The light behind the shadow

 


The Light Behind the Shadow: Mystical Lessons from Darkness

By Prof. Dr. Arshad Afzal
Former Faculty Member, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, KSA

“Do not fear the darkness, for it is the womb of light. In the cave of the heart, even shadows whisper divine truths.”

We often think of light as the symbol of truth, and darkness as its absence. But mystics across time—Sufis, saints, shamans, and sages—have taught us otherwise. Darkness is not the enemy. It is the threshold. The testing ground. The sacred crucible where the soul learns to see.

Darkness as Divine Design

In Sufi cosmology, darkness is not devoid of God—it is pregnant with Him. The veils that hide the Divine are made of both light and shadow. According to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), “Allah has seventy veils of light and darkness. If He were to remove them, the splendor of His countenance would burn everything.”

In mysticism, the shadow is not sin—it is potential, unexplored space, the raw, unrefined ore of the soul.

What the Shadow Teaches

  1. Humility
    Darkness humbles us. It strips away ego, forcing us to admit we are not the masters of our fate. It cracks our pride, so light can enter.

  2. Trust
    In light, we walk by sight. In darkness, we walk by trust. Faith begins when certainty ends.

  3. Inner Vision
    External light blinds. Inner light guides. The mystic's eye—the Basirah—opens when the outer eye can no longer see.

  4. Transformation
    Every spiritual rebirth begins in darkness:

    • The seed must be buried.
    • The embryo grows in the womb.
    • The sun rises from the horizon’s shadow.

Darkness, then, is not the end. It is the beginning.

Carl Jung and the Shadow Self

Even in modern mystical psychology, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung echoed ancient wisdom when he said, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”

This is aligned with the Sufi concept of Tazkiyah (purification of the soul). To purify, one must first confront.

The mystic does not run from the shadow. He enters it—with dhikr on his tongue and light in his heart.

Personal Reflection: My Journey Through the Night

In my own path, I have walked through intellectual and spiritual deserts—moments when books had no answers, prayers felt dry, and silence was louder than God.

But it was in those dark nights that I felt the veiled presence closest—hidden, but heavy. Gentle, but undeniable. Each crisis became a cryptic verse, each tear a translator of divine secrets.

Now I know: darkness is not exile. It is intimacy.

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Embrace the shadow. It knows the way to the light.
—Prof. Dr. Arshad Afzal
Mystic Wisdom Hub

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