The following revision is taken from a dissertation by a Malay-speaking postgraduate student of Islamic Theology

The metaphor of light helping our understanding is a natural one: in academic English it is mainly found in the expressions throw/shed/cast light on (but not 'give light to'!):

throw

1. ... the discovery of folic acid threw fresh light on the way sulphonamides worked.
2. ... epidemiological studies are unlikely to throw much light on the problem, ...
3. Douglas Wallace, of Emory University, Atlanta, has reported results that throw new light on the history of human entry into the Americas.

shed

4. Few molecular biologists doubt that this kind of research can shed light on the mechanisms of molecular evolution.
5. Wall's study is the first to shed light on the events at ovulation and to follow a full menstrual cycle.
6. The research on dendritic cells in AIDS could shed light on other diseases, including certain leukaemias and arthritis.

cast

7. The research promises to increase our understanding by casting light on how genes cause cancer.
8. The research casts a new light on the 'incest taboo', suggesting that sex between close relations is uncommon more because familiarity reduces sexual desire than because of any strong cultural code.
9. The speech provoked varied and in part contradictory, reactions, which cast light on Hitler's popular standing and image in early 1942.

Two further expressions that exploit this metaphor may be noted:

in (the) light of

10. The level of precaution is regularly reviewed in the light of the patient's progress.
11. Hawking has the ability to change his mind completely on a scientific issue in the light of new evidence.
12. These low levels of ACTH in septic shock appear all the more inappropriate in light of recent evidence that acute peripheral administration of IL-6 is a highly potent stimulus for ACTH secretion in humans.

see in a new light

13. The ability to make us see the familiar in a completely new light is at the heart of artistic interpretation.
14. What had to be understood was the process which led to the evolution of society seen in this new light.
15. Hitler's earlier successes began to be seen in a new light, and he was now increasingly blamed for policies which had led to the war, and for his failure to terminate the war and produce the desired peace.