The Concept of Nūr (Light) in the Holy Qur’ān and Selected Ginans

Excerpt:
In the first example Pir Nasir-i Khusraw (q.s.) in his Diwan questions the formalist ulama’ (scholars) of his time and referring to the verses of the holy Qur’an just discussed says: “Was it our fault that we were not born at the time of the Prophet; why should we be deprived of his guidance?” He quotes the verse 33:45-46 in his qasidah saying that the Prophet was a warner, a giver of glad tidings and a lamp giving light, which Allah has guaranteed nobody can blow out! It was his earnest search for the truth as he studied the Qur’an that led him to eventually find the Imam of the time. The second example is more recent – it is the devotional poetry of Allamah Nasiruddin Hunzai, which Imam-i Zaman has described in a taliqah of 1961 as ‘the Ginan Book in Hunza language’. Writing in his mother tongue Burushaski, he says: “Belete mumkin bila zamana Nur-i Yazdan omanas, tautotang thaplu musafir ganalu laltin tham juwan = It is impossible for the light of Allah to disappear – do you think it is like a traveller’s lamp which a gust of wind can extinguish?”

This excerpt has been taken from pages 4 and 5.