Is conscience those self-evident truths inscribed upon the mirrors of our articulate souls since the beginning of creation, the lights of which have been obscured by our foul thoughts and deeds, leading us to believe they do not exist? Just like the fiery core of the Earth, covered by water and soil, causing the ignorant to think the entire planet is nothing but water and soil, until a volcano erupts somewhere, turning fire into rivers that burn stone and soil; only then do they remember that the Earth's core is a furnace of fire. Likewise, we live in the coldness of our negligence and the illusion of our complacency in contrary actions, until the volcano of conscience suddenly erupts from the depths of our souls to cast the fire of truth before us.
Is conscience that compass which has stored the secret of divinity within us, which is more transparent than the science of logic that relies on induction, deduction, and analogy, and more delicate than all rational sciences that present us with facts through proofs of observation, experimentation, reasoning, interpretation, and comparison? It is as if conscience were an intuition proceeding from abstract universals toward tangible particulars, to the point that we think it is a message from Heaven to us, out of compassion so that we do not fall into the abyss of transgressions and the mud of swamps, despite our lack of merit through the reality of our conduct for these messages that guide us to the straight path.
The Chinese sage Confucius said: "Conscience is the light of the mind to distinguish good from evil." Plato defines the soul as a living, transparent, immortal, spiritual essence that accepts both reason and ignorance. If we connect this definition with what Confucius said, we arrive at the conclusion that the soul has two faces: one rational and luminous, relying on the causal law, logical induction, and creative inspiration; and another dark and antagonistic, relying on the temptation of desires and attraction to suspicions, adopting paths of lying, desecration, greed, and avarice to reach and connect. Some have likened the soul to a battlefield where the natures of the mind—light, goodness, justice, humility, and love—struggle against the natures of darkness, evil, tyranny, arrogance, and aggression. If the natures of the mind win, the light strengthens and the darkness weakens; goodness strengthens and evil weakens; love strengthens and aggression weakens.
We say that if the forces of light, justice, truth, goodness, and beauty are constantly vigilant, dominating human behavior, thoughts, and intentions, we call this "reason." We say this is a rational human being who understood the purpose for which they were created and understood the eternal laws inscribed on the essence of their soul since the beginning of creation, such as the law of motion—the essence of this existence; the law of development and elevation—the canon of living beings; and the law of knowledge—the supreme happiness that is sought for itself and not for anything else.
It is stated in the depths of Plato's Republic that it is the duty of a wise person to strive to achieve their human perfection, and this is through knowing oneself and knowing one's Lord. This striving is a permanent journey to God that never stops moving except in dead souls. This journey does not seek an arrival, because God is absolute, transcendent, total, and abstract, while the human mind can only practice its knowledge and work through the senses of the body and its material limbs bound to the world of particulars and tangible composites. So how can the tangible particular reach Him who is characterized by transcendence and abstraction! But reaching a thing is one thing, and connecting with it is another. With our consciences and insights, we connect with God but do not reach Him; rather, we remain in a constant longing to travel on the back of the steed of love, which is the true purity of our consciences and minds.
As for the Sufi Al-Junayd, he said: "A living conscience makes you feel the bliss of comfort and the happiness of tranquility, even if you are sleeping on thorns."
The French poet Racine said: "One may feel the prick of conscience while in perfect health." The English poet Shakespeare said: "A living conscience is God's eye upon the human being—the rational creature." The Sufi Al-Shibli said: "Do not fear the opinion of others about you, but fear the judgment of conscience." Ibn Bajjah said: "No happiness equals the comfort of conscience, because its comfort is the tranquility that God Almighty meant in His Holy Book when He addressed the believing soul, saying: 'O soul at peace, return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing [to Him].'" It is as if tranquility is the greatest gift that can be given by God to the human soul. Prince Al-Tanukhi said: "Four things numb the conscience and almost kill it: money, power, desire, and obstinacy." Some have said: "One of the most important proofs of the existence of God is that the wicked may escape the punishment of laws, but they never escape the punishment of their conscience, which indicates that life is not absurd and that man was not created in vain."
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