“Illuminate” naturally covers both literal shining/emitting light (the sun, moon, lamp illuminates) and the causative/figurative sense of making something clear or enlightened (intellectually or morally). It reads naturally as both intransitive and transitive, avoids the ignition-sense ambiguity of “light,” and is a clearer, more consistent fit across the verb’s full SILEX range than alternatives like “shine” or the generic “cause.”