... in a glass

 قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ

اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ

لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ

وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ

Say, "He (is) Allah, the One.

Allah, the Eternal, the Absolute.

Not He begets and not He is begotten.

And not is for Him equivalent any [one]."

[Al-Quran Surah al-Ikhlas]

Abstract

Marvelling at living examples of what '... in a glass' may mean.    

Full Text 

اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ الْمِصْبَاحُ فِي زُجَاجَةٍ الزُّجَاجَةُ كَأَنَّهَا كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌّ يُوقَدُ مِن شَجَرَةٍ مُّبَارَكَةٍ زَيْتُونَةٍ لَّا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَلَا غَرْبِيَّةٍ يَكَادُ زَيْتُهَا يُضِيءُ وَلَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نَارٌ نُّورٌ عَلَىٰ نُورٍ يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَن يَشَاءُ وَيَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الْأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ

Allah (is the) نُورُ (of) the heavens and the earth. (The) example (of) His نُورِ (is) like a niche in it (is) a lamp; the lamp (is) in a glass, the glass as if it were a planet brilliant (which) is lit from a tree blessed - an olive, not (of the) east and not (of the) west, would almost its oil glow, even if not touched it fire. نُّورٌ upon نُورٍ. Allah guides to His نُورِ whom He wills. And Allah sets forth the examples for the mankind. And Allah of every thing (is) All-Knower.

[Al-Quran 24:35; Translation edited]

The Quran gives us some insights about the physical appearance of Allah ﷻ. In the ayat quoted above, it presents the example of a lamp within a glass. Amazingly, Allah ﷻ has not only mentioned this in the scripture, but also created creatures with transparent bodies, some with even a flicker of light glowing from within! Most of the examples of creatures we find with transparent bodies dwell in water. Their transparency helps in camouflaging them, making it difficult to spot them even in the open sea. Allah ﷻ has created some with even anti-reflective coatings, such that they are almost invisible!

The following is a list of some collections of images on the internet:
11 fascinating see-through animals
36 Transparent Animals That Are Hard To Believe Actually Exist
BBC: Ten Animals ... Transparent Bodies
National Geographic: Pictures: Take a Look Through Nature’s Most Transparent Animals
National Geographic: This Ocean Creature Makes Its Own Invisibility Cloak




Related Posts 
The Lord is my Rock
Gamma Rays, Visible Light & The Electromagnetic Spectrum 

List of posts about Allah ﷻ 

Last updated on: November 17, 2022