Book
AN EXCERPT FROM
Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi al-Karkari's "The Sufi Path of Light" explores the central concept of divine Light in Sufism. Drawing from Islamic scriptures and Sufi wisdom, he examines the various manifestations of this Light, emphasizing the heart as
the center of spiritual illumination.
Al-Karkari guides readers to recognize divine Light as omnipresent,
positioning it as the essence of spiritual awakening and the
ultimate goal of Sufism.
By Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi al-Karkari
Translated from the Arabic
by Dr. Yousef Casewit and Khalid Williams
Originally published by Les 7 Lectures
'Abd Allāh ibn Masʿūd said, “Your Lord is not subject to night or day. The light of the heavens and the earth is from the Light of His Face. The duration of each day for you is twelve hours. Your deeds of yesterday are presented to Him at the beginning of each day; He examines them for three hours, and anything displeasing to Him therein incurs His wrath. The first to learn of His wrath are the Throne-carriers who praise Him, for they feel their burden grow heavy. So the Throne-carriers, attendants, the angels-brought-nigh, and all the other angels glorify Him. Then Gabriel blows the horn, and everything hears it. They glorify the All-Merciful for three hours until He is filled with mercy. That is six hours. Then the wombs are brought before Him and He examines them for three hours. Thus He says in His Book, He it is Who forms you in the wombs however He will (Q Āl ʿImrān 3:6) . He creates whatsoever He will, bestowing females upon whomsoever He will, and bestowing males upon whomsoever He will, or He couples males and females, and causes whomsoever He will to be barren. barren. Truly He is Knowing, Powerful (Q Shūrā 42:49-50). That is nine hours. Then provisions are brought before Him, and He examines them for three hours. Thus He says in His Book, Truly thy Lord out- spreads and measures provision for whomsoever He will (Q Isrāʾ 17:30). Every day He is upon some affair (Q Raḥmān 55:29). That is your affair, and the affair of your Lord.” (Ṭabarānī, Kabīr, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, 8886)
Abū Hurayra related that the Messenger of God ﷺ said, “There are servants of God who are not prophets, yet the prophets and martyrs envy them.” Someone said, “Tell us who they are, that we might show them love.” He replied, “They are those who love one another through the Light of God, not through family ties or lineage. Their faces are Light, upon pul- pits of Light. They do not fear when others fear, nor grieve when others grieve.” Then he recited, Behold! Truly the friends of God, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. (Q Yūnus 10:62. Ibn Ḥibbān, Ṣaḥīḥ, 578)
Abū Hurayra related that the Messenger of God ﷺ said, “When God created Adam, He patted his back, and from it fell all the people He would create from his progeny until the Day of Resurrection. Between the eyes of each of them, He placed a mark of Light. Then he presented them to Adam, who said, ‘Lord, who are they?’ He replied, ‘They are your progeny.’ He saw a man among them and was impressed by the mark between his eyes. He asked, ‘Lord, who is that?’ He replied, ‘A man from one of the latter communities of your progeny, named David.’ He said, ‘How long will You make him live?’ He replied, ‘Sixty years.’ He said, ‘Lord, give him forty years from my life.’ Then when Adam’s life was over, the Angel of Death went to him. He said, ‘Do I not have forty years left?’ The angels replied, ‘Did you not give them to your son David?’ Thus Adam contended, and his progeny contended; and Adam forgot, and his progeny forgot; and Adam erred, and his progeny erred.”
