Shadows

13. [ar-R’ad, Medina 96]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَلِلّهِ يَسْجُدُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ ...

13: 15.  Whatever beings there are in the heavens and the earth do prostrate themselves to Allah (acknowledging subjection)

C1824. Notice that the original of what I have translated "whatever being" is the personal pronoun man, not ma.

This then refers to beings with a personality, e.g., angels, spirits, human beings, and possibly other things of objective (not necessarily material) existence, as contrasted with their Shadows or Simulacra or Appearances, or Phantasms, mentioned at the end of the verse.

Both these Beings and their Shadows are subject to the Will of Allah.

See notes 1825 and 1827.

C1825. "Prostrate themselves": the posture means that they recognise their subjection to Allah's Will and Law, whether they wish it or not.

... طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا...

-- with good will or in spite of themselves:

C1826. "In spite of themselves": Satan and Evil.

They would like to get away from the control of the All-good Allah, but they cannot, and they have to acknowledge His supremacy and lordship over them.

...وَظِلالُهُم بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالآصَالِ ﴿١٥﴾

so do their shadows in the mornings and evenings.

C1827. Even the Shadows -creations of the Imagination, or projections from other things and dependent on the other things for their existence, as shadows are to substance- even such shadows are subject to Allah's Laws and Will, and cannot arise or have any effect on our minds except by His permission.

The Shadows are longest and therefore most prominent when the sun is level, and tend to disappear as the sun approaches the zenith. But even when they are longest and most prominent, they are still subject to Allah's Will and Law. (R).

Other Versions:

13: 15

Pickthall And unto Allah falleth prostrate whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the morning and the evening hours.

Yuksel To God prostrate all who are in the heavens and the earth, willingly and unwillingly, as do their shadows in the morning and the evening.*

Transliteration Wa lilla_hi yasjudu man fis sama_wa_ti wal ardi tau'aw wa karhaw wa zila_luhum bil guduwwi wala a_sa_l(i).

[[ yuksel’s note -

013:015 The unappreciative opponents of the monotheistic message also prostrate for God; in other words, willingly or unwillingly they follow God's laws in nature. Unappreciative people are obliged to follow the laws of nature. Those who do not cognitively wish to accept God's sovereignty might speculate about their ability to control their biological bodies, but the Quran challenges them with a simple example that they can never escape: your shadow obeys God. The shade created by sunlight follows a precise path depending on geographic coordinates, hour of the day, and the day of the year. In other words, the motion of your shadow follows the laws of reflection of light that comes from the sun and changes in accordance to earth's motion. As long as you live on this moving planet and under this illuminating and radiating sun, you cannot change the motion of your shade. See 2:258, 16:48-49.]]

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16. [an-Nahl, Mecca 70]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

أَوَ لَمْ يَرَوْاْ إِلَى مَا خَلَقَ اللّهُ مِن شَيْءٍ...   

16: 48.  Do they not look at Allah's creation, (even) among (inanimate) things --

C2074. 1 take "things" here to be inanimate things, for the next verse speaks of living, "moving creatures"and angels.

By a metaphor even such inanimate things are spoken of as recognising Allah and humbly worshipping Him. Even their shadows turn round from right and left according to the light from above, and they humbly prostrate themselves on the ground to celebrate the praises of Allah.

The "shadow" suggest how all things in this life are mere shadows of the true Reality in heaven, and they should turn and move in accordance with the divine light, as the shadows of trees and buildings move in one direction or another, and lengthen or shorten according to the light from heaven.

... يَتَفَيَّأُ ظِلاَلُهُ عَنِ الْيَمِينِ وَالْشَّمَآئِلِ سُجَّدًا لِلّهِ... 

how their (very) shadows turn round, from the right and the left, prostrating themselves to Allah,

The "shadow" suggest how all things in this life are mere shadows of the true Reality in heaven, and they should turn and move in accordance with the divine light, as the shadows of trees and buildings move in one direction or another, and lengthen or shorten according to the light from heaven.

