Were it not for that, the disbeliever would hide his disbelief out of fear, and the believer would hide his faith out of fear, and thus neither the believer nor the disbeliever would be known.

God Almighty has struck another parable for the deeds of the disbelievers after the parable of the mirage, by His saying: {Or [they are] like darknesses within a vast sea which is covered by a wave...}.

This parable indicates that their deeds are dark, pitch-black, and blameworthy; for He—Glory be to Him—likened them first to a mirage, as previously mentioned, then said: {Or [they are] like darknesses within a vast sea...} etc. All of this is to demonstrate and confirm that their deeds are entirely pure darkness, which Light never touches, approaches, or mingles with, and no light is expected for them at all. This is because darkness is the absence of light; the vast sea is darkness, the wave above it is darkness, and the cloud above it is darkness. He—the Almighty—confirmed this by His saying: {darknesses, some of them upon others}.

Then He—Glory be to Him—said in confirmation of their darkness: {When one puts out his hand [therein], he can hardly see it}; meaning he does not believe in anything at all from all the Inward gnoses (Al-Ma‘arif al-Batina) and guidance, and that is because he is void of light and is pure darkness; likewise are his deeds resulting from the darkness of his dark disbelief and his established tyranny.

As for the meaning of His—Glory be to Him—saying: {And he to whom Allah has not granted light—for him there is no light}, it means