Amazigh figures like Agurzil and others not as gods, but as historical or mythic figures who were once Prophets, Salihīn (saints, righteous ones), or wise human beings. Over time, their stories and legacies were misunderstood, and people elevated them into objects of worship — much like what happens across many cultures when people deviate from belief in the Oneness of God (Tawḥīd).
Here’s a detailed reframing of lightning (řəƀr’uq) and its symbolic connection in this perspective:

řəƀr’uq (Lightning) in Amazigh Heritage: Reframed through Tawḥīd
1. Prophetic or Saintly Legacy Misunderstood
In Amazigh oral traditions, what is remembered today as a god of lightning (Agurzil) can instead be reinterpreted as the memory of a righteous man, a prophet, or a salih (saint-like figure) who was closely associated with lightning as his sign and specialty.
* Lightning (řəƀr’uq) was seen as his mark of divine connection — a natural force God entrusted him with, as a reminder of God’s power.
* After his passing, people forgot the source of this power (God Almighty) and began to glorify the man himself, transforming his image into an idol or deity.
This mirrors patterns in many cultures, where extraordinary men of truth were later mythologized into “gods.”

2. Lightning as a Sign, Not a Deity
* For the believer, lightning is only a creation of God — a tool, a sign, a manifestation of His will.
* The righteous figure once remembered as “Agurzil” may have been someone whose prayers were answered with storms or lightning, making him a shepherd, protector, or warner for his people.
* His specialty (farq mawāhib) was in embodying vital energy and decisive clarity — just as lightning pierces darkness in an instant.

3. Symbolic Role in Amazigh Culture
* The Arrow and Lightning: The arrow motif associated with lightning does not symbolize worship of a god, but a living symbol of that man’s specialty: strength, direction, and vitality.
* In Amazigh art and oral wisdom, this became a teaching symbol: to act with decisiveness, to strike with clarity, and to be fertile in deeds.
* Later generations preserved the symbol but forgot the truth behind it — that all energy, clarity, and fertility come from God alone.

4. Cultural Memory and Misguidance
* With time, communities shifted from remembrance to veneration, and from veneration to worship.
* Instead of recognizing lightning as God’s creation, they attached it to the figure of Agurzil, turning him into a mythologized deity.
* This distortion reflects a wider human tendency: when extraordinary humans or saints are remembered without grounding in Tawḥīd, their memory becomes corrupted into false gods.

5. Lessons for Research
* Each figure or creature in Amazigh tradition can be reframed as having a specialty granted by God, a role that demonstrated God’s majesty.
* Lightning is one of these: a reminder of God’s sudden power and life-giving rain, carried through the legacy of a prophet or saintly man whose people later misrepresented him.
* Thus, Amazigh myth is not a tale of “gods,” but a distorted historical memory of righteous figures.

✅ Conclusion
Lightning (řəƀr’uq) in Amazigh culture is best understood not as a divine force belonging to a god, but as a sign of God’s power entrusted to a human figure — a prophet or salih — who bore lightning as his specialty. His remembrance became distorted over time, and people turned a servant of God into an object of worship. But within a framework of Oneness of God (Tawḥīd), lightning remains what it has always been: a sign from God, and the legacy of those who bore it as a mark of divine trust.