Surah Al-An’am, Verse 122: [“Can he who was dead, to whom We gave life, and a light whereby he could walk among people be like him who is in utter darkness from which he can never emerge? Thus the deeds of those who deny the truth have been made fair-seeming to them.”] In this verse, an example is given of a person who starts off knowing nothing, but moves forward from that point and continues to progress in knowledge, guidance and understanding. This person is being compared to someone who is sitting in a dark room and is unable to leave. The literal translation, “Could that person who is void of life”, “We gave him light”, “To walk amongst the people with it”, are four phases of enlightenment. The first phase involves a person simply having the potential to be enlightened. The potential lies within; the intellectual faculties are there, the heart has the ability to attain guidance, but the person has not yet attained guidance, so they are laying dormant. This is like something that is lifeless – it does not yet have life in it, but it is not useless, because it has potential. The next phase is the first phase of actual enlightenment. This is when their heart is able to see the truth, identify it, and relate to it. This is Iman (guidance) and this person has come to life. This is also symbolic of knowledge. Through faith, guidance and knowledge, the hearts become alive. This person is now able to see the world and life through the lens of guidance. This state of awareness increases inside the person, to the extent that the world starts lighting up around them. This person is not only alive, but the world starts lighting up, and the world starts making sense to them. A person can tell right from wrong; good from bad, truth from falsehood, good choices from bad choices. The types of people that are beneficial for them as opposed to the types of people who are harmful for them. Now it’s not just life inside, but it’s the ability to see the world as it is. This is now clarity, the next level. It is similar to a person sitting in a well lit room, able to see everything in that room clearly. Then there is the next level; the level to share the light, or guidance, with others. They take this guidance and walk amongst people with it. This is a very powerful expression, because the literal translation is that they are moving themselves, taking this light and understanding with them and sharing the understanding with others. This has several implications; the first is that from their interactions with others, the result is that the light passes onto them, and it shows a sense of deliberation that the person is reaching out to others with the intention of sharing the light or enlightenment with them. This is a person who has gone through these phases of enlightenment, and on the other side, there is another person who is sitting in a series of darkness, enveloped by layers of darkness.
What are the layers of darkness? The first of the layers of darkness is to not recognize one’s true creator. The second, the layer of darkness that is ignorance as to what that creator wants from a person. The third layer of darkness is the inability to differentiate between right and wrong, or good and evil. Lastly, the fourth layer of darkness is a person’s own limitations that come due to them not having gone through the process of purifying themselves and their hearts. These are the internal obstacles; the sentimental, emotional, ideological and intellectual obstacles from within that prevent a person from moving forward. So, on one side, you have a person who started out lifeless, but who gradually made their way up, and on the other side, you have a person who may have had life and the ability to understand and the opportunities, but they refused to come out of that dark room. Meanwhile, while the first person has the light and ability to see and is sharing the light with others, the second person is sitting in darkness, engulfed by the darkness by themself, unable to acquire any light of their own, and unable to share any light with people in the future. What a powerful example of a person who gets guided and a person who closes off the doors of guidance. May Allah (SWT) enlighten us with the light of guidance and make available to us those opportunities that will keep us progressing on this path of enlightenment and may Allah (SWT) save us from falling into that chamber filled with darkness.