... وَهُمْ دَاخِرُونَ ﴿٤٨﴾  

and that in the humblest manner?

وَلِلّهِ يَسْجُدُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ مِن دَآبَّةٍ وَالْمَلآئِكَةُ...    

16: 49.  And to Allah doth obeisance all that is in the heavens and on earth, whether moving (living) creatures or the angels:

C2075. Moving creatures, i.e., living creatures,

"All that is in the heavens or earth," includes every created thing. And created things are mentioned in three classes:

1.      inanimate things,

2.      ordinary living things, and

3.      angels.

Even the highest angels are not arrogant; they bow down and serve their Lord, and so does all Creation.

... وَهُمْ لاَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ ﴿٤٩﴾

for none are arrogant (before their Lord).

يَخَافُونَ رَبَّهُم مِّن فَوْقِهِمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ ﴿٥٠﴾    

16: 50.  They all revere their Lord, high above them,

and they do all that they are commanded.

C2076. Allah is so high above the highest of His creatures, that they all look up to him in awe and reverence. And they joyfully do their duty in serving Him.

This is the meaning of the "fear of the Lord."

Other Versions:

16: 48

Asad Have, then, they never considered any of the things that God has created – their shadows turn right and left, prostrating themselves before God and utterly submissive ?

Pickthall Have they not observed all thing that Allah hath created, how their shadows incline to the right and to the left, making prostration unto Allah, and they are lowly?

Transliteration Awalam yarau ila_ ma_ khalaqalla_hu min syai'iy yatafayya'u zila_luhu_ 'anil yamini wasy syama_'ili sujjadal lilla_hi wa hum da_khiru_n(a).

16: 49

Asad For, before God prostrates itself all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth – every beast that moves, and the angels: these do not bear themselves with false pride:

Pickthall And unto Allah maketh prostration whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth of living creatures, and the angels (also), and they are not proud.

Yuksel To God prostrate all those in the heavens and all those on the earth, from the creatures as well as the angels, and they are not arrogant.*

Transliteration Wa lilla_hi yasjudu ma_ fis sama_wa_ti wa ma_ fil ardi min da_bbatiw wal mala_'ikatu wa hum la_ yastakbiru_n(a).

16: 50

Pickthall They fear their Lord above them, and do what they are bidden.

Yuksel They fear their Lord from above them, and they do what they are commanded.

Transliteration Yakha_fu_na rabbahum min fauqihim wa yaf'alu_na ma_ yu'maru_n(a).

[[ Yuksel’s notes on submission - 016:049 The human body, whether belonging to an appreciative or unappreciative person, as a whole has peacefully surrendered to its Creator, and thus is a muslim (submitter/peaceful surrenderer to God).

It is true that SaJDa means obedience, submission to God's law (16:49). From this verse we should not necessarily infer that everything has a mind like humans. Even if we subscribe to such a fancy assumption, mental events too are physical events; they are the consequence of interactions of electrons. In fact, the prostration of all the creatures we perceive is physical. Any event that can be sensed by our five senses is a physical event. Atoms physically (chemical reactions too are physical events in this sense) peacefully surrender to God's laws when they interact with each other. When water freezes it peacefully surrenders to God's law and expands; when it is heated to a certain degree it evaporates. When Hydrogen, Carbon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen atoms come together in a particular order and create bases called Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Thymine, and when these bases join each other in a particular order, pre-ordained by God, they create DNAs that produce new qualities and events, including life. Every cell and organ in our bodies submits to God's law. These are all physical demonstration of SaJDa to God. No wonder, the entire universe is stated to have submitted to God (3:83; 13:15). Interestingly, in these two verses the same idea is depicted yet in 3:83 the verb aSLaMa (submitted) is used while in 13:15 the verb yaSJuDu (prostrating) is used. This is strong evidence that both verbs belong to the same semantic field. As we know, submission to God is not just a mental activity but also a physical action, such as working hard, delivering God's message, feeding the poor, etc.

