"Chapter Nine"
"On what must be followed regarding the beginning of creation and its composition"
And it is what the trustworthy [transmitters] related from our Masters, the People of the House, may their mention be exalted, since [he/it] clarified upon the act, and God is the Grantor of success and the Guide.
Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Shu'bah, peace be upon him, said in his book known as [Realities of the Secrets of Religion] that Ibn Zabyan, peace be upon him1, asked al-Mufaddal ibn Umar, peace be upon him, so al-Mufaddal said: I asked my Master the Scholar, may His might be exalted: What is the first thing God created?
He said: "The Shadowy Light."
I said: From what did He create it?
He said: "From His Will; then He divided it into shadows. Have you not heard the saying of God Almighty: {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 Then We drew it in towards Us, a slight drawing}2".