Shadow

We see this, we see that.
We look at things,
we look at people.
But we forget to look down,
down to the ground.
Some see it,
but nothing stirs within them.

Shadow, shadow—
Could it be that it is actually stationary?
But the sun makes an indication of it?
Do you pay attention to shadows?
Do you look at shadows?
Don’t you ever ponder over them?
Don’t you see them move,
extend, stretch and shrink? No?

The sun —
sometimes it is there,
sometimes it is not.
But the shadow —
what if the shadow is actually
always there,
waiting, watching,
whispering secrets of the unseen?

Have you ever wondered:
Is darkness really the absence of light,
or is light the eraser of darkness?
What if light is the intruder,
and darkness is actually the eternal canvas?

What if the sun is not the guide, but the shadow is?
What if the shadow is not the absence, but the presence?
What if it is the shadow that points us to the light,
not the light that casts the shadow?

Do you observe the shadows of creation?
Look at the mountain, for instance.
Through the movement of its shadow,
it is as though the mountain bows and prostrates and rise to its Creator.

Where are we during sunrise and sunset?
Most of us are oblivious
to the silent prayer of the universe.

The Creator of the universe says,
"My servant does not draw near to Me
with anything more beloved to Me
than the duties I have entrusted to them.
My servant continues to draw closer to Me
with voluntary deeds, until I love them.
When I love them,
I become their hearing - with which they hear,
their sight - with which they see,
their hand - with which they strike,
and their foot - with which they walk.

Could this mean,
had there been no disruptions,
no distractions, no missteps, no sins —
we would be His shadow?

No... God has no shadow.
He is beyond what we can imagine,
beyond what we can conceive.
This is but a metaphor,
a glimpse of the journey
towards an alignment.

This is the ideal servant of the Creator —
not as a shadow,
but as a reflection of His light.

——————————————————-

Allah The Exalted says:
"Have you not seen how your Lord extends the shadow? If He willed, He could have made it stationary. Then We made the sun an indication of it. Then We hold it in hand, a gradual grasp."
- Surah Al-Furqan (25:45-46)

"Do they not see what Allah has created? Their shadows incline to the right and the left, prostrating to Allah while they are humble?"
- Surah An-Nahl (16:48)

By Aydarus Ahmad Alhabshi
Jan 2025