In Section 32 of Mahmud Shabestari's Golshan-e Raz, the poet uses the metaphors of a mirror and a shadow to explore the paradox of phenomenal existence and non-being. He instructs the reader to look into a mirror and question the nature of the reflection, which appears to exist but lacks independent reality. Shabestari argues that absolute non-being (darkness) cannot truly mix with absolute Being (light). Therefore, the material world and the individual ego are merely illusory appearances or reflections—comparable to a shadow or a fleeting point in time—possessing no genuine substance apart from the singular Divine Reality.