From the darknesses into the light
مِنَ ٱلظُّلُمَٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ
mina ẓ-ẓulumāti ilā n-nūr — from the darknesses into the light
Read side by side, the occurrences show that the pair "the darknesses / the light" functions as a fixed polarity: the darknesses are plural, the light singular, and in most verses the pair is bound to a verb of bringing out, with named agents (Allah, a messenger, Moses) and, in one case, the movement reversed.
The expression appears in the verses given in two constructions. In seven of the ten occurrences the pair is governed by min and ilā with a verb of bringing out: yukhrijuhum (2:257), yukhrijuhum (5:16), li-tukhrija (14:1), akhrij (14:5), li-yukhrijakum (33:43), li-yukhrijakum (57:9), li-yukhrija (65:11). In these the movement runs from the darknesses to the light, and the agent varies: Allah brings out those who have attained faith (2:257); Allah guides and brings out those who follow His approval by His leave (5:16); the sent-down written decree is given so that the addressee may bring people out (14:1); Moses is commanded to bring out his people (14:5); the stated purpose of the yuṣallī upon the addressee is to bring them out (33:43); the sending down of clear signs aims to bring the addressees out (57:9); the messenger recites clarifying signs to bring out those who have attained faith and done sound deeds (65:11). Verse 2:257 alone reverses the direction — their guardians, the rebellious force, bring the deniers out mina n-nūri ilā ẓ-ẓulumāt — showing the pair can be traversed both ways. Three occurrences drop the min/ilā frame and set the two nouns side by side: Allah set up the darknesses and the light (6:1); a rhetorical question asks whether the darknesses equal the light (13:16); and 35:20 negates both with lā. Across all ten, the darknesses are plural (ẓulumāt) and the light singular (nūr), a contrast held constant in every occurrence.
Where it occurs
- 2:257 Allah brings those who have attained faith out from the darknesses into the light, while the deniers' guardians bring them out from the light into the darknesses — the only occurrence with the direction reversed.
- 5:16 Allah brings out those who follow His approval from the darknesses into the light by His leave, alongside guiding them to a straight path.
- 6:1 Allah is praised as the One who created the heavens and the earth and set up the darknesses and the light, with the pair as objects of jaʿala.
- 13:16 A rhetorical question asks whether the darknesses equal the light, paired with the question of the blind and the seeing.
- 14:1 The sent-down written decree aims to bring people out from the darknesses into the light, by the leave of their Lord, to a path.
- 14:5 Moses is commanded to bring out his people from the darknesses into the light, with Our signs.
- 33:43 The stated purpose of the yuṣallī upon the addressees is to bring them out from the darknesses into the light.
- 35:20 The pair is negated in parallel — neither the darknesses nor the light.
- 57:9 Allah sends down clear signs upon His servant to bring the addressees out from the darknesses into the light.
- 65:11 The messenger recites clarifying signs to bring out those who have attained faith and done sound deeds from the darknesses into the light.
All Qur'anic expressions