The Prayer
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
God is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth. The parable of this Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass; the Glass as it were a brilliant star: lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the East nor of the West, whose Oil is well – nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light! God doth guide whom He will to his Light: God doth set forth Parables for men: and God doth know all things.
Sura Nur or Light, XXIV : 35
From the Holy Quran
ANNUR
The Light of Intelligence
“When you are guided to this pathway, take the opportunity to reflex on the divine intelligence that has illuminated and is illuminating your life.”
The inner experience of Light, which in its Semitic Language sense means knowing or intelligence,. What is “ Light” represents what we know about our inner self. What is “dark” represent what is mysterious, or what we don’t yet know.
Quote from 12 Century Sufi Shihab Al – Din Subra-wardi.
Allah’s essence is the original creative Light, always illuminating existence. It constantly manifests the universe and energizes it. Allah’s Essential Light radiates the whole cosmos in abundant beauty and completeness. To be illuminated by this process means nothing less than salvation.
The Light within us resembles the light of the farthest stars and galaxies, which are closest to the beginning of the cosmos.
Light upon light upon light – back and back we trace to its Source, radiating light and sound – a voice, an echo guiding those who hear Love’s desire unfold the universe’s story, who came to this call like thirsty birds of water. Beloved, the One who creates us models, signs, symbols, parables everywhere we look to remind us of our Source.
And the One behind all understands and embraces all – the past and future journey of everything from see to star. 49
Roots and Branches
The traditional translation of this quality is the “Light”. The roots of Nur point to the constantly new (N) and the transformational (U) radiance of life (R). It derives from the same root as the Hebrew aor, the primal Light created at the beginning, as described in Genesis. This Light illuminates in a focused beam, like beacon lighting up a path. Nur also points to the archetype of the primal human being, called Adam Qadmon in Jewish mysticism and Nur – I – Muhammad in Sufism.
References:
- The Sufi Book of Life - 99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish, Neil Douglas – Klotz
- 99 Most Eminent Names of Allah, Tabib Samat, Brigitte Francois - Bresson
|
