Light and Darknesses in the Qur'an

In brief

When the Qur'an speaks of guidance and error, it reaches for two words more than any others: nūr (light) and ẓulumāt (darknesses). The pair sits side by side in the text, but it is not symmetrical. Nūr occurs 43 times and is always singular; the Arabic plural (anwār) never appears in the Qur'an. The noun for darkness occurs 23 times and is always plural; the singular ẓulma never appears. The recurring formula is one-directional too: bringing out of the darknesses into the light. This article follows that formula through the verses, gives the word counts, and then separates what the asymmetry says from what readers infer from it.

Verses discussed

• 6:1 — God created the heavens and the earth and made the darkness and the light.
• 2:257 — God brings believers out of darknesses into light; ṭāghūt does the reverse.
• 5:16 — God guides to the ways of peace and brings out of darknesses into light.
• 14:1 — The Book was sent down to bring people out of darknesses into light.
• 33:43 — God and His angels bless you so as to bring you out into the light.
• 57:9 — Clear verses are sent down to bring you out of darknesses into light.
• 65:11 — A messenger recites verses to bring believers out into the light.
• 2:17 — The kindled fire illuminates, then the light is taken away.
• 6:122 — One given light is not like one who stays in darknesses.
• 24:40 — Darknesses layered upon one another in a deep sea; without granted light there is none.
• 24:35 — God is the Light of the heavens and the earth; the parable of the lamp.
• 13:16 — Is darkness equivalent to light?
• 35:20 — Nor are the darknesses and the light equal.
• 39:22 — One whose breast is opened is upon a light from his Lord.
• 10:5 — The sun a shining light, the moon a derived light.
• 57:12 — The believers' light runs before them on the Day.

1. Both are created

The Qur'an opens the subject by placing both terms inside creation:

ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَجَعَلَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ وَٱلنُّورَ

"[All] praise is [due] to Allāh, who created the heavens and the earth and made the darkness and the light." (6:1)

(interpretation) This is not the language of dualism. Darkness is not a rival power set against light; it is named as something made. The verse continues by rebuking those who set up equals to their Lord, which frames the sentence as a statement of divine oneness: darkness, too, has an owner.

2. The formula: out of darknesses into the light

A verbal pattern recurs: akhraja (to bring out), with mina ẓ-ẓulumāt (from the darknesses) and ilā n-nūr (into the light). Its best known instance is in Sūrat al-Baqara:

ٱللَّهُ وَلِىُّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ يُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ ۖ وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ أَوْلِيَآؤُهُمُ ٱلطَّـٰغُوتُ يُخْرِجُونَهُم مِّنَ ٱلنُّورِ إِلَى ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ

"Allāh is the Ally of those who believe. He brings them out from darknesses into the light. ... They take them out of the light into darknesses." (2:257)

The same formula is used of revelation itself:

كِتَـٰبٌ أَنزَلْنَـٰهُ إِلَيْكَ لِتُخْرِجَ ٱلنَّاسَ مِنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ

"[This is] a Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muḥammad], that you might bring mankind out of darknesses into the light by permission of their Lord" (14:1)

وَيُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ بِإِذْنِهِۦ

"brings them out from darknesses into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path." (5:16)

The subject of the verb varies — God, the Book, the messenger:

هُوَ ٱلَّذِى يُصَلِّى عَلَيْكُمْ وَمَلَـٰٓئِكَتُهُۥ لِيُخْرِجَكُم مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ

"It is He who confers blessing upon you, and His angels [ask Him to do so] that He may bring you out from darknesses into the light." (33:43)

هُوَ ٱلَّذِى يُنَزِّلُ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِۦٓ ءَايَـٰتٍۭ بَيِّنَـٰتٍ لِّيُخْرِجَكُم مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ

"It is He who sends down upon His Servant [Muḥammad (ﷺ)] verses of clear evidence that He may bring you out from darknesses into the light." (57:9)

لِّيُخْرِجَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ مِنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ

"[He sent] a Messenger [i.e., Muḥammad (ﷺ)] reciting to you the distinct verses of Allāh that He may bring out those who believe and do righteous deeds from darknesses into the light." (65:11)

(interpretation) Read together, these verses suggest a division of roles: the agent of the verb is God, while the Book and the messenger are the means. The text does not state this as a doctrine, but the repetition of one verb with different subjects makes the reading available.

The direction is fixed as well. 2:257 supplies the only reversal, and it is reserved for the negative side: ṭāghūt takes people out of the light into darknesses.

3. Singular light, plural darknesses

The counts below come from the Qur'anic word list (see "Root and word note").

(interpretation) The grammatical asymmetry is striking: light is always singular, darkness always plural. Reading this as "truth is one, the ways of straying are many" is a common and coherent interpretation, and the text is compatible with it — but the Qur'an never states it. No verse explains the choice of number. So this is an inference drawn from the form of the text, not a claim the text makes.

