There has also been disagreement over the referent of the pronoun in “His light.” Some say it refers to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, meaning: the example of Muhammad’s light.
Others say it refers to the believer, meaning: the example of the believer’s light.
The correct view is that it refers to Allah, glorified and exalted is He. The meaning is: the example of Allah’s light in His servant’s heart. Of all His servants, His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has the greatest share of this light.
Thus, while retaining this reference of the pronoun—which is the natural reading—this interpretation encompasses all three proposed meanings and is the most complete in both wording and meaning.
This light is attributed to Allah Most High because He gives it to His servant and bestows it upon him. It is also attributed to the servant because he is its dwelling place and recipient. Thus, it is attributed both to the agent and to the recipient. This light has an agent, a recipient, a dwelling place, a bearer, and sustenance.
The verse mentions all these things in detail. The agent is Allah Most High, the Bestower of lights, who guides whom He wills to His light. The recipient is the believing servant. Its dwelling place is his heart. Its bearer is his aspiration, resolve, and will. Its sustenance is his speech and deeds.
This wondrous simile contained in the verse holds subtle insights and meanings, and reveals the fullness of His blessing upon His believing servant through something of His light, in ways that delight the eyes of those who possess this light and gladden their hearts.
Scholars concerned with the meanings of this simile take two approaches.
The first is the approach of the composite simile. It is more readily understood and less susceptible to strained interpretation: the entire scene is compared to the believer’s light, without examining each individual element of the subject of comparison and matching it to an element of the image used to illustrate it. Most Quranic parables follow this pattern.
Consider, then, the nature of the niche—an opening extending through a wall so as to concentrate the light more fully: there has been placed