Abū ʿĪsā [Tirmidhī] said, “This ḥadīth is sound and authentic.” (Tirmidhī, Jāmiʿ, 3021)
Anas ibn Mālik said, “I went out with the Prophet ﷺ from the house to the mosque, where there were some people raising their hands in supplication. He said, ‘Do you see in their hands what I see?’ I asked, ‘What is it?’ He replied, ‘There is Light is their hands.’ I said, ‘Pray to God to show it to me.’ He did, and God showed it to me. Then he hurried in, and we raised our hands.” (Bukhārī, Tārīkh, 649)
Anas ibn Mālik said, “I went out with the Prophet ﷺ from the house to the mosque, where there were some people raising their hands in supplication. He said, ‘Do you see in their hands what I see?’ I asked, ‘What is it?’ He replied, ‘There is Light is their hands.’ I said, ‘Pray to God to show it to me.’ He did, and God showed it to me. Then he hurried in, and we raised our hands.” (Bukhārī, Tārīkh, 649)
The version in Ṭabarānī’s Kitāb al-Duʿāʾ has, “He prayed, and I saw it. Then he said, ‘Anas, quick, let us join them.’ I hurried in with the Prophet of God ﷺ, and we raised our hands.” (Ṭabarānī, Duʿāʾ, 191)
Anas related that two men left the Prophet ﷺ one dark night, and a Light was before them until they parted, whereupon the Light divided between them. Maʿmar related on the authority of Thābit that Anas identified the men as Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr and a man of the Helpers, while Ḥammād’s narration from Thābit states that the men were Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr and ʿAbbād ibn Bishr. (Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, 3805)
Abū Zubayr related that he heard someone ask Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh about the passage through Hell at the Resurrection. He said during his answer, “The communities will call upon their idols and the things they worshipped, one by one. Then after- wards our Lord will come and say, ‘Whom are you awaiting?’ They will reply, ‘We are awaiting our Lord.’ He will say, ‘I am your Lord.’ They will say, ‘Let us see You first.’ So He will dis- close Himself to them, laughing.”
He then related that he had heard the Prophet ﷺ say, “He will lead them off, and they will follow Him. He will give each person, whether hypocrite or believer, a Light. Then they will follow Him across the Bridge over Hell, where hooks and thorns will grab whomever God wills. Then the light of the hypocrites will be extinguished, and the believers will be saved. The first to be saved will be a throng whose faces are like full moons, seventy thousand of them, who will not be reckoned. Then those who follow them will be like the bright- est stars in the sky; and so on. Then intercession will be allowed, and all those who said, ‘there is no god but God’ and had a hair’s weight of goodness in their hearts will come out of Hell, and be placed in the courtyard of the people of Paradise, who will sprinkle water upon them until they begin to sprout like plants on a riverbank. Then he will ask until the entire world has been given to him, and again ten times over.” (Aḥmad, Musnad, 14818)
He then related that he had heard the Prophet ﷺ say, “He will lead them off, and they will follow Him. He will give each person, whether hypocrite or believer, a Light. Then they will follow Him across the Bridge over Hell, where hooks and thorns will grab whomever God wills. Then the light of the hypocrites will be extinguished, and the believers will be saved. The first to be saved will be a throng whose faces are like full moons, seventy thousand of them, who will not be reckoned. Then those who follow them will be like the bright- est stars in the sky; and so on. Then intercession will be allowed, and all those who said, ‘there is no god but God’ and had a hair’s weight of goodness in their hearts will come out of Hell, and be placed in the courtyard of the people of Paradise, who will sprinkle water upon them until they begin to sprout like plants on a riverbank. Then he will ask until the entire world has been given to him, and again ten times over.” (Aḥmad, Musnad, 14818)
Muslim’s narration on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī has, “During the time of the Messenger of God ﷺ, some people asked, ‘Messenger of God, will we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection?’ The Messenger of God ﷺ replied, ‘Yes. Do you struggle to see the sun at noon on a cloudless day? Do you strug- gle to see the full moon on a cloudless night?’ They replied, ‘No, Messenger of God.’ He said, ‘You will not struggle to see God Almighty on the Day of Judgment any more than you struggle to see those. When that Day comes, a herald will call every com- munity to follow what they worshipped. All those who wor- shipped idols and statues instead of God will fall into Hell, until there remain only those who worshipped God, whether they were righteous or sinful, and the People of the Book. The Jews will be called forward and asked, “Whom did you worship?” They will reply, “We worshipped ʿUzayr the son of God.” They will be told, “You lie. God took neither consort nor son. What do you desire?” They will reply, “We are thirsty, Lord. Give us water!” But they will be directed to return not, and gathered into the Fire as it churns like a mirage, and they will fall into it.