The same asymmetry appears inside a single verse. The hypocrites' "light" is singular, the darknesses they are left in are plural:

ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمْ وَتَرَكَهُمْ فِى ظُلُمَـٰتٍ لَّا يُبْصِرُونَ

"but when it illuminated what was around him, Allāh took away their light and left them in darkness [so] they could not see." (2:17)

And the one given light is contrasted with the one who cannot get out:

أَوَمَن كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَـٰهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُۥ نُورًا يَمْشِى بِهِۦ فِى ٱلنَّاسِ كَمَن مَّثَلُهُۥ فِى ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِّنْهَا

"And is one who was dead and We gave him life and made for him light by which to walk among the people like one who is in darkness, never to emerge therefrom?" (6:122)

4. Layers of darkness

In Sūrat an-Nūr darkness is drawn as layers stacked on layers:

أَوْ كَظُلُمَـٰتٍ فِى بَحْرٍ لُّجِّىٍّ يَغْشَىٰهُ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِۦ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِۦ سَحَابٌ ۚ ظُلُمَـٰتٌۢ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ وَمَن لَّمْ يَجْعَلِ ٱللَّهُ لَهُۥ نُورًا فَمَا لَهُۥ مِن نُّورٍ

"Or [they are] like darknesses within an unfathomable sea which is covered by waves, upon which are waves, over which are clouds - darknesses, some of them upon others. ... And he to whom Allāh has not granted light - for him there is no light." (24:40)

(interpretation) This image is the strongest internal clue to what the plural conveys: darkness here is not one veil but veils piled on one another — wave, wave upon wave, cloud. And the verse closes by returning to the singular: if light has not been granted, there is no light at all.

5. The Light Verse and figurative language

One of the most discussed verses in the Qur'an calls God light:

ٱللَّهُ نُورُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ مَثَلُ نُورِهِۦ كَمِشْكَوٰةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ نُّورٌ عَلَىٰ نُورٍ ۗ يَهْدِى ٱللَّهُ لِنُورِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ

"Allāh is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp; ... Light upon light. Allāh guides to His light whom He wills." (24:35)

(interpretation) The verse marks its own language as figurative: it says "the example of His light", and it closes with "Allāh presents examples for the people". The niche, the glass and the olive tree are therefore a comparison, not a definition. The verse builds a visual scene to describe what guidance is like rather than to define what God is. Reading it as a description of physical light, or as a cosmological claim, steps outside the frame the verse sets for itself.

6. "Are they equal?"

In several places the pair appears as a rhetorical question:

قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِى ٱلْأَعْمَىٰ وَٱلْبَصِيرُ أَمْ هَلْ تَسْتَوِى ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتُ وَٱلنُّورُ

"Is the blind equivalent to the seeing? Or is darkness equivalent to light?" (13:16)

وَلَا ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتُ وَلَا ٱلنُّورُ

"Nor are the darknesses and the light," (35:20)

أَفَمَن شَرَحَ ٱللَّهُ صَدْرَهُۥ لِلْإِسْلَـٰمِ فَهُوَ عَلَىٰ نُورٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦ

"So is one whose breast Allāh has expanded to [accept] Islām and he is upon [i.e., guided by] a light from his Lord" (39:22)

(interpretation) In these three places the comparison is epistemic rather than moral: blind/seeing and dark/light are both about perception. Light here is an opportunity to see, not a reward.

7. Light is not always a metaphor

هُوَ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَ ٱلشَّمْسَ ضِيَآءً وَٱلْقَمَرَ نُورًا

"It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light" (10:5)

يَوْمَ تَرَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتِ يَسْعَىٰ نُورُهُم بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَـٰنِهِم

"On the Day you see the believing men and believing women, their light proceeding before them and on their right" (57:12)

(interpretation) In 10:5 nūr describes the moon; no metaphor is needed. In 57:12 it is something the believers possess in a scene of the hereafter. "Light" is therefore not a single technical term in the Qur'an: depending on context it can mean physical light, revelation, guidance, or a state in the hereafter.

Root and word note

The counts below were taken from the root-tagged word records:

Note: nūr (light) and nār (fire) are tagged under the same root (n-w-r) in the Qur'anic word list. 2:17 brings the two together in a single scene: a fire is kindled, the surroundings light up, then the light is taken away.

Darkness also occurs twice as a participle rather than a noun: 10:27 and 36:37. These are not counted in the 23 above.

Different readings

(interpretation) At least three readings of the asymmetry circulate:

• A linguistic reading: in Arabic the plural ẓulumāt can also express intensity and layering (as in 24:40). On this reading the plural says "darkness is dense and layered" rather than "the paths of error are many".
• A conceptual reading: the plural implies that guidance is one while error has many roads. This fits the general framing of the text (the single straight path), but rests on no explicit verse.
• A cautious reading: deriving a systematic doctrine from word choice may impose a rule on the language after the fact. On this reading the asymmetry is real and notable, but does not by itself establish a teaching.

The three are not mutually exclusive; the first two can both be supported by 24:40.

Honest limits

What the text states plainly:

• Light and darknesses form a contrasting pair, and both are created (6:1).
• The formula "out of the darknesses into the light" recurs with a fixed direction (2:257, 5:16, 14:1, 33:43, 57:9, 65:11).
• In the word list nūr is always singular and ẓulumāt always plural.
• 24:35 declares its own language figurative, inside the verse.

What remains interpretation:

• Why the numbers differ. "Truth is one, error is many" is an inference, not a statement of the text.
• What the niche, the glass and the olive tree stand for. The verse builds the scene; it does not decode its parts.
• Whether light is a created thing or an attribute. That debate goes beyond the wording of the verses and is not entered here.

What this article is not: an attempt to extract a numerical miracle from word counts. The counts document a linguistic observation; the numbers themselves are not offered as proof of anything.

Conclusion: Light and darknesses form a conceptual pair in the Qur'an, but not two poles of equal weight. Light is singular, fixed, and the destination; darkness is plural, layered, and the place left behind. The recurring sentence is not a sentence about balance but about direction: out of the darknesses into the light. Every explanation beyond that — the reason for the asymmetry, the meaning of the symbols — is the reader's inference and should be marked as such.

Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan's Turkish rendering; Saheeh International in English) + kuranokuyan.com. Qur'an-centred, non-sectarian, cited.