اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ. (al-Nūr 24:35)
Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The likeness of His light is as a niche containing a lamp.
Mishkāh means a niche and miṣbāḥ means a lamp. The expression mathalu nūrihi introduces an illustration of light.
The difficulty is that one verse forbids comparisons, while another provides an illustration from Allah Himself.
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Allah’s Incomparability and Questions about Qur’anic Illustrations
اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ. (al-Nūr 24:35)
Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The likeness of His light is as a niche containing a lamp.
Mishkāh means a niche and miṣbāḥ means a lamp. The expression mathalu nūrihi introduces an illustration of light.
The difficulty is that one verse forbids comparisons, while another provides an illustration from Allah Himself.