Thus, Allah’s taking away that light means the severing of the special companionship He grants His allies. He severed it between Himself and the hypocrites; once their light was gone, He was no longer there for them or with them. They therefore have no share in His words, 9:40 “Do not grieve; indeed, Allah is with us,” nor in 26:63 “No! Indeed, my Lord is with me; He will guide me.”

Consider His words, exalted is He, “It illuminated what was around him”: how He made its brightness external to him and separate from him. Had its brightness reached him and permeated him, it would not have departed. But it was the brightness of proximity, not of intimate contact and intermingling. The brightness was incidental, while the darkness was inherent. The brightness therefore returned to its source, and the darkness remained in its own abode. Each returned to its fitting origin—a standing proof from Allah Most High and profound wisdom through which He makes Himself known to those of His servants who possess understanding.

Consider His words, “Allah took away their light.” He did not say “their fire,” which would have matched the beginning of the verse. Fire both illuminates and burns. He took away its illumination—the light—and left them with its burning, its fiery nature. Consider, too, how He said “their light,” not “their brightness,” despite saying, “When it illuminated what was around him.” Brightness is an intensification of light. Had He said, “Allah took away their brightness,” it might have suggested that only the added intensity was removed, not the underlying light. Since light is the basis of brightness, taking it away means taking away both the thing itself and its added intensity.

Furthermore, this more emphatically denies them any light and establishes that they belong to the people of darkness, who have no light.

Allah Most High has also called His Book light, His Messenger light, and His religion light. One of His names is the Light, and prayer is light. Thus, His taking away their light means taking away all of this.

Consider how this parable corresponds to His preceding words: “Those are the ones who have purchased misguidance in exchange for guidance, so their trade has brought them no profit, nor were they guided”—how He drew a correspondence between this