The following quotes on illumination come from the Fourth Way and Sufi traditions, Indian, Chinese, and early Christian writers, among others.

“Lumen de Lumine.” (Latin) “Light comes from Light.”) – Eusebius of Caesarea

“Four thousand years before God created these bodies, He created the souls and kept them beside Himself and shed a light upon them. He knew what quantity each soul received and He showed favor to each in proportion to its illumination. The souls remained all that time in light, until they became fully nourished. Those who in this world live in joy and agreement with one another must have been akin to one another in that place. Here they love one another and are called the friends of God, and they are brothers who love one another for God’s sake. These souls know one another by smell, like horses.” – Abu Said bin Abi-l-Khayr

“Midway between illumination and abandonment lies the experience of trial.” – Philokalia

“Eternal life is a candle that never burns; it always stays up at the apex of illumination. The state we are in, however, is a candle that never melts.” – Robert Burton 

“Illumination is the clearing of darkness.” – Nagarajuna

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” – Helen Keller

“On the triangular Heart Center, I was kindling the lamp of Illumination.” – Milarepa

“The spontaneous illumination of the Quiet Domain is so subtle and mysterious, it does not allow of any gradual progression.” – Dao Sheng

“People think that a sheikh should show miracles and manifest illumination.
The requirement of a teacher, however, is only that he should possess all that the disciple needs.”
– Ibn Arabi

For more on Ibn Arabi, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Arabi.

For more articles like this, see our prior issues at https://fourthwaytoday.org/category/created-and-uncreated-light/ and https://fourthwaytoday.org/category/reflecting-the-light/.