Mind

The mind operative during the waking state is designated as the conscious mind, whereas the mental activity occurring during sleep is termed the subconscious. Within the realm of the subconscious, the constructs of time and space are entirely negated. Human respiration oscillates between conscious and subconscious states in a manner that sustains awareness within consciousness but not within the subconscious. The knowledge inherent to the subconscious remains inaccessible to the conscious mind. Both consciousness and the subconscious constitute a continuous and uninterrupted field.

Respiration follows a perpetual circular trajectory, completing its cycle within the subconscious. Any disruption of this cyclical motion results in the cessation of life. Ascetic practitioners sustain this cyclical rhythm of respiration within the subconscious while deliberately suspending all activity within the conscious sphere. Through this disciplined regulation, they effectively extend the temporal span of their lives. The greater the restraint of breath, the more empowered the subconscious becomes, gradually diminishing the opacity of the mental veil. In the dream state, this obstruction attenuates to an extent that imaginal forms and visionary experiences begin to manifest.

The deeper the sleep, the more lucid and sharply defined the dream imagery becomes, indicating that the intensity and clarity of perceptual experience are critical to the consolidation of memory. Dreams encoded into memory reside at the upper strata of the subconscious mind. Conversely, less vivid impressions descend below the accessible threshold of the subconscious. Accordingly, some dreams are retained effortlessly, others can be recalled through intentional effort, while certain dreams remain irretrievable despite conscious attempts—these are embedded within the most recessed layers of the subconscious.

Consciousness invariably originates from the unconscious. However, only a limited range of unconscious states can penetrate and register within conscious awareness. Conversely, experiential states that recede from consciousness back into the unconscious become encoded into memory—this mnemonic stratum is termed the subconscious, which is thus a functional and structural subset of the unconscious.

The unconscious comprises the totality of the cosmos, encompassing all temporal dimensions—past, present, and future. It remains imperceptible to human awareness yet contains the complete record of both individual and collective existence. The threshold separating consciousness from the unconscious cannot be transcended without intentional effort and sustained spiritual or cognitive discipline.

The intensity of ascetic commitment (zuhd) correlates directly with the strength of the unconscious. As Allah the Almighty declares in the Qur’an: “Fasting is for Me, and I alone shall reward it.” The pursuit of piety (taqwā), undertaken solely for Allah’s sake, vitalizes and empowers the unconscious faculty. The greater the cultivation of taqwā, the more resilient and expansive the unconscious becomes. This principle underlies the spiritual methodology of those adhering to ascetic discipline. Without taqwā, the existential balance of the individual remains vacant; no substantive spiritual attainment is possible.

The succinct divine pronouncement—“Fasting is for Me”—encapsulates a profound injunction toward taqwā, signifying that the degree to which piety is actualized directly influences the vitality and expansion of the unconscious. It is through disciplined embodiment of taqwā that spiritual aspirants acquire inner strength and cognitive depth.

Sleep functions as an imperceptible veil—an ontological enclosure—that envelops the human being from all directions. This veil constitutes the metaphysical barrier between God and the devotee. In truth, human existence unfolds beneath this sheath of sleep, wherein the illusion of wakefulness prevails, though authentic awareness remains absent. To rupture this veil requires sustained spiritual vigilance and disciplined wakefulness. Through such practice, the shell of sleep gradually dissolves from the inner eye, permitting the emergence of true perception.

Upon emerging from sleep, the individual presumes to be fully awake; however, ontologically, true awakening has not occurred. The individual remains in a latent, somnolent state—not merely with closed eyes, but even through the illusion of open-eyed perception. Here, “open eyes” denote physiological wakefulness, yet this state is often governed by unconscious mechanisms. The qualitative dimensions of this waking state mirror those experienced during sleep—perception, audition, and partial contextual comprehension are present. However, while wakefulness conditions the individual to interpret sensory input within habituated frameworks, the dream state lacks such cognitive training. Consequently, the individual lacks the cultivated reflex to assign meaning, continuity, and interpretive structure to the symbolic data encountered in dreams.

Therefore, phenomena perceived within dreams—both auditory and visual—are frequently regarded as fragmented and dismissed as mere illusions. This denotes that human experience encompasses two distinct modalities of dreaming: one occurring during sleep with closed eyes, and another manifesting during the ostensibly waking state with open eyes. When the unconscious remains dormant, even waking is subsumed under dreaming. Temporality in this condition is illusory, as awareness of time dissolves behind the veil. In the dream state, the veils attenuate, producing perceptual ambiguity that leads the individual to misconstrue this state as deceptive, despite the simultaneous and uninterrupted presence of diurnal and nocturnal dimensions.

Life resembles a dream—in which time holds no true existence. Yet the human being perceives the motion of space as time. Specifically, within a span of 23 seconds, space undergoes transformation; it is this very process of change that man has termed time. I maintain this because time is contingent upon space, and therefore, each spatial dimension embodies its own distinct temporality.