God is the light of the heavens and the earth. The semblance of His light is that of a niche in which is a lamp, the flame within a glass, the glass a glittering star as it were, lit with the oil of a blessed tree, the olive, neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil appears to light up even though fire touches it not, -- light upon light. God guides to His light whom He will. So does God advance precepts of wisdom for men, for God has knowledge of everything.
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Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : allah then mentioned the honour and blessings that he had bestowed upon the believers, saying: (allah is the light of the heavens and the earth) he is the guide of the dwellers of the heaves and earth. guidance from allah is of two types: clarification and making things known; it is also said that the verse means: allah is the embellisher of the heavens by means of the stars and the embellisher of the earth by means of plants and water; it is also said that this means: allah enlightens the hearts of the believers among the dwellers of the heavens and the earth. (the similitude of his light) the light of the believers; it is also said that this means: the light of allah in the heart of the believer (is as a niche wherein is a lamp. the lamp is in a glass) made of gems. (the glass is as it were a shining star) one of the following five planets: mercury, jupiter, venus, mars and saturn. all these planets are luminous. ((this lamp is) kindled from a blessed tree) from the oil of a blessed tree, (an olive neither of the east nor of the west) in an open space, not touched by the shade of the east nor by the shade of the west; it is also said that this means: in a location which is untouched by the sun when it rises and when it sets, (whose oil) the oil of the tree (would almost glow forth (of itself)) from behind its rind (though no fire touched it. light upon light) the lamp emits light and the glass emits light and the oil emits light, (allah guideth unto his light) allah honours with knowledge; it is also said that this means: allah honours with his religion (whom he will) whoever deserves it; it is also said that the verse means: the likeness of the light of muhammad in the loins of his forefathers is like this, up to allah's saying (… kindled from a blessed tree). he says: the light of muhammad in abraham was an upright religion (olive tree), and abraham was neither jew nor christian (neither of the east nor of the west), the works of abraham would almost glow forth in the loins of his forefathers like this (would almost glow forth (of itself)), up until allah's saying (kindled from a blessed tree) he says: as if it is the light of muhammad (pbuh) and if abraham was not a prophet, he would still have this light (though no fire touched it); it is also said that the latter passage means: had allah not honoured abraham, he would not have had this light; it is also said: if allah had not honoured his believing servant with this light, he would not have had it. (and allah speaketh to mankind in allegories) in this way does allah show to people the trait of knowledge, (for allah is knower of all things) regarding the honour he bestows upon his servants. allah struck this similitude of knowledge and clarified its benefit and its praiseworthiness in order that they give thanks to it. allah says here that just as one uses a lamp to find his way in the dark, so is the light of knowledge used for one's guidance; and just as one uses the stars and planets to find one's way in the darkness of the seas and land, one also uses the light of knowledge for guidance in the darkness of disbelief and idolatry; and just as the oil of a lamp is taken from the blessed olive tree, so too is knowledge from allah, exalted is he, for his servant; and just as the olive tree is neither from the east nor from the west, so too is the believer an upright muslim, neither jew nor christian; and just as the oil of the olive tree would almost glow forth of itself even when no fire touches it, so too the faith of the believer is praiseworthy even when there are no virtuous works to accompany it; and just as the niche and the glass and the lamp are light upon light, so too is knowledge light, and the heart of the believer is light and his chest is light and his incoming is light and his outgoing is light: light upon light; and allah honours with this light whomever he wills. such is allah's description of knowledge.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : god is the light of the heavens and the earth, in other words, he illumines both of them with the sun and the moon. the likeness of his light, that is, the description of it [as it resides] in the heart of a believer, is as a niche wherein is a lamp. the lamp is in a glass — this [glass] is the [case for the] lantern and the misbāh is the torch, that is, the wick that is lit; al-mishkāt is a recess that does not penetrate [to the other side], in other words, the tube inside the lantern, the glass, with the light inside it [is], as it were a glittering star, that is, a light-giving [star] (read dirrī’un or durrī’un, derived from al-dar‘, ‘to repel’, because it repels darkness; or read durriyyun, derived from al-durr, ‘pearls’) kindled, is this lamp (read past tense tawaqqada; a variant reading has the imperfect tense of awqada, in the passive voice: yūqadu; another reading has tūqadu, in which case the reference is to al-zujāja, ‘the glass’) from, the oil of, a blessed tree, an olive neither of the east nor of the west, but in between the two, so that no harmful cold or heat affects it; whose oil would almost glow forth [of itself], though no fire touched it, because of [the extent of] its purity. light, by him, upon light, by fire; the light of god is his guidance of the believer, light upon the light of faith. god guides to his light, that is, [to] the religion of islam, whom he will. and god strikes, he illustrates, similitudes for men, by approximating [such similitudes] to their comprehension, so that they might take heed and believe; and god is knower of all things, including [knowledge of] how to strike similitudes.
Sahl al-Tustari
تفسير : god is the light of the heavens and the earth…that is, the one who has adorned the heavens and earth with lights. the likeness of his light means the likeness of the light of muḥammad <img border="0" src="images/salatonmassenger.jpg" width="24" height="22">. Ḥasan al-baṣrī said, ‘he intended by this the heart of the believer and the luminescence (ḍiyāʾ) of professing the divine oneness (tawḥīd), for the hearts of the prophets â are far too brilliant in their light to be described in terms of the likeness of these lights. he said, ‘the similitude of the light of the qurʾān is a lamp (miṣbāḥ), a lamp whose candle (sirāj) is gnosis (maʿrifa), whose wick (fatīl) is the religious obligations (farāʾiḍ), whose oil (duhn) is sincerity (ikhlāṣ) and whose light (nūr) is the light of [spiritual] attainment (ittiṣāl). whenever the sincerity increases in purity, the lamp increases in brightness(ḍiyāʾ); and whenever the religious obligations increase in [inner] realisation (ḥaqīqa), the lamp increases in light (nūr).his words:
