The Illusion of Time

​It was a sunny bright day. The Sun was glowing in its dazzling colours. The rays fell on to a black metallic plate near me and reflected towards my eyes. Those reflected rays were so radiant that it penetrated directly into my mind, travelling through the window of my eyes and kindled a deep thought within; the thought of time.

​It was such that the ray was communicating with me through that thought it kindled. “Ahhh! What a long life it has been! A wonderful journey from the sun to the earth!” exclaimed the ray in an exhilarated tone. I, being uninterested, decided it was the right time to throw a fact I once learnt in grade 7, “Ease up! It’s just a short journey of eight minutes you are being so enthusiastic about.” I said in a nonchalant way as i cleared my throat. Suddenly, the vibe changed as did the shade of the ray, which turned into a gloomy dazzled state. There was silence for some time as i kept glaring at the shining black plate until the ray decided to break the streak of silence, “You must be deluded to call my journey fleeting whereas I witnessed countless shades of this universe, experienced the pleasing sight of Saturn’s rings and caught sight of thousands of stars.”, said the ray in a tone filled with indignation and offence after which it left my mind space.   

After offending that ray, I kept on thinking about the dynamics of time and relativity. Just like that ray, we spend all of our lives thinking that it’s really a long journey. We assume that 70 years is infinitely long, making us invest all our energy and time to attaining worldly gains and pleasure. There was a gush of thoughts crossing my mind at that time, as if I was questioning each and everything around my life. I realized how delusional the concept of time is at the first place, that what we think as time is just another name for illusion. Suddenly, my eyes caught the attention of a bee wobbling on a red rose flower in the garden. That wobbling bee added new streams of thought to my already occupied mind, i pondered that considering that the average life span of bees are 28 days; if that bee crosses the one month mark, it would consider itself a living miracle. One month? A time which for me is just a fraction of a year? However, what if i too am living in the same mirage? A mirage that makes me believe that 70 years is really a long period of time, the mirage that makes this world so appealing that I am taking for granted the eternity I have at stake once this finite phase ends.

:​The ray or that wobbling bee may have no consequence for being deluded but we have a cost to pay if we stay this way. If we assume time over here as infinite, do not ponder and work on what would happen next, we will certainly be questioned. Suddenly an ayat clicked in my mind of Surah Yunus where Allah says:

“On the Day He will gather them, it will be as if they had not stayed in the world except for an hour of a day, as though they were only getting to know one another. Lost indeed will be those who denied the meeting with Allah, and were not rightly guided!”
​(10:45)

​A sudden wave of realization came across me, making me think how this world is full of phantom and depicts apparition. Those strong tides of that wave changed my views on that ray of light. I felt that the ray of light was indeed a ray of light guiding me back towards the reality of life as I moved my eyes from the metallic plate and continued walking in the park.

Omer Farooq

MBBS, Class of 2023