The word SaJDa in some verses means ONLY mental (in quantum, electronic or neural level) prostration while in other verses it means ONLY bodily (atomic and molecular level) prostration. The prostration mentioned in 27:20-24 must be bodily, and the one in verse 77:48 most likely refers to mental prostration.

As for verse 22:18, it describes both mental and bodily submission to God. One might argue, "Has anyone ever seen any of these creations bow and prostrate on the ground (animals excluded)? Since all things in heavens and earth do not prostrate to God by casting themselves face down on the ground in humility, then we should not prostrate that way either." This conclusion is based on a false assumption that ALL creatures prostrate the same way. Every creature in the heavens and the earth glorifies God (24:41; 57:1; 59:1,24; 61:1; 62:1; 64:1). But we do not understand their glorification (17:44). We are also instructed to glorify our Lord day and night, not like birds or planets, but like humans, in our language and according to our natural design (3:41; 5:98; 7:206; 19:11; 20:130; 32:15; 40:55; 50:39-40; 52:48-49; 56:74,96; 69:52; 76:26; 87:1; 110:3).

Hence: "Do you not see that everything in the heavens and the earth glorify God, including the birds in columns. Each knows his/her/its prayer (sala) and glorification. God is fully aware of everything you do." (24:41).

The following verse is also important: "Are they seeking other than God's religion, when everything has submitted (aSLaMa) to Him in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and to Him they will be returned?" (3:83). Now those who reject that sala prayer includes bodily bowing and prostration should ask a similar question about how to be a muslim just as they ask about how to perform prostration: "Has anyone ever seen any of these creations give charity or deliver God's message or study the Quran?" So, according to those who deny that we must both mentally and bodily prostrate for God, we should not give charity, should not deliver the message, should not study the Quran, and should not use computers?!!

One might refer to 2:62 and ask: "No, not all of the mentioned people bow and prostrate on the ground. Will they be punished? No, it is the people who do not submit to the God and follow His commands that will deserve His punishment." This is a hasty conclusion. The groups mentioned in the verse (believers, Jews, Nazarenes, and those from other religions) attain salvation as long as they believe in God, do righteous work and believe in the hereafter. Perhaps not all these groups bow and prostrate, and perhaps not all these groups believe and follow the Quran, either. First, we should remember that God holds each responsible depending on their circumstances. As those who witnessed Moses' miracles will be hold responsible for their reaction to them, similarly those who are instructed to bow and prostrate will be held responsible for their reaction. Each nation received a messenger and each received their instruction (10:47; 22:34; 40:28).

Referring to verse 18:50, one might conclude: "There is no need to get on the ground to worship your Lord because He has not commanded us to do this. He wants us to bow and prostrate our wills to that of His will." This is a reasonable conclusion. However, knowing that the word prostration was also used to mean humbly getting on the ground, we cannot equate the prostration in this verse to all others. The verse refers to an event which took place before the creation of life on earth. Besides, the instruction is to Satan, a creature made of energy, not matter like us. The nature of the prostration asked of Satan or the angels might be a little different than the one asked of us; or, more accurately, the form, way or style of our prostration might not necessarily be expected to be the same as that of the angels.­

David, who was observing sala prayer, is described by the Quran as: "… He then implored his Lord for forgiveness, bowed down (KhaRra RuKka'An), and repented." (38:24). David's repentance is clearly described as bowing down, both mentally and bodily.

We should remind those who are trying hard to eliminate the formal component of sala prayer of the following verse: "… When the revelations of the Gracious are recited to them, they fall prostrate (KhaRRu SuJjaDan), weeping" (19:58). See 41:37; 13:15; 3:83. ]]

[[Ali’s note - 2074 I take "things" here to be inanimate things, for the next verse speaks of living, "moving creatures" and angels. By a metaphor even such inanimate things are spoken of as recognising Allah and humbly worshipping Him. Even their shadows turn round from right and left according to the light from above, and they humbly prostrate themselves on the ground to celebrate the praises of Allah. (16.48)

2075 Moving creatures, i.e., living creatures, "All that is in the heavens or earth," includes every created thing. And created things are mentioned in three classes: inanimate things, ordinary living things, and angels. Even the highest angels are not arrogant; they bow down and serve their Lord, and so does all Creation. (16.49)

2076 Allah is so high above the highest of His creatures, that they all look up to him in awe and reverence. And they joyfully do their duty in serving Him. This is the meaning of the "fear of the Lord." (16.50)]]

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25. [al-Furqan, Mecca 42]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى رَبِّكَ ...