“‘Then the Christians will be called forward and asked, “Whom did you worship?” They will reply, “We worshipped Christ the son of God.” They will be told, “You lie. God took neither consort nor son. What do you desire?” They will reply, “We are thirsty, Lord. Give us water!” But they will be directed to return not, and gathered into the Fire as it churns like a mirage, and they will fall into it.
“‘Finally there will remain only those who worshipped God, whether they were righteous or sinful. The Lord of the Worlds will go to them in the least form in which they could have imagined Him, and say, “What are you waiting for? Every com- munity has followed what it worshipped.” They will say, “Lord, we separated from the people in the world and did not keep their company, despite our dire need for them.” He will say, “I am your Lord.” They will cry, “We seek refuge in God from you! We associate no partners with God!” This will repeat two or three times, until some of them are close to turning. Then He will say, “Is there a sign between you and Him by which you may recognize Him?” They will reply, “Yes.” Then He will reveal a shin, and all of those who ever prostrated to God of their own volition will be permitted to prostrate to Him. As for those who prostrated out of fear of other people or ostentation, God will fix their backs straight as though they had but a single backbone, and when they try to prostrate they will fall flat.
“‘Then they will raise their heads, and He will have trans- formed into the form in which they saw Him the first time. He will say, “I am your Lord.” They will reply, “You are our Lord.” Then the Bridge over Hell will be let down, and intercession will be allowed. They will say, “Dear God, grant peace, grant peace!”’
“Someone said, ‘Messenger of God, what is the Bridge?’ He replied, ‘A slippery surface baited with hooks, spikes, and thorns like those of the Saʿdān plant in Najd. The believers will pass over in the blink of an eye, like lightning, like wind, like birds, and like swift horses. Some will be unscathed, others will get scratched but make it across, and others will tumble in the Fire of Hell. Once the believers are safe from Hell, by the One in Whose hands is my soul, they will call upon God on behalf of their brethren in Hell more passionately than anyone has ever called upon God to redress a right. They will say, “Lord, they used to fast with us, and pray, and make pilgrimage!” They will be told, “Take out all whom you recognize,” for the Fire will be prevented from disfiguring them. They will take out a great many, the Fire having reached their ankles, or half- way up their shins, or their knees. Then they will say, “Lord, there are none left in it of those whom You told us to take out.” He will say, “Go back and take out anyone in whose heart you find a dinar’s weight of goodness.” They will take out a great many, then say, “Lord, we have taken out all those whom You told us to.” He will say, “Go back and take out anyone in whose heart you find a mote’s weight of goodness.” They will take out a great many, then say, “Lord, we have taken out all those whom You told us to.”’”
(Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī used to say, “If you do not believe me about this ḥadīth, then recite: Truly God commits not so much as a mote’s weight of wrong: if there is a good deed, He will multiply it and grant from His Presence a great reward.”) (Q Nisāʾ 4:40)
“‘Then God Almighty will say, “The angels have interceded, and the prophets have interceded, and the believers have inter- ceded. None remains but the Most Merciful of the Merciful.” He will take a handful from the Fire, and bring out those who never did any good at all. They will have been reduced to char- coal. He will cast them into a river on the edge of Paradise called the River of Life, and they will emerge like seeds carried by water—do you see how they are borne to rocks or trees, and those that grow in the sun are yellow and green, while those that grow in the shade are white?’ The people said, ‘Messenger of God, you must have spent time herding in the desert!’
