Celebrate the Little Light in an Otherwise Dark Universe
Even a casual student of science knows that 95% of what Big Bang had thrown at us is dark to our senses, comprising 68% of dark energy and 27% of dark matter. The remaining 5% is what is available to us (including ourselves) for observation and inferences through the medium of light. Light is the foundation of our observational understanding of the universe, shaping everything we can perceive, from the smallest particles to the largest galaxies.
This light comes to us in different shades and colors passing at different wavelengths and frequencies. Light is much more than brightness. It is fundamental to life, enabling vision and regulating various biological processes. It provides the energy that warms the Earth and powers global weather patterns. Additionally, light plays a critical role in human health, affecting our sleep-wake cycle, mood, and overall well-being. At the time of celebrations of any kind, light adds glare to the glamour.
Light is used in various technologies like solar panels, communication systems, medical devices, and other applications. The International Day of Light is celebrated today on May 16th to commemorate the first successful operation of a laser by physicist and engineer, Theodore Maiman, in 1960 who had successfully obtained oscillation and output from the first laser.
The study of light, and light-based technologies, has helped us transform our world in extraordinary ways. Light-based technologies include microscopes, X-ray machines, telescopes, cameras, electric lights and television screens. The International Day of Light is intended to promote scientific cooperation and to harness the potential of science to promote peace and sustainable development. The theme for the International Day of Light in 2025 is Light, Innovation, Society. The day aims to highlight the importance of light in culture, art, science and education.
However, light is also one of the most enduring and multifaceted symbols in metaphysical thought. Beyond its physical properties as electromagnetic radiation detectable by the human eye, light has long represented deeper philosophical, spiritual, and existential dimensions. It is not merely a phenomenon but a symbol and substance of being knowledge, and the divine. Metaphysically, light is often equated with being itself. In many philosophical and religious traditions, the emergence of light signifies the emergence of order from chaos and existence from nonexistence.
But why exactly the physical light cannot figure out the enigmatic dark constituents of the universe is a questions that haunts the explorers. The answer lies at the intersection of physics, perception, and the limits of our instruments and understanding. From a metaphysical standpoint, the inability of light to perceive dark matter and dark energy symbolizes the limits of perception and the incompleteness of sensory-based knowledge. Physical light, long considered a symbol of truth and revelation, meets its boundary here. Just as Plato had described the world of appearances as shadows, our cosmos is veiled in unseen forces beyond the grasp of light.
This also challenges the epistemological assumption that seeing is knowing. In the cosmic context, much that is most influential is also most invisible. What governs the fate of galaxies and the expansion of the universe cannot be illuminated by light, but is only inferred by its gravitational or geometric consequences. Dark Energy, for instance, is a mysterious force responsible for the ever expanding Universe. We don’t know what it is but it is there for sure. An associated question is how the additional space is constantly created to accommodate the accelerating Universe. Empty space is not any null identity as we casually assume, it may rather be the whole reality. Creation of empty space might in itself be a huge task for the Creator, and much beyond the scope of our present understanding and knowledge of creation. Then there is dark matter which accounts for roughly 27% of the Universe and forms halos around the galaxies.
Physical light, for all its power, is not the ultimate revealer of truth in the universe. Dark matter and dark energy elude it entirely, existing in realms where photons have no influence. This scientific reality invites a philosophical humility: what we can see is not all that is there. In this way, the universe reminds us that knowledge must extend beyond visibility, and that the unseen may be far more substantial than the seen. In the words of Iqbal ‘the universe does not confront the Absolute Self (God) in the same way as it confronts the human self.”
Therefore all what humans need is a light of different kind which is possibly the spectrum of divine guidance, wisdom, intuition, cosmic revelations and power of sub conscience. In other words, the phenomenon of conscience is what the conscience should essentially aim to explore at the onset. In that context, the phrase (minaz-zulumāti ilā an-nūr) is a powerful expression in the Qur’an, and it translates to ‘From darknesses into light.’ The phrase appears multiple times in the Qur’an (e.g., Surah Al-Baqarah 2:257, Surah Ibrahim 14:1), often used to describe the divine guidance and how it brings people from the multiple layers of misguidance, ignorance, or spiritual darkness into the clarity, truth, and peace represented by the singular light. Moreover, the plural “darknesses” and singular “light” reflect that there are many paths of misguidance but only one true path towards right guidance.
Dr. Qudsia Gani, Head Dept. of Physics, Govt. Degree College, Pattan Baramulla J&K.
