M6:3304 — در هوای غیب مرغی می‌پرد / سایهٔ او بر زمینی می‌زند

Translation: In the atmosphere of the Unseen, a bird flies, And its shadow is cast upon the earth. Meaning: This verse suggests that the true essence and origin of being reside in the invisible, transcendent realm (ghayb), and what we perceive in the phenomenal world is merely a shadow or reflection of that higher, unseen reality.

From Mawlana's perspective, and as I have pointed out repeatedly, the reality of things and beings is not as they appear to us in the sensible world. This world is the world of shadows; and this expression, undoubtedly, has its roots in Plato's famous 'Allegory of the Cave,' which Mawlana, with his characteristic acuity, has woven into the fabric of his own mysticism. We, humans, are like the prisoners in Plato's cave, who see only shadows on the wall and mistake them for reality itself. This couplet explicitly expresses this very idea: In the atmosphere of the Unseen, a bird flies, / And its shadow is cast upon the earth.

The truth is that the essence of being, that 'bird' flying 'in the atmosphere of the Unseen' (ghayb), resides in the invisible, divine realm. However, our eyes, fixed on the earth and imprisoned in the cave of the body, are only capable of seeing its 'shadow'; a shadow that is cast upon the 'earth' of this sensible world. These shadows are the beings we mistakenly take for reality, while their authenticity and identity lie in the realm of ghayb. This presents us with a dual existence: the life we experience in the physical world is merely a faint and transient shadow of the soul's primary and encompassing life.

Those who consider themselves neuroscientists and confine the entirety of human existence to the body and brain are, in fact, the same cave dwellers who believe that all there is, is this shadow. From Mawlana's perspective, they do not realize that 'the body is the shadow of the soul.' The soul is the primary and determining agent, and the body is merely its shadow. All our worldly perceptions, knowledge, and understandings also fall within this framework of shadows. We hunt shadows and become attached to them, without paying attention to the reality behind the curtain and the existential origin that casts these shadows. It is here that Mawlana, with the expression 'we are hunters of shadows,' points to a profound truth: we sacrifice our lives, our efforts, and our very steps for something devoid of essence. Scholars who seek truth only in nature and sensate phenomena are, in reality, pursuing shadows and are left behind from the true abode and original homeland of reality.

Mawlana clarifies this relationship further in another couplet: The body is the shadow of the shadow of the shadow of the heart; / How can the body be worthy of the heart's station? This 'heart' (dil) he speaks of here is different from 'soul' (jan), which is merely animal life. Jan is a life in which we share with animals and plants; but dil is the truth of humanity, the 'rational soul' (nafs-e nateqa) and 'spirit' (ruh) that is exclusive to humans. Dil is the abode of perceptions and emotions, and most importantly, according to a sacred tradition, 'it contains God.' Thus, the bird flying in the atmosphere of ghayb is the reality of the human dil, and our body is merely a three-layered shadow of that divine dil.

Key takeaways

• The sensible world is merely a shadow of the invisible reality of the Unseen (ghayb).
• Beings in this world, including our physical bodies, lack intrinsic reality; they are mere reflections of a higher truth.
• Mawlana draws this perspective from Plato's Allegory of the Cave, extending it within Islamic mysticism.
• Knowledge focused solely on nature and empirical phenomena is knowledge of shadows, not of original truths.
• The human 'heart' (dil), as its essential reality, is the 'bird' that flies in ghayb, and the body is its shadow.