تَدْعُو مَنْ أَدْبَرَ وَتَوَلَّى}
وَجَمَعَ فَأَوْعَى
إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ خُلِقَ هَلُوعًا
إِذَا مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ جَزُوعًا
{وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ الْخَيْرُ مَنُوعًا
{It invites he who turned away [from truth] and fled away [from obedience]; And collected [wealth] and withheld it. Indeed, man was created very anxious; fretful when evil touches him; And when good touches him, withholding [of it].}
(70:17–21)
JULY 2005
LONDON, UK
Skilful White Clouds 
Salam Sr.
Feeling good for not getting enough words to say something about the poem as usual because all my good words are not good enough to praise your writing, Alhamdulillah. But I have a query, what’s your thought or motive behind the name of this poem – Just Another Shadow?
Just Another Shadow is a metaphorical heading denoting a darker side of life and the afterlife; it’s also a representation of the man in the poem as a ‘shadow’.
The title and poem is a portrayal of a detestable self-obsessed man “who had it all” but died with nothing becoming ‘just another shadow’ – another soulless being – deprived of all his acquisitions (which were his source of solace) buried deep underground in utter ‘darkness’ with other “shadows” who will suffer eternal “damnation” . . . Another body amongst shadows (malevolent dark souls) in a shadowy (pitch dark) place.
Is the explanation clear?
Thank you Sr. for your nice and easy explanation. Now I get your point of view for naming this poem (^_^).
Death is just the end of our chance to be,
After which we’re “frozen” until Judgment Day,
{ قَالُوا يَا وَيْلَنَا مَن بَعَثَنَا مِن مَّرْقَدِنَا هَذَا مَا وَعَدَ الرَّحْمَنُ وَصَدَقَ الْمُرْسَلُونَ }
It’s like we wake up with no memory at all after death …
So Judgement Day isn’t that far away after all,
It’s just the time distance between now & the end of our chance to be,
The time distance between now & our death …
After which no matter what, we can’t change a thing – like you said …
We’re all dying but slowly,
I guess we’re running out of time to change …
I liked that you emphasised on that.
Dear Rabab,
You are a talented writer. Keep writing and I hope to see some work that reflects some aspiration for a happy/compassionate life.