Light: A Passage From The Qur'An

God is the Light Of the Heavens and of the Earth; His Light is a parable, of A Lamp within a niche; without the lamp, a glass Haloed as a brilliant star, lit From an olive tree, blessed; Whose soil is neither East nor West; Its very oil would shine forth Though untouched by fire: Light upon Light. God raises to His Light whom He will; He engenders parables for men, He Whose knowing is beyond horizon. His Light abides in houses, sanctified For the adoration of His Name. There Is He glorified, morning and evening By those whom trade nor profit can Divert from remembrance of their God Or from steadfastness in charity and prayer; Whose sole fear is for the Day When heart and vision awake In a new world Where God rewards their deeds Giving ever more from His Grace For God furnishes measurelessly Those whom He will. But behold the unbelievers: Their deeds are like a mirage In the burning desert: the parched man's eyes see Water in the distance; approaching, he finds Nothing; Beside him, he finds God, before Whom He must answer: God, Whose reckoning is swift. Or, like darkness on a fathomless sea, Wave over wave, overcast by cloud: Darkness upon darkness; If a man stretch out his hand, He can scarce see it. For those deprived of God's Light There is no Light. — Holy Qur'an XXIV. 35-40. [Translated by M.A.R. Habib]