“He continued: ‘They will come out like pearls, with rings about their necks. The people of Paradise will recognize them as God’s freed ones, whom He admitted into Paradise though they performed no works and did no good. Then He will say, ‘Enter Paradise. All that you see is yours.’ They will say, ‘Lord, You have given us something You have never given to anyone in the worlds.’ He will reply, ‘With Me you shall have something even better.’ They will say, ‘Lord, what could be better than this?’ He will reply, ‘My boundless approval, for I shall never be angry with you again.’’’(Muslim, Ṣahīḥ, 274)
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr said, “I heard the Messenger of God ﷺ say, ‘God Almighty created His creation in darkness, then cast some of His Light upon them. Those whom the Light touched were guided, and those whom it missed went astray.’ That is why I say that the pen has dried.” Tirmidhī declared this ḥadīth to be sound. (Jāmiʿ, 2585)
Abū Hurayra said, “The Messenger of God ﷺ took me by the hand and said, ‘God Almighty created the land on Saturday, and created the mountains in it on Sunday, and created the trees on Monday. On Tuesday He created the objects of labor. On Wednesday He created the Light. On Thursday he scattered the animals throughout it. He created Adam on Friday evening, at the end of creation in the final hour of Friday, between afternoon and night.’” (Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ, 5002)
Abū Saʿīd related that the Messenger of God ﷺ said, “There are four hearts: a heart laid bare that shines like a lamp, a sealed heart with a knot tied about it, an inverted heart, and a heart turned on its side. The heart laid bare is the heart of the believer, his lamp shining with Light. The sealed heart is the heart of the unbeliever. The inverted heart is the heart of the hypocrite, who recognizes and then denies. The heart turned on its side is the one that harbors both faith and hypocrisy; the faith in it is like a plant replenished with clean water, while the hypocrisy in it is like a boil replenished with pus and blood. The fate of this heart depends on which source of replenishment wins out.” (Aḥmad, Musnad, 10917)
ʿIkrima related that Ibn ʿAbbās said, “Muḥammad saw his Lord.” ʿIkrima said, “But doesn’t God say, Sight perceives Him not, but He perceives all sight (Q Anʿām 6:103) ?” He replied, “Woe betide you! That is when He discloses with His Light, which is His Own Light. But Muḥammad saw his Lord twice.” Tirmidhī declared this hadith to be sound and singular through his chain of transmission (Jāmiʿ, 3220) . Ṭabarānī narrated it in his Kabīr from Ibn ʿAbbās as, “Muḥammad ﷺ saw his Lord twice—once with his eyes, and once with his heart.” (Jāmiʿ, 12406)
Anas ibn Mālik related that the Messenger of God ﷺ went out one day and was approached by a youth of the Helpers named Ḥāritha ibn al-Nuʿmān. He said, “How are you this morning, Ḥāritha?” He replied, “This morning I am a true believer.” The Messenger of God ﷺ said, “Watch what you say, for each truth has its reality. What is the reality of your faith?” He replied, “I have withdrawn myself from the world, and gone without sleep by night and without drink by day. It is as though I can see the Throne of my Lord before me, and as though I can see the denizens of Paradise visiting one another therein, and as though I can see the denizens of Hell warring with one another therein.”
The Prophet ﷺ said to him twice, “You have seen, so perse- vere.” Then he ﷺ said, “Here is a servant in whose heart God has illuminated faith.”
