“If you cannot hear my gentle whispers then let the harsh lessons of life teach you…” Corridor of Shadows is the long-awaited new book by Muhyiddin Shakoor, a contemporary American Sufi, who is also a psychotherapist and academic, currently teaching in Turkey as a visiting professor. In his highly-acclaimed previous book, Writing on the Water, which has inspired thousands of readers, Shakoor offered a personal account of his first encounter with Islam and his initial years on the Sufi path. Now, he continues his spiritual journey with Corridor of Shadows. In this book, he relates to us with his fluent yet intricate style new lessons of life, each laden with wisdom and laced with wit. Corridor of Shadows invites us on a journey full of joys, embodied at times in a firefly, a star, and a rainbow, and at times in solidarity and in standing up for truth and justice. It is also full of trials and tribulations like discrimination, betrayal, the loss of loved ones, nuclear threat and war. Through this journey, Shakoor shows us how everything we come across on our path, whether it be a source of joy or pain, can turn into signs that lead us into a higher, spiritual reality. However, we must be ready and willing to turn our gaze constantly towards the Higher Power, as title of the book inspired by the following Qur’anic verse suggests: Hast thou not turned thy vision to thy Lord? How He doth project the shadow! (25:45). Corridor of Shadows is a genuine affirmation of the spiritual significance of the journey called life. This book, not to be missed by spiritual seekers, is a “golden thread” meant to help us in our endeavor to escape the dark and narrow confines of our egos and mundane lives…
