By Antar Teleba
Among terms that present significant challenges is the word الضمير (al-ḍamīr), along with the associated concepts of morality, inner restraint, and the cultivation, death, or awakening of conscience. In English, the word ”conscience” is used to refer to the belief in general and religious conviction in particular. It is often used in place of more formal religious terms such as religion or faith, especially in legal texts.
Obscure in its term as it is in its meaning, concealed despite its apparent effects, it is the closest and most essential thing to us—indeed, it is almost everything within us… Yet when we attempt to clarify it, it retreats behind a veil, persisting in concealment and hiddenness. We believe in its existence without seeing or clearly understanding its true nature. How can we deny it, when to deny it is to deny ourselves and to dismantle the primary foundation of our personality? It commands and is obeyed; it forbids and is heeded. It rejoices and grieves, mingling with our emotions and varied psychological states. It convenes its court quicker than the blink of an eye and issues judgments that are irrevocable.
How could it be otherwise, given that it is ḍāmir—that is, concealed despite its perpetual presence? How many nights has it kept its people awake with reproach for what they have committed, and how many eyes has it deprived of sleep? Although there are those who have killed it outright and rid themselves of it forever, becoming embodiments of evil and tyranny.
Strangely, we do not find the term الضمير in classical Arabic, as we do today, with its moral and psychological meaning. Instead, we find that they used other terms such as القلب (the heart), الباطن (the inner self), السريرة (the secret self), الوازع, and الزاجر (both meaning inner restrainer). There is a saying in Athar من لم يكن له من نفسه زاجر لم تنفعه الزواجر: “He who has no inner restrainer (zājir) from himself will not be helped by external restrainers (zawājir).” It appears that the term الضمير is a modern translation of the Western concept conscience, which expresses the moral conscience as well as psychological awareness (from which English derives consciousness).
If we turn to historical dictionaries, we find that the term conscience is derived from the Latin word “conscire”, meaning “certain knowledge distinguishing right from wrong.” From this root also come the words science and consciousness.
In Arabic, الضمير is a passive participle (ism maf‘ūl) from the verb ضَمُرَ (ḍamura), meaning “to become weak or emaciated.” It is a conventionally formed passive participle, similar to words like قتيل (killed), أسير (captured), ذبيح (slaughtered), and جريح (wounded) (similarly, Ramadan is called karīm meaning honored). In Arab heritage, horses described as المضمرة were those prepared for racing or war. Their تضمير (preparation) involved feeding them extra fodder over a long period to fatten them sufficiently, then exposing them to a poorly ventilated area and covering them with horse blankets (جلال). Due to the confined space, lack of air, and the heavy covering, they would sweat profusely. The sweat would expel bodily impurities, leaving their muscles lean. Thus, they were fattened and then their fat was reduced through sweating, so they would gather their strength and shed the heaviness of bodily moisture. Non-prepared غير المضمرة horses would eat and sleep as usual. They prepared horses in this way for running because they would become lighter-bodied and stronger, more likely to win races, and in war, more likely to endure advances and retreats—they were steadier than others.
We hardly find mention of the word الضمير in Arab heritage with this same form, but we do find other derivatives such as الخيل المضمرة (the prepared horses) and the tribe بني ضمرة, to which the noble Companion ‘Amr ibn Umayyah al-Ḍamrī is attributed. In Arabic dictionaries: “الضمير: what you conceal within yourself and what is difficult to ascertain; it is a psychological preparedness to perceive the evil and good in actions, words, and thoughts, to distinguish between them, and to approve of the good and disapprove of the bad. (In grammar) that which indicates a speaker such as أنا, an addressee such as أنت, or an absent third person such as هو (pl. ضمائر).” Strangely, the grammatical use of the word has been more common in Arabic culture (especially in classical Arabic) than its original meaning.
I do not know of any classical Arabic poetry where the word ضمير is used with this meaning, although the concepts of inner restraint and reproach are frequently present using other terms. The closest verses I recall using الضمير in this sense are by the Andalusian poet Abu al-Qasim al-Suhayli:
يا من يرى ما في الضمير ويسمع
أنـت المـعــد لكـل مـا يـتـوقـع
As for modern poetry, the word appears frequently with the meaning of inner restrainer, as in the poetry of the émigré poet Mahbub al-Khuri al-Shartuni in his moving poem about Palestine:
مات الضمـيـر فلا ضمير
ولا عـدالة فـي البـشــر
السـيـف يلعـب بالحـظـوظ
وبـــالورى لعــب الأكــر
ويــوزع الأمــم الضـعــا
ف ولا مـــردّ لمــا أمــر
إيه فلسـطـيـن الكريـمـة
مـن جـفــاكِ فـقــد كـفــر
In modern psychology, conscience has appeared as a translation of concepts of sublimation in more than one theory. In Freud, for example, the human psyche consists of the Id—the source of desires, sins, impulses, and evils; the Ego—which represents the social personality that interacts with others in society; and the Super-Ego—the conscience that focuses on ideals and values, considered the angelic component of humans. He states that the conflict between the Id and the Super-Ego results in a balance manifested in the social Ego. This conception is not far from the Qur’anic division of the soul into the soul that incites to evil, the self-reproaching soul, and the soul at peace.
In the Big Five personality trait theory, one of these traits is conscientiousness (sometimes translated as الوعي, an inadequate translation). The remaining four traits are openness, agreeableness, neuroticism, and extraversion.
The challenge in dealing with conscience lies not only in definition but also in the processes of psychological assessment of personality. How do we measure conscience vigilance, which is a hidden aspect that its owner can hardly locate or characterize? Western contemporary psychology attempts to assess conscience vigilance through the traits of those who possess it. Below is a presentation of some of these traits as defined by personality psychologists (adapted from a study titled Development and Validation of an International English Big-Five Mini-Markers), with my comments in parentheses:
- “A person with a living conscience is characterized by traits such as caution or diligence” (this is closer to the religious concept where one hesitates before acting for fear of committing a transgression).
- “The meaning of the term ‘living conscience’ also involves the desire to accomplish a task proficiently and fulfill commitments to others” (in truth, the motivation behind commitment is driven by self-monitoring or self-accountability as in Islamic tradition).
- “Those with living consciences are characterized by competence and organization rather than carelessness and disorder” (this is the concept of iḥsān—excellence, quality assurance—resulting from internal monitoring rooted in faith in Allah).
- “Such individuals tend to exercise self-control, act with sincerity, and strive to achieve accomplishments; they plan their behaviors rather than act spontaneously and are generally reliable in completing tasks” (this is also the concept of iḥsān, with the addition of taking precautions, reliability, sincerity, and honesty).
- “Their qualities are manifested through some of their distinctive behaviors, such as being organized and methodical, in addition to being cautious, meticulous, and deliberate” (meaning deliberation, insight, and seeking causes—traits of pious believers).
It remains to be said that these traits also overlap with emotional intelligence and perhaps spiritual intelligence. It seems that the matter amounts to a theoretical division to suit the study of this complex human component.
Whether we agree or disagree with personality psychologists on these traits, the issue requires further contemplation of the meanings of conscience and the secret of its hiddenness within the human soul, as it is the greatest evidence for the existence of the Creator, Glorified and Exalted, due to the mystery of monitoring and reproach He has placed within humans.
والله أعلم