يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُطْفِـُٔوا۟ نُورَ ٱللَّهِ بِأَفْوَٰهِهِمْ وَيَأْبَى ٱللَّهُ إِلَّآ أَن يُتِمَّ نُورَهُۥ
Yurīdūna an yuṭfiʾū nūra'llāhi bi-afwāhihim wa yaʾba'llāhu illā an yutimma nūrahū wa law kariha'l-kāfirūn · Huwa'lladhī arsala rasūlahū bi'l-hudā wa dīni'l-ḥaqqi li-yuẓhirahū ʿala'l-dīni kullihī wa law kariha'l-mushrikūn
"They want to put out the light of God with their mouths, while God will have nothing but the completing of His light — however much those who reject may hate it. · It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, to make it prevail over all religion — however much the mushrikūn may hate it."
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the repetition of afwāh in the three verses: the sūra relates the ineffectiveness of the word by ascribing it to the mouth. In the thirty-second verse this turns into an image: light is not put out with a mouth. Blowing is enough for a candle; not for a light.
The root أ-ب-ي: not to accept, to refuse, to resist. The same verb occurred in verse 8: wa taʾbā qulūbuhum — "their hearts refuse."
| Verse | Who refuses | What |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Taʾbā qulūbuhum | What they say with their mouths |
| 32 | Wa yaʾba'llāhu | That His light should not be completed |
I record this as my own reading: the same verb is given to two separate subjects within the sūra — and the second use stands like the answer to the first.
And the construction of the sentence must be recorded: yaʾbā … illā an yutimma — a negative verb, followed by an exception. In Arabic this structure states restriction (qaṣr) and produces the strongest affirmation: "He will accept nothing but the completing of it."
What this expression means has been debated in the classical commentaries. I convey the disagreement and impose no preference:
| View | What iẓhār means | Cited as ground |
|---|---|---|
| A | To make prevail in respect of proof and argument | The sense of the word ẓāhir as "plain, evident" |
| B | An actual spread | The sense of the word as "to get the upper hand" |
| C | A state realised in a determinate region | A historical reading |
| D | A statement referring, in respect of time, to the future | That the verb is in the form of purpose |
No preference is adopted in this commentary. And per the method (Method): no present-day political or social conclusions are drawn from this verse.