“The conscience—man’s inborn, conscious nature—looks toward and points to eternal happiness. Indeed, whoever listens to their awakened conscience (wijdan) will hear the voice: ‘Eternity! Eternity!’ Even if the whole universe were given to it, it could not fill the soul’s longing for eternity. Therefore, the conscience was created for that eternity. This inner attraction and pull can only be explained by the attraction of a true, transcendent purpose and an ultimate reality that draws it.”¹⁾

“When one looks upon this universe with the gaze of contemplation, the conscience and the heart sense, with truthful intuition, that the One Who has made this world so beautiful and adorned it with countless perfections must Himself possess infinite beauty and perfection.”²⁾

“The Conscience Knows God Through Its Attraction: Within conscience lies an attraction and a pull. This pull endures only through the attraction of the One Who draws. When the Possessor of Beauty manifests Himself, the conscious being falls into rapture. When He unveils Himself in radiant splendor, that attraction and pull testify unmistakably to the existence of the Necessary Being—the One of Majesty and Beauty. Thus, attraction and response are twin witnesses to Him.”³⁾

“The heart and the conscience are the seat of faith. Intuitive insight (hads) and Divine inspiration (ilham) are its proofs.”⁴⁾

“The Qur’an is affirmed by pure human nature. If no corruption or malady arises, every sound nature affirms it. For peace of conscience and rest of heart come only through its light. Thus, the pure nature, by the testimony of the conscience’s tranquility, attests to the Qur’an’s truth. Indeed, nature itself says by its state: ‘The perfection of our being cannot be without you.’”⁵⁾

“Even if reason suspends its activity and neglects reflection, conscience cannot forget the Creator. Even if one denies oneself, conscience still sees Him, thinks of Him, and turns toward Him. Intuition—like a lightning flash of immediate perception—constantly stirs it. Inspiration, which is intuition multiplied, continually illuminates it. Inclination, intensified into desire, and desire multiplied into longing, and longing multiplied into Divine love—these perpetually drive conscience toward knowledge of the Lord of Majesty. This inborn attraction is the effect of a truly magnetic Divine Reality.”⁶⁾

“By ‘heart’ we do not mean the pinecone-shaped piece of flesh, but a subtle, God-given faculty. The seat of feeling is the conscience; the mirror of thought is the intellect.”⁷⁾

“Through its two points—the point of seeking help and the point of reliance—the human conscience does not forget the Creator. Even if the mind ceases its operations, conscience does not.⁸⁾

“In my own view, man’s comprehensive nature and vital capacity contain many subtle faculties (lataif), ten of which are well known. Even the philosophers and scholars of outward sciences have taken these ten subtle faculties—represented by the five external and five internal senses—as the foundations of their wisdom. The ten subtle faculties recognized among ordinary and spiritual people are also related to those known among the Sufi path. For example, if we add conscience, nerves, feeling, intellect, desire, the appetitive power, and the irascible power to the heart, spirit, and secret (sirr), we can see the ten faculties in another form. Beyond these, there are still more—like the driving impulse (saika), the yearning impulse (shaika), and the faculty of premonition.”⁹⁾

“The essence of spiritual retreat (khalwah) is purification of the soul, refinement of the ego, and the turning of the entire system of conscience toward God in order to attain His presence.”¹⁰⁾

“The essence of the human being—what we might call self-awareness or consciousness—is the conscience. It is a mechanism composed of the will that distinguishes good from evil; the fu’ad, that subtle, Divine faculty representing a deeper dimension of the heart; the mind as the recipient of awareness; and the blended harmony of feeling and sensation.”¹¹⁾

“Conscience is also a conscious observer and interpreter in its awareness of its own weakness, poverty, and dependence, and in its sense of need to rely upon a power greater than itself. In this respect, it turns toward God in faith, submission, and trust—responding to Him with knowledge, love, and yearning. Alongside its engagement with all beings and phenomena through perception, reflection, remembrance, and understanding, it possesses an inner, wordless eloquence—so deep and subtle that it is not easily felt by everyone, yet so profound that one who truly listens to it may feel no further need for anything else.”¹²⁾

“What is meant by the heart in the Qur’an, in the authentic Sunnah, and in Sufism—also called the latifa rabbaniyya (divine subtlety)—is that very spiritual heart expressed in phrases such as ‘heartless,’ ‘pure-hearted,’ or ‘corrupt-hearted.’ This is the true seat of knowledge and recognition of God. Likewise, what is sought within human nature—the sensations and intuitions of conscience, the source and center of intellectual and perceptive powers—is this Divine subtlety. Thus, the heart is the title of man’s deepest dimension and the control center of the soul.”¹³⁾

“‘O human, read yourself!’ is a call to inner contemplation. Muslim scholars treat the inner self (anfus) in two dimensions: first, the spiritual self—comprising soul, ego, conscience, inner depths, feeling, consciousness, will, and the Divine subtlety (the latifa rabbaniyya), in short, the self shaped around the ‘I’; and second, the physical self—one’s anatomical and physiological being. In the sense used by Alexis Carrel in Man the Unknown, both are referred to as the anfus.”¹⁴⁾

“Most philosophers, those who rely heavily on reason, often err. Reason must be sacrificed for God’s sake. For rational demonstration (burhan limmi) proceeds from cause to effect, whereas burhan inni proceeds from effect to cause. God first makes Himself felt through the second—through the conscience. When conscience perceives that reality in its own depths, it casts aside all proofs and books. Feeling its weakness and poverty, it turns to God in supplication. And when all causes have utterly fallen silent, if one can listen to oneself with the ear of conscience, one will witness realities of an entirely different dimension.”¹⁵⁾

“Justice means accepting and acknowledging truth, no matter who voices it; treating everyone with mercy and fairness; respecting the rights of others as well as one’s own; acting not according to ego or desire but in harmony with conscience, reason, and universal human values; and observing even the smallest right with scrupulous care.”¹⁶⁾

“Any words and statements that have not been internalized by the conscience, voiced in the language of the heart, and colored by the tone of lived example—no matter how polished they may sound—cannot leave a lasting impression on souls.”¹⁷⁾

“The way to ascend to the life of the heart and spirit is through the annihilation of the ego and self-centeredness. Yes—man must ‘die’ in order to truly live. The perception of certain Divine realities by the heart and conscience, and man’s conscious turning of himself after sensing them inwardly, depend upon being freed from the domination of ego and pride. This is achieved only through deep reflection, through perceiving the Divine truths in God’s signs, words, and lines written across the universe, and through living ever watchfully with open eyes.”¹⁸⁾

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