the dust? Evil indeed is their judgment!”

Allah Most High also says:

43:17: “And when one of them is given news of what he ascribes to the Most Merciful as a likeness, his face darkens and he suppresses his grief.”

On this basis, a dream interpreter interpreted the dream of a man who told him, “I saw my face as though it were black.” He asked him, “Is your wife pregnant?” He replied, “Yes.” He said, “She will bear you a daughter?”

[Surah al-Shūrā (42): verse 52]

“And thus We have revealed to you a spirit by Our command. You did not know what the Book was, nor what faith was. But We have made it a light by which We guide whom We will of Our servants. And indeed, you guide to a straight path.” (52)

It has been said that the pronoun in “We have made it” refers to the command; others say it refers to the Book, and still others to faith.

The correct view is that it refers to the “spirit”: that is, We have made what We revealed to you a light. He called it a spirit because it brings about a good life, knowledge, and strength. He made it a light because it brings illumination and radiance. The two are inseparable: wherever this spirit brings life, there is illumination and enlightenment; and wherever there is enlightenment and illumination, there is life.

Anyone whose heart does not receive this spirit is dead and dark, just as anyone whose body is left by the life-giving spirit perishes and wastes away.

For this reason, He, glorified and exalted be He, sets forth the two parables of water and fire: water brings life, while fire brings illumination and light. Such are the parables He sets forth at the beginning of Surah al-Baqarah.