۞ God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His light is, as it were, that of a niche containing a lamp; the lamp is [enclosed] in glass, the glass [shining] like a radiant star: [a lamp] lit from a blessed tree - an olive-tree that is neither of the east nor of the west the oil whereof [is so bright that it] would well-nigh give light [of itself] even though fire had not touched it: light upon light! God guides unto His light him that wills [to be guided]; and [to this end] God propounds parables unto men, since God [alone] has full knowledge of all things. 35 In the houses (mosques) which Allah has commanded to erect and in which His name is taken – praising Allah in them at morn and evening, 36 by people, who can neither be diverted by merchandise nor bargaining from worshipping God, saying their prayers and paying religious tax. They do these things, for they are afraid of the day when all hearts and eyes will undergo terrible unrest and crisis. 37 that God may recompense them for their fairest works and give them increase of His bounty; and God provides whomsoever He will, without reckoning. 38 And (as for) those who disbelieve, their deeds are like the mirage in a desert, which the thirsty man deems to be water; until when he comes to it he finds it to be naught, and there he finds Allah, so He pays back to him his reckoning in full; and Allah is quick in reckoning; 39 Or it (the deeds of the unbelievers) are like the darkness of a deep, stormy sea with layers of giant waves, covered by dark clouds. It is darkness upon darkness whereby even if one stretches out his hands he can not see them. One can have no light unless God gives him light. 40