Transforming Light into Thought

Perception, illusion, and knowledge between science and inner experience

I have transformed light into thought. Every day the sun dazzles me, new words are born.

Today is one of those days when the sun’s rays flood the lake, making the waves seem metaphysical. Everything, to me, is metaphysical: the clouds scattered like forgotten sheep in the sky, the stains that the clouds’ shadows draw across the mountains.

When a mind is metaphysical, everything that is not becomes boring.

Do you recognize yourself in this trait? Probably not. You should already be beings of Light. Today they call them starseeds, but perhaps starseeds are simply those who, like me, transform light into thought.

The Masks of Survival

To survive in this world, I have had to reorient myself many times, to transform into what I am not, to wear different masks.

At school we used to sing:“It’s a hard world, happiness comes in moments.”But is it really so?

We have been given a distorted idea of happiness, made dependent on people, on consumption, on everything that only resembles it on the surface.

Happiness, instead, is grounded in rationality: in seeing reality clearly.

To transform light into thought means allowing only what deserves to emerge to pass through, because only what is transformed is, in the end, true.

It seems like a paradox, but it is not: what cannot rise beyond matter is not an intention strong enough to deserve realization.

Waves as Illusion

If you observe the waves of a lake or the sea for a long time, you realize that they are also optical illusions: they truly exist and move only when you grant them attention.

Reality often works in the same way.

The Camera Obscura: Where Science and Intuition Meet

This reflection led me to the camera obscura, a scientific device studied and refined by Arab scholars, particularly Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) in the 10th century.

In a dark room, a small hole allows light to enter, projecting an inverted image onto the opposite wall.

This discovery revolutionized the understanding of vision: perception is not a passive process. The image is not “in the eye,”but arises from the interaction between light, space, and visual structure.

Even waves are temporary manifestations of light, perceivable only when mind and attention are aligned.

Modern psychology confirms this. According to Gestalt theory, the brain completes incomplete forms, interprets patterns, and constructs coherence even where none objectively exists.

When reality is ambiguous, the mind creates a convincing illusion—and that illusion becomes experience.

Light and Heart: Perception and Spirituality

The spiritual dimension broadens this reflection even further.

In the Qur’an, Surah An-Nur describes Allah as “the Light of the heavens and the earth,” suggesting that true knowledge goes beyond mere physical sight. In Al-Baqarah, it is said that it is not the eyes that are blind, but the hearts.

Understanding, therefore, is not only perception: it is an inner act.

As in the camera obscura, where the image slowly emerges from darkness, the mind too needs time and silence to develop knowledge.

Illusions are not simple mistakes. They are tools that show us how perception worksand teach us that what appears does not always coincide with what is.

Mental Illusions as Thresholds

The waves, the stains on the mountains, are all signs—enigmas that invite us to question perception.

The mind interprets, anticipates, fills gaps, constructs meaning. In this sense, optical illusions are not deceptions, but thresholds: points of passage between what we believe we seeand what we can learn to understand.

Observation thus becomes an act of inquiry.

Like a scientific experiment, it requires attention, openness, and the ability to question the obvious.

It is in this space that science, mind, and inner reflection meet.

Between Light, Shadow, and Mystery

Perception is always an intertwining of external reality and mental construction.

The discoveries of Ibn al-Haytham teach us that light alone is not enough: it is structure that gives it meaning.

In the same way, the mind interprets sensory dataand transforms it into knowledge.

Spiritual traditions remind us that seeing does not mean fully understanding.

Optical illusions and fleeting appearancesare not errors to avoid, but opportunities to explorethe limits—and the power—of the human mind.

Reality never offers itself all at once.

It develops slowly, like an image in the camera obscura: between light and shadow, presence and absence,truth and appearance.

And perhaps this is its greatest gift.

God is not Outside

Eternity and infinity represent two fundamental dimensions of existence, between which the human mind seems to function as a mediating and interpretative instance. Consciousness filters both, making the experience of reality possible. From this perspective, God is not conceived as limited to an external dimension, but as present both within and beyond every level of existence. The name attributed to God (Allah, Creator) is secondary to the central role of thought and consciousness, which constitute the means through which the universe is perceived and understood.

Many people know the Qur’an only superficially; however, a deeper analysis—carried out through introspective reflection and the conscious use of individual perception—reveals a remarkable philosophical and ontological coherence in the text. The Qur’an itself invites a reading that engages the intellect and awareness, rather than mere formal repetition.

Quantum physics has introduced the concept that observation plays a decisive role in the manifestation of physical phenomena. Although this belongs to a scientific domain distinct from theology, it opens an epistemological reflection: if reality manifests through attention and observation, how can human beings enter into a relationship with God without conscious seeking? In this sense, the Qur’an affirms that guidance is reserved for those who believe in the unseen:

"This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for the righteous, who believe in the unseen…" (Sura Al-Baqara 2:2–3)

If empirical reality is limited to the spectrum of visible light, the question of the existence of a reality imperceptible to the senses becomes central. The Qur’an repeatedly points to the existence of a hidden dimension (al-ghayb), accessible not through sensory perception but through faith and intellect. God is described as One who knows both the visible and the invisible:

"He knows the unseen and the seen; He is the Great, the Most High." (Sura Ar-Ra‘d 13:9)

Thus, the experience of existence is conceived primarily as an interior one. The Qur’an establishes a close relationship between life, death, and states of consciousness, likening sleep to a temporary suspension of the soul:

"Allah takes the souls at the time of their death and those that do not die during sleep…" (Sura Az-Zumar 39:42)

This view suggests that consciousness does not end in the material dimension but extends toward infinity and eternity.

