another group, it is the light of faith. This light encompasses both, as Allah Most High says:

“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 made it a light.” [al-Shūrā 52]

Likewise, some of the early generations understood this as a parable of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while most understood it as a parable of every believer. All these interpretations are correct, for Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is their master and leader.

The description mentioned above of the tree as standing among other trees represents one group’s view. Another group said that it stands in open country, continually exposed to the sun, and that its oil is the purest. It was also said that it occupies an intermediate position, receiving sunlight at sunrise and sunset. A fuller discussion of this belongs elsewhere.

The point here is that whoever denies the meanings Allah Most High intended in the Quran will attain neither the light of the Quran nor the light of faith. Those lights are these sublime meanings. If he denies them, he is in the darkness of denial and negation. Whoever interprets them contrary to their intended meaning is like layers of darkness in a deep sea; whoever neither knows them nor says anything about them is like a mirage on a level plain. Although this applies generally to those who reject the meanings of