The Light Prayer (Nur Duası) Recited by Our Prophet (PBUH)
The word nur, meaning “light” in Arabic, is used in the Quran and Hadith to signify a spiritual and divine light that illuminates people’s path, enabling them to see what is true and right, distinguishing between truth and falsehood, good and evil.
“Allah will bring those who believe and do good out of darkness into light.” Verses such as this (Al-Baqarah 2:257; Al-Ma’idah 5:16) use the terms nur for guidance and zulmat for misguidance metaphorically. Emphasis is placed on the concepts of nur and zulmat because the primary purpose of sending a Prophet and revealing divine books is to show people who are lost in darkness the right path. “We have revealed this Book to you [Prophet] to bring people out of darkness into light, and to lead them by Allah’s way, the praised and glorious.” (Ibrahim 14:1) explicitly states that the path to Truth is nur, straying from it is zulmat, and the purpose of revelation is guidance.
THE LIGHT PRAYER (NUR DUASI)
Our Prophet -peace and blessings be upon him- supplicated with the following prayer:
Recitation: “Allahummec’al fî kalbî nûrâ wa fî basarî nûrâ, wa fî sem’î nûrâ wa ‘an yemînî nûrâ wa ‘an yesārî nûrâ wa fevkî nūrā wa tahtî nūrā wa emâmî nūrâ wa halfî nūrā, vec’allî nūrā.”
Meaning: “O Allah! Grant me light in my heart; grant me light in my sight, light in my hearing; grant me light on my right, light on my left; grant me light above me, light below me; grant me light before me, light behind me; and bestow upon me a great light!” (Bukhari, Du’a 9; Muslim, Musafirin 181)