placed within the heart of the believer.
- Another interpretation connects the imagery to the light of the believer's heart itself.
- He describes the believer's heart as something like the niche, with faith and guidance illuminated within it, and compares the Qur'an and divine revelation to the pure fuel feeding that illumination.
- So, in very simplified terms: Allah → guidance → revelation → faith → illuminated heart → illuminated life.
- But this is a chain of meaning, not a physical chain.
- Al-Ṭabarī is especially useful because he shows us that the early scholars did not all reduce the verse to exactly one interpretation. He gives out different interpretations of the niche, lamp and glass.
- He records interpretations including: (1) Allah as the Guide of the heavens and earth. (2) Allah's guidance being represented by the parable. (3) The “light” being associated with obedience and guidance.
This is an important lesson: The verse is profound partly because its metaphor has layers. We should be cautious about saying: “Islam teaches that the niche definitely means X, the lamp definitely means Y, and the glass definitely means Z.”
So what does the “niche, lamp, glass and oil” mean?
One beautiful way of understanding the imagery—consistent with major classical interpretations—is to think of it as describing how guidance becomes brilliantly alive within the human being.
- The niche A niche is a protected place where a lamp can shine. It can evoke the human interior—the heart/chest as the place where faith and awareness of God reside.
- The lamp represents illumination. In the believer, this can be understood as faith (īmān), guidance and spiritual awareness.
- The glass
- Glass protects and intensifies the lamp's brilliance.
- It also has a remarkable quality: clarity.
- A spiritually purified heart becomes capable of receiving and transmitting guidance rather than obscuring it.
- The olive oil
- The Qur'an chooses extraordinarily pure oil. The imagery suggests a source of illumination that is itself exceptionally pure and receptive to ignition.
- This is a powerful image for the readiness of the human heart to recognize truth.
- “Neither of the east nor the west” - The olive tree is described as: لَا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَلَا غَرْبِيَّةٍ “neither eastern nor western.”
- Commentators offered different explanations for this unusual description.
This may be the most beautiful phrase in the verse: “Light upon light (Nūr ʿalā nūr)” It can evoke layers of illumination:
- natural human recognition of truth
- revelation
- faith
- knowledge
- remembrance
- spiritual insight
- righteous action
- Rather than one light replacing another, one illuminative reality reinforces another.
Correlation with other verses
There is an extremely important context: look at the verses immediately after it. This is something I would strongly recommend when studying Ayat an-Nur.
Don't stop at 24:35. The next verses say that these “niches” are associated with places where God's name is remembered, and then describe people who are not distracted from remembering Allah by commerce or worldly activity.
So the Qur'an moves from: LIGHT → PLACE OF REMEMBRANCE → PEOPLE WHO REMEMBER GOD → THEIR ACTIONS.
That is tremendously important. The verse isn't merely telling us something abstract about metaphysical light. It asks: What happens when divine guidance actually illuminates a human life?
The answer in the following verses is: They remember God.
- They pray.
- They give charity.
- They are not consumed by worldly distraction.
- Their spirituality produces character and action.
The opposite image
A few verses later, the Qur'an gives an astonishing contrast. After the imagery of light, it describes the condition of those who reject truth using the imagery of darkness upon darkness.
So there is a deliberate Qur'anic contrast: Light upon light versus darkness upon darkness.
This gives us an important insight:
- Islam isn't merely asking: “Do you possess information?”
- It is asking something deeper: What kind of reality are you living in?
- Does reality become increasingly intelligible, meaningful and morally illuminated—or increasingly confused, fragmented and dark?
How can you discuss this verse with non-Muslims?
This is where it is recommended not beginning with theology.
- Don't start with: “Allah is Light. Therefore…”
- For a non-Muslim may immediately ask: “What does that even mean?”
Instead, start with the human experience of light and darkness.
- Ask: “Why do human beings universally use light as a metaphor for knowledge and darkness as a metaphor for ignorance?”
- A person says:
- “I finally saw the truth.”
- “That clarified things.”
- “I was in the dark.”
- “The situation became clear.”
- “She opened my eyes.”
- “I found my way.”
Notice something fascinating? Human beings naturally experience truth as illumination.
- Then say: “The Qur'an takes that very deep human metaphor and applies it to our relationship with God.”
- That makes the conversation much more accessible.
You can ask a non-Muslim a beautiful question.
- Instead of trying to prove the verse to them, ask: “What do you think it means for a human being to be spiritually illuminated?” Then listen.
- They may say: knowledge. love, conscience, wisdom, truth, meaning, compassion or inner peace.
- Then you can say: “Interestingly, the Qur'an puts many of these ideas into one image: light.”
- That creates a conversation, rather than a debate.
Don't use it as a “scientific miracle” argument This is important. You may encounter claims that the verse is describing:
- photons,
- the speed of light,
- quantum physics,
- electromagnetic radiation,
- the structure of the universe,
- some hidden scientific discovery.
It is recommended not make that the main interpretation. The verse is explicitly presented as a parable. Its primary subject is divine light/guidance and its effect—not a physics lesson.
The classical Tafsīr tradition overwhelmingly treats the passage in theological, spiritual and metaphorical terms. And actually, the verse becomes more profound, not less, when we don't force modern physics into it.
