SHAFAQNA – It is narrated from Imam Baqir (AS) who told Jabir (RA): O’ Jabir, lifetime (of the human being) is like a short-lived shadow; the word of Tawheed (there is no God but Allah (SWT); uniqueness of God) is the base of honour and glory for the followers of Tawheed; Salaat/Salaah, stabilizes devotion (to God), and repels arrogance [1]. In this narration Imam Baqir (AS) likened the lifetime of the human being to a short-lived shadow; the life time of the human being is like the shadow in the afternoon, as this shadow signals the end of the day and minute by minute it gets longer, it shows that the day is coming to the end; our life time is the same. Then Imam Baqir (AS) referred to Tawheed; because when a person believes and says: There is no God but Allah (SWT); it means that the worship of any other thing except God is rejected. Imam (AS) also referred to Salaat which stabilizes devotion to God; because Salaat is pure Dhikr/Zikr of God and nothing is mixed with it. Also Salaat repels arrogance, because the human being prostrates in Salaat .
[1] Amaali, Sheikh Toosi (RA), Majlis Yazdahum, Page 296.