46 Preface وَداعِيًا إِلَى اللَّهِ بِإِذنِهِ وَسِراجًا مُنيرًاYusuf AliAnd as one who invites to God’s (Grace) by His leave,1 and as a Lamp spreading Light.See last note. The two other capacities in which the Prophet was sent are here specified. (4) He comes as one who has a right to invite all men to repentance and the forgiveness of sins; but he does this, not of his own authority, but by the permission and authority given to him by God. This is said lest people may deny the Prophet as they did with other Prophets before him. The personal responsibility of each individual remains, but the Prophet can lead him on to the Right and help him. (5) The Prophet also comes as a Light or a Lamp (Sirāj) to illuminate the whole world. In 71:16 and elsewhere the same word (Sirāj) is used for the sun. The comparison is apt. When the sun appears, all the lesser lights pale before his light. And the Message of Islam, i.e., of the Universal Religion, is to diffuse Light everywhere.