One day a call went up to battle, “Riders of God, mount up!” Ḥāritha was first in the saddle, and first to be martyred. His mother went to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “Messenger of God, tell me—where is Ḥāritha, my son? If he is in the Garden, I will not weep or grieve. If he is in Hell, I will weep as long as I live.” The Messenger of God ﷺ said to her, “Umm Ḥāritha, there is not only one Garden, but many. Ḥāritha is in the Highest Paradise.” She went away laughing and saying, “Ah Ḥāritha, rejoice!” (Bayhaqī, Shuʿab al-Īmān, 9884)
Ḥudhayfa related that the Messenger of God ﷺ said, “Gabriel came to me holding something like a mirror with a black spot in its center. I said, ‘Gabriel, what is this?’ He replied, ‘It is the world and its purity and beauty.’ I said, ‘What is that black spot?’ He replied, ‘It is Friday.’ I said, ‘What is Friday?’ He replied, ‘A tremendous day among the days of your Lord.’ He described its nobility and virtue, and its name in the hereafter. When God sends the people of Paradise to Paradise and the people of Hell to Hell, there will no longer be night or day, yet God will know the measure of those hours. When the time of Friday comes, at the moment when those who kept it used to head out to their prayer, a herald will call, ‘People of Paradise! Come out to the Abode of Increase!’ They will go out to a dune of musk, whiter than flour. When they have sat down in their places, God will send a gust of wind that stirs up the white musk and carries it through their clothing and out of their sleeves. The wind will know how to apply that perfume more expertly than any of your wives can manage with the perfumes of this world.
“Then God will say, ‘Where are My servants who obeyed Me in secret, and believed My messengers without seeing Me? Ask of Me now, for this is the Day of Increase.’ They will all utter together, as if one man, ‘We are content, so be content with us!’ The reply will come from Him, ‘People of Paradise, if I were not content with you, I would not have brought you to dwell in My Paradise. Yet this is the Day of Increase, so ask of Me!’ They will all utter together, as if one man, ‘Show us Your Face, that we may look upon it.’ Then God Almighty will pull back the veils and show Himself to them, and His light will envelop them so powerfully that had God not decreed that they would never die, they would burn up. Then He will say to them, ‘Return to your homes.’ They will return, unable to see their spouses and their spouses unable to see them, so enveloped by His Light they are. The Light will continue to dominate until at last they return to normal, or to their dwellings as they were. Their spouses will say to them, ‘You look different now to how you did when you left.’ They will reply, ‘Our Lord showed Himself to us, and what we saw made us hidden from you.’ They will bathe in the musk and bliss of Paradise on every seventh day, the Day of Increase.” (Bazzār, Musnad, 2526)
Ibn ʿAbbās related that the Prophet of God ﷺ said, “God has a Preserved Tablet of white pearl, with pages of red ruby. Its pen is Light, and its writing is Light. God looks upon it three hun- dred and sixty times every day, creating and providing, giving life and dealing death, exalting and abasing, doing as He will.” (Abū Nuʿaym, Ḥilya, 5887)
Ibn ʿAbbās said, “On the Day of Resurrection, people will sit with God to the right of the Throne—and both God’s hands are right hands. They will sit upon pulpits of Light, with faces of Light. They are not prophets, martyrs, or folk of truest faith. Someone said, ‘Messenger of God, who are they?’ He replied, ‘Those who love one another in God’s Majesty.’” (Ṭabarānī, Kabīr, 12524)
Ibn ʿAbbās said, “When the Prophet ﷺ got up at night to pray the tahajjud, he would say, ‘Dear God, praise be to You! You are the Upholder of the heavens and the earth and all that they contain. Praise be to You! Yours is the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that they contain. Praise be to You! You are the Light of the heavens and the earth. Praise be to You! You are the Truth; Your promise is true, Your meeting is true, Your word is true, Paradise is true, Hell is true, the proph- ets are true, Muḥammad is true, and the Hour is true. Dear God, to You I submit, and in You I believe, and on You I rely, and to You I turn, and for You I fight, and to You I defer. Forgive me my deeds, past and future, open and secret. It is You Who send forth, and You Who hold back. There is no god but You.’ (Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, 1059)
