and Ibn ‘Abbās and other Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. These are not their exact words. Rather, these men transmit reports much as the writers of military chronicles and biographies do. Such material may be cited as supporting evidence and used for corroboration; when its reports are combined, they constitute proof.

Those versed in transmitted reports, however, do not regard this transmission alone as sufficient to establish anything on Ibn ‘Abbās’s authority. At best, it conveys a report from Ibn ‘Abbās according to the meaning that reached al-Wālibī—if it has any basis in Ibn ‘Abbās at all. At the very most, it would be Ibn ‘Abbās’s own wording. And if these are Ibn ‘Abbās’s own words, he did not mean either that Allah Himself is not light or that He has no light. For reliable narrations from Ibn ‘Abbās affirm light for Allah Most High, as in his statement in the report of ‘Ikrima, when the latter asked him about Allah’s words:

“No vision can encompass Him”