Page 422 - An Index to the Qur'an

L LAMP
Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.
LABOUR The metaphor of His Light is that of a niche in
The pains of labour drove her to the trunk of a which is a lamp, the lamp inside a glass, the glass
date-palm. She (Maryam) said, ‘Oh if only I had like a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an
died before this time and was something dis- olive, neither of the east nor of the west, its oil all
carded and forgotten!’ (19:23) but giving off light even if no fire touches it. Light
upon Light. Allah guides to His Light whoever He
LADDER wills and Allah makes metaphors for mankind
If their turning away is hard on you, then go and Allah has knowledge of all things. (24:35)
down a tunnel deep into the earth, if you can, or Blessed be He Who placed constellations in the
climb up a ladder into heaven, and bring them a sky and put a blazing lamp and shining moon
Sign. If Allah had wanted to He would have gath- among them. (25:61)
ered them all to guidance. So do not be among O Prophet! We have sent you as a witness, and a
the ignorant. ( 6:35) bringer of good news and a warner, and a caller
Were it not that mankind might all become one to Allah by His permission and a light-giving
community, We would have given those who re- lamp. (33:45-46)
ject the All-Merciful silver roofs to their houses In two days He determined them as seven heav-
and silver stairways to ascend. ( 43:33) ens and revealed, in every heaven, its own man-
Or do they have a ladder on which they listen? date. We adorned the lowest heaven with lamps
Then let their listener bring clear evidence. ( and guarded it. That is the decree of the
52:38) Almighty, the All-Knowing. (41:12)
We have adorned the lowest heaven with lamps
LAILAT UL-QADR (SEE NIGHT OF POWER) and made some of them stones for the Satans for
whom We have prepared the punishment of the
LAME Blaze. (67:5)
There is no objection to the blind, no objection Do you not see how He created seven heavens in
to the lame, no objection to the sick; nor to your- layers, and placed the moon as a light in them
selves if you eat in your own houses or your fa- and made the sun a blazing lamp? (71:15-16)
thers’ houses or your mothers’ houses or your We built seven firm layers above you. We in-
brothers’ houses or your sisters’ houses or the stalled a blazing lamp. (78:12-13)
houses of your paternal uncles or paternal aunts
or the houses of your maternal uncles or mater- LAND
nal aunts or places to which you own the keys or It (the charity) is for the poor who are held back
those of your friends. There is nothing wrong in in the Way of Allah, unable to travel in the land.
your eating together or eating separately. And The ignorant consider them rich because of their
when you enter houses greet one another with a reticence. You will know them by their mark.
greeting from Allah, blessed and good. In this They do not ask from people insistently.
way Allah makes the Signs clear to you so that Whatever good you give away, Allah knows it.
hopefully you will use your intellect. (24:61) (2:273)
There is no constraint on the blind, nor on the When you are travelling in the land, there is
lame, nor on the sick. We will admit all who nothing wrong in your shortening your prayer if
obey Allah and His Messenger into Gardens with you fear that those who disbelieve may harass
rivers flowing under them. But We will punish you. The disbelievers are your clear-cut enemies.
with a painful punishment anyone who turns his (4:101)
back. (48:17) He said, ‘The land will be forbidden to them for
forty years during which they will wander aim-
420