Abū Mālik al-Ashʿarī related that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Purity is half of faith. ‘Praise be to God’ (al-ḥamdu lillāh) fills the scale. ‘Glory be to God and praise be to God’ (subḥān Allāh wal- ḥamdu lillāh) fills everything between heaven and earth. Prayer is light. Charity is proof. Patience is illumination. The Qurʾān is a proof, whether for you or against you. All those who live to see another day sell their souls—into freedom, or into ruin.” (Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ, 333)
Abū Dharr asked the Prophet ﷺ, “Did you see your Lord?” He replied, “I saw light – how could I see Him?” (Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ, 266)
Abū Hurayra related that a Jewish man came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked, “Abū al-Qāsim, did God veil Himself from His creation with something other than the heavens and the earth?” He answered, “Yes. Between Him and the angels around the Throne, there are seventy veils of fire, seventy veils of Light, seventy veils of darkness, seventy veils of sparkling brocade, seventy veils of radiant silk, seventy veils of white pearls, seventy veils of red pearls, seventy veils of yellow pearls, seventy veils of green pearls, seventy veils of glow from the fire and the light, seventy veils of ice, seventy veils of water, sev- enty veils of cloud, seventy veils of cold, and seventy veils of divine majesty that cannot be described.” The man asked, “Tell me about the angel of God that follows.” The Prophet said, “Do you believe what I have just told you?” He answered, “Yes, I do.”The Prophet ﷺ said,“The next angel is Isrāfīl, then comes Gabriel, then Michael, then the Angel of Death, may God bless them all.” (Ṭabarānī, Awsaṭ, 9175)
Sahl ibn Saʿd related that the Messenger of God ﷺ said, “God Almighty is behind seventy thousand veils of Light and dark- ness. Any soul that sensed the tiniest sound from those veils would die on the spot.” (Ṭabarānī, Kabīr, 5664)
Anas ibn Mālik related that the Prophet ﷺ said, “I asked Gabriel, ‘Do you see your Lord?’ He replied, ‘There are sev- enty veils of Light between me and Him. If I saw even the clos- est of them, I would burn up.’” (Ṭabarānī, Awsaṭ, 6580)
The Messenger of God ﷺ spoke of prayer one day and said, “When someone is mindful of the prayer, it will becomes a Light, a proof, and salvation for him on the Day of Resurrection. But if he is not mindful of it, he will have no proof, no light, and no salvation, and on that Day he will find himself in the com- pany of Qārūn, Hāmān, Pharaoh, and Ubayy ibn Khalaf.” (Ibn Ḥibbān, Ṣaḥīḥ, 1497)
Abū Dharr related, “I said, ‘Messenger of God, counsel me.’ He replied, ‘I counsel you to have reverence for God, for that is the summit of your entire affair.’ I said, ‘Messenger of God, give me more.’ He said, ‘Recite the Qurʾān and invoke God, for that will be a Light for you in the heavens, and a Light in the earth.’ I said, ‘‘Messenger of God, give me more.’ He said, ‘Do not laugh too much, for it kills the heart and removes the Light of the face.’ I said, ‘Messenger of God, give me more.’ He said, ‘Engage in struggle, for it is the monasticism of my Community.’ I said, ‘Messenger of God, give me more.’ He said, ‘Be silent unless you have something good to say, for it will keep Satan from you and help you with your religion.’ I said, ‘Messenger of God, give me more.’ He said, ‘Look to those below you, not those above you, so that you do not overlook God’s favors upon you.’ I said, ‘Messenger of God, give me more.’ He said, ‘As long as you are on God’s side, do not fear reproach from anyone.’ I said, ‘Messenger of God, give me more.’ He said, ‘Love for others what you love for yourself.’ Then he patted me on the chest and said, ‘Abū Dharr, there is nothing more intelligent than thinking ahead, and nothing more pious than abstinence, and nothing more noble than beautiful character.’” (Ṭabarānī, Kabīr, 1627)