How can we benefit from the verse?
Now coming over to us - in the present days. How can we benefit from this verse. This, to me, is the most important part.
- The question shouldn't merely be: “What does the lamp symbolize?”
- It should become: “Is my heart becoming a place where light can live?”
Think about the metaphor: A lamp can exist, but if it is covered in dirt, its light is obscured. Likewise a heart can have knowledge, but still become clouded by:
- arrogance
- hatred
- envy
- greed
- constant distraction
- dishonesty
- resentment
- excessive attachment to worldly things.
So the verse invites inner purification.
A practical way to live Ayat an-Nur
We could turn the verse into a daily spiritual exercise.
- In the morning,
- Ask: “What truth do I need to see more clearly today?”
- Read a small portion of Qur'an—not merely for information, but asking: “What is Allah illuminating for me?”
- During difficulty, ask “What would it mean to walk by light rather than by fear?”
- Before making a major decision Bask “Am I looking for what is true, or merely for what I want to be true?”
- That's a profound distinction.
- In relationships, ask
- Does my presence make things clearer or darker for the people around me?”
- Do I bring: honesty? mercy? wisdom? patience? reconciliation?
- Or do I bring confusion, anger and harm?
- At night Ask:
- “Where did I receive light today, and where did I turn away from it?”
- That turns the verse from an intellectual object into a spiritual practice.
The deepest lesson: guidance isn't merely information
This is something worth emphasizing. You can know a great deal and still be spiritually lost. A person can know:
- philosophy,
- theology,
- science,
- history,
- Qur'anic vocabulary,
- and still have an unilluminated character.
The Qur'anic concept of light is therefore not simply: That's why the verses following 24:35 are so important: the illuminated person is described through remembrance, prayer, charity and integrity, not merely intellectual knowledge.
Verse of Light explained in one para
If you were speaking to a Christian, atheist, Hindu, Buddhist, agnostic or simply someone unfamiliar with Islam, I might put it this way:
“The Qur'an has a remarkable passage called the Verse of Light. It says that God is the Light of the heavens and the earth, and then gives a parable of a lamp inside a crystal, fueled by extraordinarily pure oil, producing light upon light. Muslims have understood this as an image of God's guidance and the way that guidance illuminates the human heart. I don't think the point is that God is literally a physical light. Rather, think about how we all use ‘light’ as a metaphor for truth, understanding and hope. The Qur'an takes that universal human metaphor and says that ultimately the deepest light by which we find our way is from God. And then the Qur'an immediately describes people whose lives are illuminated by that light—people who remember God, pray, give and aren't enslaved by worldly distraction. So the question isn't simply ‘What does the metaphor mean?’ It's also ‘What is illuminating my life—and what kind of person is that light making me?’”
I think that is much more powerful than turning the verse into an argument.
And there's one more beautiful insight
Before we end the rather intricate nature of this verse, we must know that verse doesn't say: “Allah gives everyone a complete explanation.” Rather it says: “Allah guides to His light whom He wills.”
The verse therefore combines divine transcendence, human receptivity and divine guidance.
- We seek.
- We listen.
- We purify ourselves.
- We reflect.
- We act.
But ultimately, guidance is a gift from God. That produces humility. A Muslim shouldn't read this verse and think: “I possess the light and everyone else is in darkness.” Rather: “O Allah, illuminate me. Remove the darkness from me. Make me capable of recognizing truth, loving it, and living by it.”
That, I think, is one of the most beautiful ways to approach Ayat an-Nur.
Before we end the explanation and interpretation of the verse, there is a particularly profound next step here: the relationship between this verse and the famous hadith, “Allah has veils of light,” as well as the interpretations of al-Ghazālī in Mishkāt al-Anwār (“The Niche of Lights”). Al-Ghazālī takes this verse into an extraordinarily deep discussion of levels of light—sensory light, intellectual light, Qur'anic/revelatory light, and ultimately divine reality. His treatment is one of the great works of Islamic spiritual philosophy, but it needs to be distinguished carefully from the earlier Tafsīr tradition.
Why is this verse so special that it is the most oft-commented verse in our Islamic heritage? In the following short video Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi sheds light on the meaning and profundity of this one verse that is famously known as ayat An-Nūr (The verse of light).
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
You may refer to more Selected Verses from Surah 24. An Nur (The Light), already published
You may also refer to our exclusive reference pages:
- Selected verses from selected Surahs of Al-Qurʾān for compiled verses from other surahs.
- Selected Verses from Al Qur'an about a Specific Subject (Reference Page) to know more about what Qur'an says about specific subjects
- Selected Verses from the Qur'an.
You may also refer to our Reference Pages and Understanding Al Qur'an for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
Resource Reference:
| 1 | Ibn Kathir Surah An-Nur 24:35 Tafsir Ibn Kathir
| 2 | Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an
| 3 | Javed Ahmed Ghamidi
| 4 | Qur'an Wiki
| 5 | ChatGPT
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs and selected verses of Al-Qurʾān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites. For expansion of meaning and themes / contextual background help from ChatGPT is also taken.
Disclaimer: The material for this post has been collected from the references given above. If anyone differs with the material contained in this post, one may consult the references and their authors. If someone has more material about the subject, he/she is most welcome to share in the comments box to make the post all encompassing.
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