Within this framework, inner purification assumes a central role. Islam, like other religious traditions, emphasizes ethical and spiritual purification as a necessary condition for the elevation of the human being. The Qur’an clearly states:

"Successful indeed is the one who purifies it, and doomed is the one who corrupts it." (Sura Ash-Shams 91:9–10)

Purification is not presented as a mere external ritual, but as an internal process that allows consciousness not to obstruct its own spiritual development.

In a symbolic reading, the “center” of consciousness can be understood as the point of origin from which everything begins—a kind of absolute core of human experience. Although the Qur’an does not employ metaphors such as the “black hole,” it asserts that God is the Principle and the End of everything:

"He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden." (Sura Al-Hadid 57:3)

This statement allows for philosophical reflection on the correspondence between human interiority and cosmic order.

The idea that the external world is, at least in part, a reflection of the inner state of the human being finds resonance in the Qur’anic principle that authentic change begins from within:

"Indeed, Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves." (Sura Ar-Ra‘d 13:11)

Finally, adherence to Islam is described as a conscious and progressive choice. The true jihad, understood in an ethical and spiritual sense, is the struggle against the negative inclinations of the self (nafs), aimed at rectifying character and thought. The Qur’an encourages this inner effort:

"As for those who strive for Us, We will surely guide them to Our ways." (Sura Al-‘Ankabut 29:69)

From this perspective, the Qur’an functions as a guide for the conscience, aimed at transforming negative thought into ethical and spiritual awareness. An authentic understanding of the sacred text requires study, reflection, and intellectual openness, avoiding reductive or ideological interpretations that fail to do justice to the complexity of the Qur’anic message.

Invisible Charge: Redefining the Soul After Death

The relationship between the soul, consciousness, and the structure of reality has traversed eras and disciplines, from religious metaphysics to philosophical speculation, and up to the most recent scientific hypotheses on complex energy systems. Although contemporary science does not provide empirical evidence for the existence of the soul, the emergence of advanced physical models—such as quantum fields, subatomic interactions, and the informational nature of energy—allows for the reformulation of ancient concepts in new and interdisciplinary ways.

The following text explores a possible theoretical convergence between a hypothetical physical definition of the soul as an energy structure and the Qur’anic understanding of the survival of the nafs and rūḥ beyond physical death, keeping the two registers distinct while highlighting their potential conceptual resonances.

The concept of the “soul” has long been part of the domains of philosophy, religion, and mysticism. However, as science advances in the understanding of complex energy systems, consciousness, and quantum fields, it becomes increasingly plausible to reconsider the soul in physical terms: not as a metaphor, but as an energy structure.

One possible model is to consider the soul as a subtle electromagnetic charge: a highly organized, low-density energy field incorporated into the body during life. Unlike classical electricity, this charge would not behave like current flowing through wires; rather, it would operate at quantum or sub-quantum levels, interacting with the body’s electromagnetic and possibly biophotonic fields in ways that current instruments are not yet sensitive enough to detect.

It could be conceptualized as a kind of “molecular field structure”: not composed of ordinary matter, but formed by micro-energy units, potentially analogous to the energy quanta that define particles in quantum field theory. Such a structure would be non-material in the traditional sense, and yet real, functioning as a coherent system of electromagnetic information that coexists with biological processes and perhaps influences them.

At the moment of death, when the body is no longer able to sustain biological life, this field would dissociate from the body. But instead of being destroyed, it could de-phase or dissolve into the surrounding electromagnetic environment, similar to a signal that fades within a larger field. It might even follow field gradients, moving toward zones of lower resistance or higher resonance—perhaps aligning with preexisting cosmic or atmospheric electromagnetic patterns.

This could offer a modern interpretation of the ancient belief that the soul “ascends to the heavens”: not as a flight into an abstract afterlife, but as a return to a broader energy system—a reintegration into the universal field from which it may have originated. Contemporary physics increasingly recognizes that “empty” space is not empty at all: it is full of zero-point energy, quantum fluctuations, and complex field interactions. Similarly, the human body is not just a biochemical machine, but a system deeply immersed in and influenced by its electromagnetic environment. In this context, the idea of the soul as a structured and transient energy field is not only compatible with some emerging scientific models, but invites further interdisciplinary investigation.

This approach does not intend to demonstrate the existence of the soul in measurable terms, but proposes a reformulation as a testable hypothesis: the possibility that consciousness—or an energetic identity core—could persist beyond physical death in a non-local form, based on fields.

Qur’anic Perspective

In the Qur’an, the concept of the soul is not expressed in the terms of the “energy” of modern physics, but through the notions of nafs and rūḥ, and the continuation of consciousness after physical death. Some fundamental points emerge clearly.

The Soul Returns to God

The Qur’an emphasizes that, at the moment of death, the soul is taken by divine command and continues to exist in another domain:

• “Every soul shall taste death, and you will be fully recompensed only on the Day of Resurrection” (Qur’an 3:185).

• “It is Allah who takes the souls at the time of their death” (Qur’an 39:42).

This indicates that human life does not extinguish with the cessation of biological functions, but is transferred from the earthly dimension to a different mode of existence.

Barzakh — The Intermediate Realm

After death, the soul enters the barzakh, an intermediate stage preceding the Day of Judgment:

• “And behind them is a barrier (barzakh) until the day they are resurrected” (Qur’an 23:100).

This is not a condition of unconscious non-existence, but a transitional reality in which the soul awaits the final resurrection.

Transformation

From the Qur’anic perspective, nothing that God creates is wasted or destroyed without purpose. While the body decomposes, the “vital force” of the soul persists. A distant analogy can be observed with the scientific principle that energy is not destroyed but transformed, although in Islamic theology this “energy” corresponds to the immaterial and personal essence of the individual