Spiritual Experiences - Does the Sun have a Shadow?
Does the Sun have a Shadow?
Tags: Shadow
1. Question: Is it correct to say that everything has a shadow (Dhill)? Or is it that some things have a shadow and others do not? If there is any statement regarding this in the wise Qur'an, then surely that correct answer will be decisive. Indeed, there is one such wisdom-filled verse [in the Qur'an] (16:81): "And God has made for you shadows of what He has created". From this verse, we come to know that every created thing has a shadow. Therefore, every luminous thing also has a shadow, just as the reflection of the sun, the moon and the stars appears in clear water and in a mirror.
2. If we are unable to think correctly, these shadows appear to be those of the earth, whereas by looking in the light of knowledge and recognition we come to know that these are the shadows of the supreme throne, because the noble verses in which Allah's great favours are mentioned are only related to the people of faith, the proof of which in this verse is 'lakum' (for you). That is, these are those magnificent shadows which are especially for you, for example in the personal world there are the shadows of the Throne and Pedestal, the Supreme Pen and the Guarded Tablet. In short, there is the living reflection of every intellectual and spiritual thing of the higher world, because the higher world and everything in it is a created being and created beings have shadows by degrees.
3. When a human being's shadow falls on the earth, it is dark and lifeless. However, when this same shadow falls on a full-length mirror, it is seen bright and alive. Although the physical mirror is lifeless and without intellect, yet the human being's shadow (reflection) in it is not exactly a shadow but rather an image and a copy. Therefore, the luminous miracle of the spiritual mirror of the personal world, which is adorned with the attributes and virtues of intellect and soul, is extremely wondrous. In it, things of the higher world appear exactly as they are, every copy being like the original because there is the renewal of everything in it.
4. From this explanation, we come to understand that in the personal world there is the shadow=image=copy of every bounty of paradise. In fact, there are countless copies. For example, if millions of people desire the same picture from among the pictures in the bazaar of paradise, all of them will have the copy of the same picture with intellect and spirit.
Al-Hamdu li'llahi Rabbi'l-`alamin!
Zulfiqar Abad, Gilgit, 19th May 1997
Monday, 11 Muharramu'l-Haram 1418 A.H.
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