Discover the meaning of the term Al-ẓl (ظل) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 5 min readWhat the sun causes to pass (naqasatahu), from sunrise to the meridian. Among the spiritual masters' usage: the relational (idafi) existence manifest in the determinations of the possible essences and their attributions, which are nonexistent in themselves and appeared under the name of the light; this light being the external existence ascribed to them; when the darkness of their nonexistence spread, the light manifest in their forms became a shadow of the appearing of shadow by the light, and nonexistent in itself. Allah, exalted be He, said: 'Have you not seen how your Lord extends the shadow?', that is: He spread the relational existence over the possibles.
What results from the air illuminated in itself, like the sun, or by other than it, like the moon.
What the sun causes to pass; and al-fay' is what the sun has passed beyond.
What the sun causes to pass, from sunrise to the meridian, and then from that until sunset is the fay'. In the tafsir of al-Qadi al-Baydawi (may Allah have mercy on him): what is between dawn and sunrise is the most pleasant of states, for pure darkness repels the temperament and strains the sight, and the sun's ray heats the air and dazzles the eye; therefore Paradise was described by it: 'and a shade outstretched', end of quote.
In language: the cover (sitr). One says 'I am in the shade of so-and-so', meaning his shelter. The shadow is not the nonexistence of the sun, as one might suppose; rather it is a matter of existence created by Allah for the benefit of the body and other things; its root is the cover, whence 'the shade of Paradise' and 'the shade of its trees', which is only their covering and that of their sides; 'the shade of the night' is its darkness, because it covers everything; 'the shade of the sun' is what the obliquity of its place of fall covers, as Ibn Qutayba reported, saying: the shadow exists in the morning and evening, from the beginning of the day to its end; al-fay', however, exists only after the meridian, for it is fay': that is, it returned from one side to another. The shadow: what the sun causes to pass; al-fay': what the sun has passed beyond. The shadow: the opposite of the dhahw (the sun or its light). Al-Fayyumi said: all that the sun was upon and then departed from is a shadow, like what is in the Lisan: if it is hidden from you by a screen. In technical usage: al-Sharbini said: the shadow's root is the cover, whence 'I am in the shade of so-and-so', and 'the shade of the night' is its darkness; it embraces what is before the meridian and after it, as Ibn 'Abidin likewise mentioned. [al-Misbah al-munir (z-l-l) p. 146, al-Mufradat p. 314, Sharh Fath al-mujib p. 19, Tahrir al-tanbih p. 57, Anis al-fuqaha p. 73, al-Mawsu'a al-fiqhiyya 29/166]. 'Al-zulla': like the form of the attribute, so in the Sihah; as for al-Maghrib: 'al-zulla' is everything that shades you, be it a building, a mountain, or a cloud, that is, it covers you and casts its shadow upon you. 'Al-zulla': that by which one shelters, like an attribute sheltering from heat and cold (vol. 2, Mu'jam al-mustalahat).
﴿وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ سَنُدْخِلُهُمْ جَنَّـٰتٍۢ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَدًۭا ۖ لَّهُمْ فِيهَآ أَزْوَٰجٌۭ مُّطَهَّرَةٌۭ ۖ وَنُدْخِلُهُمْ ظِلًّۭا ظَلِيلًا﴾
« But those who believe and do righteous deeds - We will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide forever. For them therein are purified spouses, and We will admit them to deepening shade. »
Surah النساء : 57
﴿۞ مَّثَلُ ٱلْجَنَّةِ ٱلَّتِى وُعِدَ ٱلْمُتَّقُونَ ۖ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ ۖ أُكُلُهَا دَآئِمٌۭ وَظِلُّهَا ۚ تِلْكَ عُقْبَى ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوا۟ ۖ وَّعُقْبَى ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ ٱلنَّارُ﴾
« The example of Paradise, which the righteous have been promised, is [that] beneath it rivers flow. Its fruit is lasting, and its shade. That is the consequence for the righteous, and the consequence for the disbelievers is the Fire. »
Surah الرعد : 35
﴿وَلَوْ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِم بَابًۭا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَظَلُّوا۟ فِيهِ يَعْرُجُونَ﴾
« And [even] if We opened to them a gate from the heaven and they continued therein to ascend, »
Surah الحجر : 14
﴿وَإِذَا بُشِّرَ أَحَدُهُم بِٱلْأُنثَىٰ ظَلَّ وَجْهُهُۥ مُسْوَدًّۭا وَهُوَ كَظِيمٌۭ﴾
« And when one of them is informed of [the birth of] a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief. »
Surah النحل : 58
﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ كَيْفَ مَدَّ ٱلظِّلَّ وَلَوْ شَآءَ لَجَعَلَهُۥ سَاكِنًۭا ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَا ٱلشَّمْسَ عَلَيْهِ دَلِيلًۭا﴾
« Have you not considered your Lord - how He extends the shadow, and if He willed, He could have made it stationary? Then We made the sun for it an indication. »
Surah الفرقان : 45
﴿فَسَقَىٰ لَهُمَا ثُمَّ تَوَلَّىٰٓ إِلَى ٱلظِّلِّ فَقَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى لِمَآ أَنزَلْتَ إِلَىَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍۢ فَقِيرٌۭ﴾
« So he watered [their flocks] for them; then he went back to the shade and said, "My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need." »
Surah القصص : 24
This term appears in 12 verses of the Quran.