25: 45. Hast thou not turned thy vision to thy Lord? --

C3098. We saw in 24:35 that Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.

We have now another sublime passage, in which we are asked to contemplate the Glory of Allah by a parable of the subtle play of Light and Shade in Allah's creation. (R).

... كَيْفَ مَدَّ الظِّلَّ...

how He doth prolong the Shadow!

C3099. In our artificial fife and surroundings we fail to see some of the finest mysteries of Light and Shade.

We praise, and rightly, the wonderful colours of sunset. We see, particularly in climates more northerly than that of India, the subtle play of Light and Shade in the twilight succeeding sunsets.

If we were as assiduous in seeing sunrises and the play of Light and Shade preceding them, we should see phenomena even more impressive, as the early morning seems to us more holy than any other time in the twenty-four hours of the sun's daily journey.

- There is first the false dawn, with its curious uncertain light and the curious long uncertain shadows which it casts.

• Then there are the streaks of black in the East, succeeded by the true dawn, with its delicate tones of colours and light and shade.

The fight of this true or false Dawn is not given by the direct rays of the sun. In a sense it is not light, but the shadows or reflections of light. And they gradually merge into actual sunrise, with its more substantial or more defined shadows, which we can definitely connect with the sun.

... وَلَوْ شَاء لَجَعَلَهُ سَاكِنًا...

If He willed, He could make it stationary!

... ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَا الشَّمْسَ عَلَيْهِ دَلِيلًا ﴿٤٥﴾

Then do We make the sun its guide:

C3100. The morning shadows are long but more definite, and their length and direction are seen to be guided by the sun. But they change insensibly every second or fraction of a second.

ثُمَّ قَبَضْنَاهُ إِلَيْنَا ...

25: 46. Then We draw it in towards Ourselves --

C3101. As the sun rises higher and higher, the shadows contract. In regions where the sun gets actually to the zenith at noon, there is no shadow left at that time.

Where does it go to?

It was but a shadow cast by a substance and it gets absorbed by the substance which produced it. (R).

... قَبْضًا يَسِيرًا ﴿٤٦﴾

a contraction by easy stages.

C3102. Let us now reverently turn our vision (as far as we are able) to the symbolic meaning.

Allah is the Light. All things in creation – whether concrete or abstract – are but shadows, depending on His Light. All shadows are not equal. He gives length or size of substance to such as He pleases. And some shadows almost become reflected lights, like the light of the false or the true Dawn. Such are holy men, in all kinds of gradations.

The shadows are constantly in a state of flux; so are all things in Creation, all things we see or covet in this life. Allah, if He wills, can give some of them greater fixity or comparative stability. (R).

Asad’s Version:

25:45)

ART THOU NOT aware of thy Sustainer (through His works]? - how He causes the shadow to lengthen [towards the night] when, had He so willed, He could indeed have made it stand still: but then, We have made the sun its guide;

(25:46) and then, [after having caused it to lengthen,] We draw it in towards Ourselves 38 with a gradual drawing-in.

38 I.e., "We cause it to contract in accordance with the 'laws of nature' which We Ourselves have instituted." As in so many other instances in the Qur'an, the abrupt change from the third-person pronoun "He" to "We" is meant to illustrate the fact that God is undefinable, and that it is only the inadequacy of human speech - and, hence, of the human mind - that makes it necessary to refer to the Supreme Being by pronouns which in reality are applicable only to finite-created "persons" (cf. Foreword,note 2).

Other Versions:

25:45

25:46