We Always Absorb Fire and Light from the Phenomena around Us

• That person’s face is so luminous that you cannot get enough of looking at it!
• That religious gathering I attended was so full of light, I did not want it to end so soon.
• This house has no light at all, I cannot live in it.

You probably have said or heard similar sentences when describing light. What is our relationship with light that it attracts us so much? What about fire? Why do we sometimes shy away from getting close to it? Are fire and light merely external and material realities, or do they have a relation with us? Why do we have a feeling of luminosity and lightness in some spaces, and darkness and heaviness in others? Why do some behaviors and thoughts ignite a fire within us, while others give us a sense of inner peace?

In this lesson, we want to explore the concepts of fire and light from a different perspective. We may have only considered the physical and material dimensions of these elements so far and overlooked their spiritual and metaphysical aspects. Fire and light are among the most fundamental truths of the universe, existing in all dimensions of our lives, and there is never a moment when we are not in connection with fire and light. All our inanimate, vegetative, animal, and human perfections; all our decisions, relationships, behaviors, and thoughts; and in short, all the events surrounding us have both fire and light. They can be positive and constructive as well as negative and destructive. The type of our assets and deprivations does not matter; what matters is how we confront them.

Getting acquainted with the concepts of fire and light and their existence in all phenomena of the universe may break some of our repetitive mind patterns, challenge our old beliefs about the positivity or negativity of perfections, become the catalyst for positive changes in the prioritization of our thoughts and lifestyle choices, and open a fresh window to the mathematical structure of the universe.

In this lesson, we are going to discuss the concept of fire and light in perfections and their connection with the structure of the human soul. Ultimately, we will delve into how to absorb light from different situations we find ourselves in.

Are Fire and Light Merely Physical and Material Phenomena?

Light is one of the self-evident aspects of our lives, and we all understand what it means. As Shahab al-Din Suhrawardy, one of the great Islamic mystics and philosophers, said, “Since there is nothing more evident than light, there is nothing less in need of definition.”[1] Light is something that is inherently bright and illuminates other things as well.

Physics defines light as a type of electromagnetic wave that carries photons of different wavelengths, but this definition only pertains to the material and physical dimension of light. The truth of light has subtle manifestations that cannot be defined by any formula because it does not essentially fit within the realm of matter. Science, faith, intellect, and many other concepts are instances of light as they illuminate the truths of the world for us. Wherever there is no light, we remain in darkness and stray from the right path.

Fire stands opposite to light. Fire is defined as “the burning of a combustible material in the presence of oxygen,” but this definition also only refers to the material aspect of fire. Pay attention to the following statements:

• That person’s mockery and hurtful words burned my heart.
• From intense anger, my face turned red like heated iron.
• When I recall the wrongdoings done against me, I feel a burning sensation inside.

In all these situations, we feel the presence of fire within ourselves although it does not have an outward manifestation. So, the truth of fire also has a metaphysical and non-material existence.

The Existence of Fire and Light in Perfections

You have probably encountered arrogant educated individuals who, due to their knowledge, consider themselves superior to others; or outwardly religious people who are ill-mannered, depressed, jealous, vengeful; or wealthy and powerful individuals who consider others as their subordinates and look down on them. In your opinion, where does the problem lie? Is knowledge a bad thing? Does religion have defects? Does money cause corruption?

None of the above! The reality is that every kind of perfection, whether it is inanimate, vegetative, animal, or intellective, possesses both fire and light. It can create both heaven and hell. Even a supra-rational perfection like the night prayer can turn some into inhabitants of hell since they may consider themselves superior to others, and they may think that, because of their worship, God owes them.

Not only perfections, but everything in the world contains fire and light. Every thought that comes to our mind, every decision we make, every action we take, and generally all our decisions, relationships, behaviors, and thoughts can produce light and heaven, as well as fire and hell. Therefore, it is not important what family and social conditions we have, what possessions we have, or of which blessings we are deprived. What matters is how we face our life conditions and how we take advantage of them. Some are like an artist and extract light from the darkest situations. Some are at the pinnacle of blessings and perfections, possessing things that millions dream of, yet they waste all their blessings and turn the most heavenly conditions into hellish ones.

How Are Fire and Light Related to the Structure of Our Soul?

As we have mentioned, fire and light are fundamentally metaphysical truths, and what we perceive as fire and light in the material world is actually a small manifestation of their essential truth. Once the veils of the material world are lifted and the inward state of the world becomes apparent, the reality of fire and light also becomes manifest in the form of heaven and hell. Therefore, contrary to common belief, heaven and hell are not places that will come into existence later. We are living in the heaven or hell of our soul right now. In fact, both heaven and hell exist within us and are manifestations of our soul. We will discuss this further in the upcoming lessons.

How Can We Know That We Are Absorbing Fire or Light?

What we have discussed so far has been mostly the theoretical aspects of fire and light. Understanding these concepts is necessary to start the journey, but not enough. We must have indicators by which we constantly measure the fire and light within us and see which way we are moving, towards hell or towards heaven. But what are these indicators?

The most important indicator of absorbing light is feeling happiness, inner peace, and love. If someone is on the right path, he must feel more and more happiness, peace, and love day by day, and his relationship with God should improve. That is because God is the primary source of light: “Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth…”[2]

Therefore, if before marriage, going to university, becoming wealthy, or achieving any other perfection, we had a more intimate and better relationship with God; we had more solitude with Him; our worship was more sincere; and generally, we were happier, more satisfied, and calmer; and now these have faded in us, we must be certain that we are absorbing fire from our perfections. It is necessary to pause a little before continuing the path and deal with our weak points. We all need such stopping points in our journey; indeed, the most important thing in our lives is finding these weak points.

The existence of fire and light in different phenomena is part of the mathematics governing the universe. There are other formulas that further enrich our understanding of this mathematics. In the next lessons, we will talk more about these formulas. If you have any information in this regard, please share it with us in the comments section.

[1]. Harawi, M. (1979). Anwariyya: Tarjuma va Sharh-i Hikmat al-Ishraq-i Suhrawardi, ed. H. Ziai, Tehran: Amir Kabir [Persian translation and commentary of Suhrawardi’s Philosophy of Illumination].

[2]. Quran 24:35