The example of the one underneath multiple layers of darkness
There is a scene from the Quran that I have a strong urge to share. It gave me chills to write that scene as I thought about the ayah just as it did about a year ago.
In Surah An-Nur, Allah describes a scene of a stormy dark night with a rough ocean. In the scene Allah describes a person drowning in the ocean. Even when this person tries to get back up, waves come crashing down on him one on top of the other. So this person is just going down to the very bottom of the ocean. There is no ship nearby so there is no light at all. And even the moonlight is blocked by all the clouds in the sky.
About this person, Allah swt says:
إِذَا أَخْرَجَ يَدَهُ لَمْ يَكَدْ يَرَاهَا
“..when he takes his hand out, he can almost not see it…” Surah An-Nur, 40
Think about this. If a person is in the ocean in the middle of the night with no light around whatsoever, will he see anything? If he takes his hand out, will he be able to see it? No! You can’t even see your hand when the electricity goes out from your island and you are left without your phone. So that person is definitely not going to see anything.
But strangely, Allah says that he can ALMOST not see his hand. As though he could somewhat see his hand when he took a look. What is Allah saying in this ayah?
The darkness of the ocean is the darkness of our sins. Our sins are such that it feels like we drown in them. We choke as we try to get back up and yet they keep making us fall deeper into them like those waves. But even when a person reaches that stage, where he is almost at the point of giving up, he can still see somewhat of his hand. The hand is the representation of our deeds. No matter how far down the road of sin we go, we still have some idea of the reality of our deeds. And that’s because of the light (our Ruh) that Allah put inside of us. If we gave a chance to that light, and reflected on our deeds, the light will grow and eventually brighten up even our surroundings. And thus the person will be able to find his way out by Allah’s Will. Subhaanallah!
