So He made the brightness of the lightning and the intensity of its ray of light a parable, like the light of their verbal acknowledgment of God, His Messenger, peace and blessings of God be upon him, and what he brought from God, and the Last Day, and the ray of its light.
Then He, whose mention is exalted, said: "Whenever it shines for them", meaning whenever the lightning shines for them, making the lightning a parable for their faith. By this He only meant: whenever faith shines for them—and its shining for them means that they see in it what pleases them in their immediate worldly life, such as victory over enemies, obtaining spoils in military expeditions, numerous conquests and their benefits, wealth in property, and safety in bodies, families, and children—that is its shining for them. For they only express with their tongues the acknowledgment that they show out of desire for that, and to defend themselves, their wealth, their families, and their offspring. They are as God, majestic is His praise, described them in His statement: {And among people is he who worships God on an edge: if good touches him, he is satisfied with it; but if a trial strikes him, he turns on his face} [Surah al-Ḥajj: 11].
And He means by His statement "they walk therein", they walk in the light of the lightning. That is merely a parable for their acknowledgment as we have described. Its meaning is: whenever they see in faith what pleases them in their immediate worldly life as we described, they remain firm upon it and stay in it, just as the traveler walks in the darkness of the night and the darkness of the rainstorm that He, majestic is His praise, described, when a flash of lightning gleams in it, he sees his path through it.
"And when it turns dark", meaning: the light of the lightning departs from them.
And He means by His statement "over them", over those traveling in the rainstorm that He, majestic is His mention, described. That is a parable for the hypocrites. The meaning of that turning dark is: whenever the hypocrites do not see in Islam what pleases them in their worldly life—when God tests His faithful servants with adversity and purifies them through hardship and trials, such as failure in their military expedition, their enemy gaining the upper hand over them (1), or the turning away of
This translation was produced with AI assistance and is part of an ongoing human-review process. Found a mistake? Use the feedback option in the reader menu.
