What does « Light / Lightning » mean in the Quran?

Discover the meaning of the word Light / Lightning (سنا) in the Quran, with 1 verse in which it appears, and a detailed explanation from Al-Raghib al-Asfahani's Mufradat fi gharib al-Qur'an.

سنا

Light / Lightning

Root: س - ن

Quranic language 1 verse

Updated on 29 May 2026 at 7:00 AM

📖 1 min read

Definition of Light / Lightning

As-sana: the dazzling light.

As-sana': elevation in rank.

As-saniya: the camel or wheel that draws water from the well.

The Almighty says: 'Its lightning almost snatches away the sight' (An-Nur 43).

Bright light that illuminates intensely.

Light / Lightning in the Quran (1)

Meccan: 0 Medinan: 1

Surah An-Nur : 43 Medinan

﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُزْجِى سَحَابًۭا ثُمَّ يُؤَلِّفُ بَيْنَهُۥ ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُۥ رُكَامًۭا فَتَرَى ٱلْوَدْقَ يَخْرُجُ مِنْ خِلَـٰلِهِۦ وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مِن جِبَالٍۢ فِيهَا مِنۢ بَرَدٍۢ فَيُصِيبُ بِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَصْرِفُهُۥ عَن مَّن يَشَآءُ ۖ يَكَادُ سَنَا بَرْقِهِۦ يَذْهَبُ بِٱلْأَبْصَـٰرِ﴾

Do you not see that Allah drives clouds? Then He brings them together, then He makes them into a mass, and you see the rain emerge from within it. And He sends down from the sky, mountains [of clouds] within which is hail, and He strikes with it whom He wills and averts it from whom He wills. The flash of its lightening almost takes away the eyesight.