ʿAbd Allāh related that the Messenger of God ﷺ said, “Anyone who suffers anxiety or sorrow should say, ‘Dear God, I am Your servant, the son of Your servant, and the son of Your maidservant. My forelock is in Your hand, Your decree upon me is binding, Your rule over me is just. I ask You with every name of Yours with which You have named Yourself, or taught to any of Your creatures, or revealed in Your book, or kept hidden in the unseen knowledge that is with You, to make the Qurʾān the spring of my heart, and the Light of my breast, and the remedy for my sorrow, and the cure for my woes.’ Anyone who says this will find that God dispels his woes and sorrows, and replaces them with joy.” Someone said, “Messenger of God, should we learn this?” He replied, “Yes, everyone who hears it ought to learn it.” (Aḥmad, Musnad, musnad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, 3583)
Abū Mālik al-Ashʿarī reported that the Messenger of God ﷺ said: “Purity is half of faith. ‘Praise be to God’ (al-ḥamdu li-Llāh) fills the scale. ‘Glory be to God and praise be to God’ (subḥāna Llāhi wa’l-ḥamdu li-Llāh) fills everything between heaven and earth. Prayer is light. Charity is proof. Patience is illumination. The Qurʾān is an argument either for you or against you. All those who live to see another day sell their souls—either into freedom or into ruin.” (Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ, 333)
ʿIrbāḍ ibn Sāriya related that the Messenger of God ﷺ said, “I was the servant of God and the Seal of Prophets when my father was still being molded in his clay. Let me tell you how: I am the answer to the prayer of my father Abraham, the good tiding of Jesus, the dream that my mother Āmina saw, just as all the mothers of the prophets have dreams.” As she was giving birth to him, the Prophet’s ﷺ mother saw Light emanat- ing from him that illuminated the palaces of Syria to her. Then he recited, O Prophet! Truly We have sent thee as a wit- ness, as a bearer of glad tidings, and as a warner, as one who calls unto God by His Leave, and as a luminous lamp (Q Aḥzāb 33:45-46) . Ḥākim declared this authentic. (Mustadrak, 3496)
Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī related that the Prophet ﷺ said, “The one who recites Sūrat al-Kahf on Friday will be given Light to illuminate him until the next Friday.” Ḥākim declared this authentic. (Mustadrak, 3318)
Abū Mūsā related that the Messenger of God ﷺ said, “God Almighty does not sleep, and it would not behoove Him to sleep. He lowers the Scales and raises them. The deeds of night are lifted to Him before the deeds of day. His veil is Light, and if He were to lift it, the rays of His Face would burn everything of His creation, as far as His gaze reaches.” Abū Bakr’s narration has, “His veil is fire.” (Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ, 268)
Anas ibn Mālik related that the Messenger of God ﷺ said, “As I was sitting, Gabriel came to me and nudged me between my shoulders. I went to a tree that had something like two bird’s nests in it. He sat in one, and I sat in the other, and it grew and rose up until it filled the horizons. Had I desired to, I could have reached out and touched the sky. I looked at Gabriel, and he appeared like a transparent cloth. I realized that his knowledge of God was greater than mine. But then one of the doors of heaven opened to me, and I saw the Supreme Light. A veil studded with pearls and rubies fell before me, and then God revealed to me what He wished to reveal.” (Abū Nuʿaym, Ḥilya, 2632)
Abū Mūsā related that the Prophet ﷺ said, “The parable of the Muslims, Christians, and Jews is like that of a man who hires some people to work for him for a full day until nightfall for an agreed payment. They work until midday, then say, ‘We do not need the pay you promised, and the work we have done was in vain.’ He says, ‘No, you should finish your work and take your payment in full.’ But they refuse, and leave. So he hires some other workers and tells them, ‘Work for the rest of the day, and I shall give you the payment I promised those others.’ They work until the time of the afternoon prayer, then say, ‘The work we have done was in vain. Keep the pay you promised us.’ He says, ‘Finish your work, the day is almost over!’ But they refuse. So he hires some others to work for the rest of the day, and they work until sunset, and receive all the pay that was offered to the others. That is just like them and what they received of this Light.” (Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, 2120)
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Give glad tidings to those who walk to the mosque in the dark, that they shall have perfect Light on the Day of Resurrection.” (Tirmidhī, Jāmiʿ, 207)
