Creation begins by God speaking:
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:3) [ESV]
ויאמר אלהים יהי אור ויהי-אור
The ESV translation shows God's spoken words are only the first part of the phrase "Let there be light..." and what follows is a narrative statement: ...and there was light.
Based on what follows "And God saw that the light was good..." (1:4) the narrative is correct. In other words, God spoke light into existence, saw the light, so, obviously, there was light.
However, it seems as if one had been listening they would have heard the word light repeated and the spoken words would be something like: "Be light become light." The overall meaning is the same since God saw the light; what changes are the words spoken to begin creation:
Said God, יהי אור ויהי-אור
Did God begin creation by speaking the word light twice?